Daily Republican., 1885-12-30


To get annake ont of bottle Ia tedious
job, in Whatever position II is turned, the
head win be directed upward, so the only
way to inluce 1t 10 come out is to place the
bottle upright or nearly so even then the
head Is Withdrawn on the slightest alarm,
and the position is by no means favorable
TO its transfersnce to a box. If the door
or opening Of the hitter will admit Of 1t, the
best plan Is to put the bottle uncorked into
the box, and let the snake crawl out at its
leisure; first checking OF" the bottle
with wedge Of paper or wood, lest 1t
should roll over the reptile, and fastening o
string to 1t, in order that it may be re-
moved without difficulty at the earliest op-
portunity. II this is not practicable, tie .
stout bag over the mouth and stand the
bottle upright; when the snake is out cut
of his retreat by means of another ligature,
and there you have him. 1t is worse than
useless to try to shake him out or accelerate
his exit in any way if the neck be narrow.
One of the first poisonous snakes 1 ever
possessed was brought to me in brandy
bottle, and, after twisting and shaking, and
tapping it for an hour, grew impatient.
The tail just then happened to protrude
< about half an inch, SO 1 seized 1t with my
: fingers, and, rapidly driving the body
through the other hand, had the reptile
~ safely in ny grip behind his death-dealine
jaws, now distended with anger. But the
Ill slide of my snake-box was shut over, and
could not draw 1t back with one hand Sc
. / was obliged to let him slip back into th,
\ bottle again. Having set the box all il
s order for the newcomers reception, / once
more assayed to lay hold of him by tn
al tail but now, most provokingly, no amour
of manGuvring would bring that usefu
o. member 20 the top. Another half hour
- unsuccessful angling converted my impa
&c thence into desperation, and at length, whe
n. / saw the tail about two inches from Tia
~ mouth of the bottle, 1 stuck my forefnger i
recklessly to try to secure it. That wa
ay hopeless, as might Lave known; but
OF certainly did cool my spine a little, when
ty that my finger was jammed l pulled
va wrenched, twisted it with all my might, f
the brute was raising its head, and its hicl
~, ering tongue was rapidly approaching III
on unhappy digit that involuntarily corked n
~ its prison. Igave a final tug, the violenc
of which nearly dislocated ali my phalang'
IN but it was no use, and with yell raise
as the bottle high in the air, intending
,ek smash it ON the edge of my bunk. di
ms tinctly felt the snake, momentarily inver
I'M ed fall on the end of my finger but as
az flung my hand up the bottle slipped Of
ers aud fell on the deck behind me, fortunate
without breaking. BY the time picked
Iife up the snake was halfway out, kissing f
''1 riously with rage and fright, and had b
ioi just time to thrust it into the box. If hi
not been Hurried, 1 should probably ha
ear been eblc TO extricate my finger with We
rhe little difficulty. 1t is of the utmost impol
ce, ance never to lose presence of mind in del
ing with hose things. One extreme is
Org bad as the other. Men who become habit
the ated to reptiles often find themselves ri
lou. ming unnecessary risks, not in foolhar
ness, but from sheer thoughtlessness, FRI
r Is the simple absence Of loathing or console
With ness Of danger. You need not fear "
omous snake, but always respect him
ners L9itd0a Field.