The Arizona sentinel., 1889-08-03

nor the sign of one. With that excep-
ton it has all the markings and char
acteristics of the rattlesnake, and will
coil itself, shake its tail, and strike
| Just the same as the big and
deadly serpent of whose proximity it
is the certain indi Gator. The rattle
snake pilot grows to be two feet long,
and is poisonous to about the same de-
gree that hornet is. The mysterious
affinity between it and the Staked
Plains rattlesnake has never been eX-
planned
'The big rattlesnake has three i'm
| placable enemies in three tierce-look-
ing but entirely non-venomous snakes
peculiar to that locality-the bull
snake, the king snake, and the Texan
black snake. 1t seems as if these SER
pents were continually on the hunt for
the rattlesnake. and the traveller
through that country is sure to be enter
tanned, almost every mile or so, by the
sight of combat between one Of these
snakes and a rattler. A serpent armed
with the deadly weapon that the rat
tlesnake wields would naturally be sup
posed to have the advantage in a con-
test of this kind, but his non-venOmOus
| foes are so much quicker in their move
ments than the rattler that they are
able to avoid his fangs, and invariably
overcome him and squeeze the life out
of him before he can strike twice. [
saw one of these fights once in which
the rattlesnake either deliberately
committed suicide or stuck his fangs
into his own body in striking at the
bull snake that attacked him. The
bull snake was coiled about the rat
tier, and the latter struck vicious
ly. His jaws closed upon his
own body a few inches above
the tail. The bull snake instantly un-
coiled himself and withdrew a yard or
so from the rattlesnake, where he
watched the latter with his head raised
few inches from the ground. The
rattlesnake gradually Strengthened out,
and in few minutes was dead. The
bull snake then glided away. 1t is
| during these attacks of the bull snake,
the king snake or the black snake on
the rattler that the vicious little pilot
shows its fealty TO his big companion.
He darts upon its foes and fights fierce
ly in aid of the rattlesnake. The
curious part of it is that the other
snakes pay no attention to the courage
Gus little pilot, but after dispatching
the rattler flash away out of sight
leaving the pilot to fret and fume on
the scene of the short but savage con-
fict, until he, too, convinced that his
friend, the rattlesnake, is past all
caring for, hurries away from the spot.
The offensive odOr of the rattlesnake
and the pilot is most noticeable during
these battles.
Mcconnell, the Pennsylvania snake
charmer, says that he can not remain
long in the cage with his snakes be-
cause their breath makes him sick. /
have excellent reason for knowing that
to be shut up for any length of time
with live rattlesnakes will not only
make a person sick, but believe will
make him so sick that unless he can
escape from the place poisoned by the
breath, exhalation, or whatever it may
be, of the snake, he will die.
81 used to fish and hunt great deal
in the very locality where Mcconnell
lives. and where he captured his rattle
snakes. One fall l was deer hunting
in what is known as the Porter
Pond region, with friend of
mine and Ed Quick, a we'll
known local hunter and guide.
One night, for the novelty of the
thing to my friend, who had never
roughed it to that extent, we put up
in deserted cabin in wild spot along
Saw creek. 1t was local landmark,
known as Burned Mill Cabin. The
night was cold, the time of year being
late November, and we built blazing
fire in the big fireplace in the cabin.
We Uttered the floor with hemlOck
bOughs and turned in for the night, the
blaze lighting up the whole interior.
Away in the night l woke up.
There was a peculiar feeling in my
head-a heavy, numb feeling. hard to
describe. l lay still for a moment,
and then became aware of a sickening
odor in the cabin. The blaze in the
fireplace had burned down to a few
moldering embers, but the atmosphere
of the room seemed sitting. rose to
sitting posture, and was instantly
seized with dizziness and nausea. My
friend lay next to me on the hemlock
boughs, and | reached over and shook
and called him, but could get no re-
sponse. Then l called Quick, who
was snoring away, next the fireplace,
and finally aroused him. He rose up
in his place, and had no sooner done
so than he exclaimed:
'Rattlesnakes!'
He sprang to his feet, and as he did
so l heard the unmistakable sounding
of rattlesnake's rattle in the direction
of the hearth. Quick paid no atten-
tiOn to that, but dashed for the cabin
door and threw it open. Then he
shouted to me to wake up my friend
and get out into the air as soon as pos
sible.
I" 1t hain't that the snakes is goin'
to bite you,' he said, but their breath's
a-killin' of your