The Democratic advocate. [volume] (Westminster, Md.) 1865-1972, 1886-04-17

attempting to tie themselves up into over
hand knots, then darted off at a top speed
on their sixteen-mile stage, soon disappear
ing in a cloud of dust along the "cleared
line"
Rattlesnakes and Their Peculiar
tiles.
Henry Gty Carleton in Scientific american.
There has been more fiction than truth
written about the rattlesnake, and by the
public at large he is as little understood or
appreciated as are those larger and more
fanciful pathological curiosities said to be
sometimes discovered by convivial gentle
men in their boots. He is simply known
to be bold and bad reptile, with a musical
tip to his tail; is popularly supposed to warn
thrice before striking once; and, according
to paragraphs widely disseminated by the
daily press, infests remote ravines and caves
in miraculous numbers, and is there slaugh-
tered by the natives partly for fun and
partly for his oil, which is said by old wo-
men and other eminent medical authorities
to possess curative virtues in an invaluable
degree. 1t is likewise asserted that the
rattle is a sort of calendar, by which the
snake reckons up his age, he promptly ad-
ding one button each New Years day that
finds him alive. In reality, he grows two
or three rattles year, if he wishes them.
Also, it is claimed that the only refuge for
the victim of a rattesnake's bite is violent
state of intoxication. This recipe is clearly
of homeopathic origin, for the venom of
the real snake which did the biting must
evidently be supposed to be counteracted
by that of the imaginary serpents which
the demijohn will assist the bitten gentle
man to discover Whisky, however, is an
excellent remedy, taken either before or
after the bite.
In truth, the rattlesnake is quiet and
unobtrusive, minding his own business, and
merely asking to be let alone. In the early
summer he thaws himself by liberal expos
ure to the sun, and soon shakes off the tor
por of his long sleep, and proceeds to fatten
up. Later in the season he seeks the shade,
and is not averse, on hot days, to lying at
full length in water of pleasant tempera-
ture, especially in pools abounding with
frogs. where he may combine bathing with
luncheon. His rule of diet is simply to eat
all he can get, his favorite edibles being
birds, frogs, and field mice, which he steals
upon and catches with great dexterity.
Birds which nest in trees are safe from
his ravages, unless curiosity or accident
brings them within his reach, but those
which nest in low bushes or on the ground
fill him with dinner and satisfaction. If
the parent bird is alert and discovers him,
the rattlesnake compensates himself by
cheerfully devouring the eggs or the brood
Generally, the mother that is or is to be
resents what she justly considers an imper-
tinent intrusion, and once within striking
distance is added to the bill of fare. All
birds hate the rattlesnake, but nearly all
will foolishly undertake to fight him, and
this is the foundation of the absurd theory
that the rattlesnake "charms' his prey. A
snake has no more power to charm bird
then a rabbit has to play the fiddle. L
have several times been witness of en-
counters between snakes and birds, and
each time have been convinced that the
bird was endeavoring to frighten the snake
from her nest, or to punish him for his
larceny.
We all know that birds are not towards.
| have frequently seen two or three small
inches attack hawk or an eagle, and make
his life burden to him, even going so far
as to perch on his back and make him a
bald eagle, whether that was his species or
not. An English sparrow will cheerfully
undertake to thrash bird four times his
weight. and even the mild-mannered dove
will fight the intruder who enters her cote,
be he cat or man. A birds confidence OF
flight makes her rash in regard to snakes:
She sees rattlesnake near her nest, and
at first takes wing but on observing the
lethargic quality of her opponent, proceeds
to sit on a convenient twig and scold.
Meanwhile the snake has lazily invaded
the nest. Having exhausted all the pro-
fanity she knows, and emboldened by the
snakes sluggishness, the bird comes nearer,
wings outstretched and quivering, feathers
rufied, and beak open-all symptoms OF
anger, not fear. The snake slowly gath
ers for a spring, and remains perfectly still
Each moment of his inaction serves to make
the bird more aggressive, and tempts her
nearer. At last the dead-line is reached
there is a lightning-like Strengthening Of
the hideous folds, and the poor little mis-
guided warrior feels the stab of those dread
full needles whose touch is death. 1t she
had had as much horse-sense as pluck 10
her pretty pate, she would have taken the
matter philosophically and gone off and laio
more eggs, and laid them in high tree
instead of staying for row. But ladie:
are the same the world over, whether II
feathers or not One thing is certain
when a snake captures bird, he does il
less by his own prowess than by the nat
ural tomfoolery of the bird, and he Ger
tainly effects nothing by charming.
Another picturesque error regarding thu
rattlesnake is the supposition that wher
spelling for fight he coils himself up lik'
doughnut or a halyard on board of a man
of-war. The snake simply gathers himsel
in irregular folds, like series of superim
posed SIS. 1t is also alleged that he car
spring to immense distances-ten feet, ma.
be-and so attack his victim in midair
! This is another lie. A snake. can at bes
strike at three-fourths of his own length
and rarely accomplishes that in actual war
fare. / attacked an eight-foot rattiesnak'
in Texas with four-foot stick, and got de
cidedly the best of it. 1t is also prepos
ferrous to state that rattlesnake rattle
thrice before he strikes. Let an apostle o
this creed step on an able-bodied rattler
, and then argue his theory. ! have seen
rattlesnake in July lie in the shade am
rattle steadily for an hour. He was eithe
amusing himself or perhaps taking musi
lesson, for he did not see me, and there wa
no other enemy in sight, and am sure b
had no intention of biting himself. Again
t in New Mexico, | have known rattle
snake to strike horse without emittin
) the least note of warning.