The Logan County banner. [volume] (Logan, W. Va.) 1889-1903, 1889-11-21
4 MONSTER onoTALus.


From His EanE.. -~--s~
Mr.. A. G. Drinker, Of this city, has
been an enthusiastic student Of natural
history since he was 4 small boy in
the beech woods Of Clifton fifty years
ago. II have had three very narrow
escapes from being bitten by poison
Gus snakes" said Mr.. Drinker the
other evening. land in each case It
vas q different variety Of reptile that
came near giving me dose. Ono a.
ternoon In August, good many years
ago. ! was tramping along near the
Burnt bridge with my rife on my
shoulder, when happened to see an
immense blackberry bush. loaded down
with dead ripe berries. 1t was up the
bank little way, and stood my gun
mp by a stump and went to the bush
The body Of the bush was as thick as
good sized cone, and it lay within a
few inches OF the ground. / carefully
reached my fingers around It and
started 70 pull the bush toward me
slowly, when | felt something pushing
and pulling on it, II startled me a
good Bit, and let go OF the bush and
watched. Something kept on shaking
it, but what it was | couldn't tell. |
was bound to find out, though. and
after u little. | poked the leaves away
with stick and got at the mystery.
The power that moved the bush was a
big rattIesnake. His fangs were fast
in the thick stem, half an inch from
where my fingers were whom he struck
ut me, and he had hunted and pulled
till there wasn't a berry left on the
bush. I didn't hear the least noise
while ! had my fingers on the bush.
and was certain that the old fellow
1idn't make his rattles buzz before he
struck.
Il wanted to have a little fun with
himvbefere / pounded the life out of
him, and SO let him hang there and
hunted up a tough dead hemlock limb.
Then went back and gently touched
the snake on the head with the stick,
pulling the bushes apart so that he
could see me. That set him to rat
Ting and wriggling to the top of his
strength, and / never saw madden
creature than he was while Iteased
him. His eyes blinked and his mouth
was as red as fire. After awhile
pried him loose and put the end OF my
club where he could strike at it. He
was good fighter, and he drove his
fangs at the stick five or six times.
hitting it within sixteenth OF an inch
OF the same spot each time. BY and
by heirattler got tired of fighting the
club. and with his head and tail up he
made for5me.
''Just as he reached out, his head
fattened, his mouth opened to its
widest extent, and the fangs in his
fiery upper jaw CLEANED. Then gave
him bat with the club that paralyzed
him, killing him with another blow.
He lad thirteen rattles and a button
and was five feet long. drought him
home and dissected him. and my sister
has the rattles yet. The poison sacks
at the roots Of his fangs were not
larger than small peas. In each one
there was small drop OF fluid that
looked a good deal like glycerine
There were four distinct groWths OF
fangs on each side, one back OF the
other, so that when he shed one set
there was another set to take it's place.
The poison is elected through a very
fine hole at the point OF the fang. a
hole no larger than that in the needle
of hypodermic syringe. / have dis
sected many RATHER since then. but
/ have never caught u finer one than
he was. Scranton (Pa) Cor. N. Y.
Sun.