The Laurens advertiser. (Laurens, S.C.) 1885-1973, 1886-09-08
TOLD A. a TRUE STORY.
All Kinds of snakes Found in IA iIiSsiug Con-
'rn;iun b? II sob r, Upright Man.

All tIinds of SNAKES FOrnd in Kissing Com
4 'rn,un b? II sob r, Upright Man.
Tomalua, PA Letter to Philadelphia TimesD
10 the southwest OF this town, perhaps
five miles or more, there lies range of
hills as yet stranger to the peaceful
plow. Between them some of the
streams | have described play in the
changing sunlight, laughing as musical
y as children laugh in the hcyday OF
thor happy youth. My purpose whom
| visited them was to cast u fly where
the ovcrhanging bushes would not pre-
won't and where they would drop the old
fashioned hook beneath the logs where
the trout love to lie. | bad been warned
that the stream L meant 20 follow was on
the sunny side of the hill, and that /
! would most likely encounter few rat
tlcsnakcs and copperheads, to say moth
ing OF the black "runners" and "gar-
tors with which these uninhabited
places abound But [ laughed ut these
warnings, and with a pair of high-topped
pootS to guard against serpent fangs,
started out on my search for adventure
and trout. Three beauties had found
their way into my basket when my first
experience began. just across from
where L stood the bushes grew in tangled
!
edge, and Il rustling noise ia these
caused me to remember the warming L
hal received. At that moment | felt an
energetic tug at my line, however, and
immediately forgot all else in my desire
to land the fish that / knew was there.
| In moment or two this was accom-
plShcd, and l had time to think of the
! bushes again. CHANGING in that direc-
ton ] saw sight that gave me series
OF cold chllls, and caused me to wonder
Tor moment whether it wouldn't have
been money IN my pocket, as Artemas
| Ward says, if L had never been born.
| What saw appeared to be O conven-
ton of snakes wrangling over the tenn
pcmncc plank prior to it's insertion in
the State platform. TO tho left of the
blackberry bushes was n clear space of
sand and pebbles, and that was evident
~ the convention hall. There was not
any regular order of business apparently.
When snake felt like making a motion
he simply made it, and if there were any
other motions in the way the strongest
one was recognized. There were rattle
snakes, black snakes, striped snakes and
coppcrhcads, and to this day l can't help
tancylng that there were boa constructors,
too. Whichever way turned my head
saw them assembling, as though in
answer to roll call, kissing, wriggling,
lattlin8 and crawling iii holes and out,
under each other and over, until the
whole place seemed actually alive with
! snakes. And | hadn't had Il drink for
months, either. How long they would
have sat there | cannot tell, but an i'm
pulse on my part to get away caused me
to break a twig under my foot, and then
| n i,l
ever seen Il rattlcsnake in the attitude he
assumes when listening or getting ready
! to strike at something that has disturbed
his peace? If you haven't, you've got n
| sight to witness that will make your
blood run cold. OF those that did run
ut the noise 1 made one was an cnorm-
ous rattlcr, from four to five feet in
length. | could not count the rattles on
his tail, but am prepared to swear that
they numbered twenty at least. When
the twig snapped ! watched him, for he
lay where every movement could be
seen. Quick aS lightning he raised his
head at least siA inches from the ground,
SWaycd 1t trom side to side, while the
lower portion Of his body seemed to curl
itself unconsclouSly round and round
within itself without disturbing tho head
until lc lay III striking attitude, his head
gently SWAylnG and his rattlcS making
the gentle sound which the snake makes
before he is certain the intruder is an
enemy. The big, fiat head, the thin
neck, the small but glittcring eyes and
the nolsclcss swnying of the agile hody
OF a rattlcsnakc present tue most odious
features OF the snake tribe III their most
odious form.
didn't stay at that spot long, because
1t wasn't comfortable. A fellow doesn't
need to be III perpetual cold perspira-
ton IN order to thoroughly enjoy fish
ing, but somehow he can't help feeling
| that way with score of snakes near
INN, although tcn-fout stream does
flow between. AS | moved down the
stream, the big fellow ratified and push
cd ont his tongue, but he never moved
an inch Tho only pcrceptiblc motion
was one of the head, which enabled him
to see me better S moved away, and
TINS he kcpl ap until l passed out of
sight. There was no regret, | may add,
on either side as we babe each other
farewell,
Old woodsmcn tel. me that there is
nothing unusual i'll such an ,lssemblage
of snakes. Although thoy are at per
pctuaI war with man, they somehow
manage to live on terms of general good
snakoship themselves. 1t is alleged that
a sympathetic coppcrhcad will carry
hcallng herbs to n wounded rattler, al
though these species sometimes meet in
the tierccst and most deadly combat; but
proof Of this is not in the writer's mem
ory. | do know, however, that on fish
inS and hunting excursions j have re-
peatedly encountered two, three and
even four different kinds of snakes within
as many rods of each other Whother
they were unconscious of tho company
they were in | cannot toll Frequently.
when no weapon was available, / have
not paused to inquire.