Savannah morning news. [volume] (Savannah) 1868-1887, 1886-08-30
Frozen Rattlesnakes.

~ From Me st. Louis Gto6e- Denlocrdt.
Now, the rattIesnake, as a rule. is too
lazy to build house of his own, and ac-
cordingly takes up his domicile in some
prairie dog hole, where he Dusies himself
looking after the census. His brother
tenants are the prairie dogs and their
families and the common, ugly, mud-cOl-
ored field owl. His snakeship watches
carefully that the population of his neigh
bOrs does not increase to any alarming eX-
tent nor very rapidly, either. The post
surgeon at Fort Custer the next military
post to us and few miles north and west
of here relates the following curious eX-
perience he had with nest of rattle
snakes last fall before the snow began TO
flV, and of following up his Investigations
this spring when the thermometer was
aimlessly wandering tar down among the
thirties below zero. The doctor bad his
wife along with him at the time, driving
up the Big Horn Valley, when all at once
the horses began shying, having run upon
some dozens Of rattlesnakes, large and
small, who were wriggling and squirming
in the road in every direction. The doc
tor, checking his horses. jumped from bis
seat and soon had about as much bust
ness on his hands as he could convenient
lv attend to. In a few minutes he had
laid forty odd rattlers dead on the field.
Still the number didn't seem to diminish.
The odor that arose from the crushed and
bleeding reptiles was so offensive and
sickening that it almost made the DOCTORS
good lady i'll. She begged her husband TO
desist, who after ward assured the writer
that he was just getting warmed up to his
work and was having all the fun any rea-
sOnable man could expect under the cir
cumstances. Watching the snakes for
few minutes, the gentleman saw the sur
vivors all pointing in one direction, as if
anxious to attain some certain point in
the shortest space of time. Following the
route taken by the snakes in a few sec
onds he came to large prairie dog hole,
down which the survivors poured, one
after another, until he had counted more
| than a hundred that had disappeared from
sight. The next day the same gentleman
returned TO the spot and killed forty more !;
the living ones again making all the speed
for the same place of refuge.
In mentioning the circumstance to a
cavalry officer this spring, the latter eX-
pressed desire to visit the spot with a
party OF soldiers and dig out the reptiles
if any were still there, and see how they
would act under a temperature OF so de-
grees below the freezing point. The ex-
petition was carried out as planned.
Pick and sbovels were soon at work. the
frozen dirt fving in every direction. Pref
" ~
out by a spade. He proved exceedingly
torpid and lazy and was dispatched by
one Of the men. Another and another
were tossed out, and then big fellow
was sent sprawling on the snow, showing
a trifle of anger for being distur bed in the
midst of his winter SAUNDERS. He proved
even more torpid and lazy than any OF the
others, and It was difficult matter to get
any sort of life or vim into him at all. BY
tickling and tormenting him great dea
with ramrod, the half-frozen fellow was
at last Induced to make few strikes, but
his movements were slow and sluggish
and without much life. He made a
vicious rattle or two, but almost imme-
diately sunk back into somnulent,
drowsy state. The congealing nature of
the atmosphere had much to do with cool
ing his enthusiasm. In short, the frost
knocken all the ardor out of his linn Der car
cass. AS there was little fun to be had
from this accommodating customer, he
was tapped gently on the head with the
iron ramrod, upon which ne squirmed
and wriggled over the ground O few times
and then buried his fangs in his own body
about half way down. In accounting for
this standardization, II is probable that
the tap with the ramrod set him crazy.
and he struck at tho first vulnerable sub
stance within reach, which happened to
be his own body. One Of the soldiers
reached down into the hole with his bare
hands and hauled out six-tooter by the
tail. After digging down few feet fur
Their and finding nothing new except half
frozen snakes OF all sizes aud ages, the
party gave up the job for the day and re-
turnnd TO the fort,