Thomas County cat. [volume] (Colby, Kan.) 1885-1891, 1889-06-20

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walked on. The chipmunk did not
move. l followed its staring gaze.
and saw a rattlesnake, coiled as they
always coil, and its eyes glittering
like little Goals of fire. had my gun.
and quickly put an end to the SER
pent's further mesmeric exercise. The
strange part of the incident was that
the chipmunk fell from the stump
dead at the report of the gun.
thought that some stray shot might
have struck it, although such thing
was highly improbable. l examined
the little animal thoroughly. There
was not mark upon it. So strongly
was the chipmunk under the influence
of the snake, as l positively believe,
that its very existence had become
merged with that of the rattlesnake's
When the snake was killed the chip
hunks life was simultaneously ended
''A person can not be a close OBJ
server of rattlesnakes long before he
will discover a good many curious
oUOuG L uotO 1Ouuu Out
that there are at least three living
things that rattlesnake is in mortal
fear of. and they are bats, hogs and
deer. l discovered the fear rattle.
snake mas of bats by putting one in
the cage of a very fierce RATHER once
had. thought he would go crazy
when the bat dropped down by his
side. He got in the furthest corner
of the cage and coiled himself up and
actually hid his head. The bat fitted
about in the cage, which was a very
roomy one, now and then skimming
the folds of the snake, who would only
sound his rattles the louder and draw
himself closer down in the corner
When fished the bat out the snake
slowly unwound himself and came out
of hiding. l tried the experiment
several times, not only on that snake
but on others, and always with the
same result.
Every body knows how hogs that
run in the woods in localities where
rattlesnakes are found will soon drive
the reptiles out of the neighborhood.
They will go into den of rattlesnakes
if they can get in. and attack the
snakes furiously. tramping them be-
meath their feet and tearing them
apart with their teeth. The bite of
rattlesnake has no effect whatever on
a hog. Deer hunt out rattlesnakes in
the same way. cutting them to pieces
by blows from their sharp hoofs. Many
woodsmen claim that an apparent in
crease in rattlesnakes in some parts of
Pennsylvania is due to the killing off
of the deer or the driving of them out
of those regions. There is another
thing that the rattlesnake fears that I
forgot to mention, and that is the black
snake. The black snake will squeeze
the life out of RATHER in a very short
time, and no rattlesnake will stay long
where there is black one, if he can
get away. There is an exception,
however. When it comes time for
snakes to gather into their wintering
places, the black snake and the rattler
and all other kinds of serpents take up
their quarters with one another as
peaceful as lambs.
Il have seen only two persons in my
life who were bitten by rattlesnakes,
and only one OF them died. although
the same treatment was used in doc
toring both. Poultices made of mo-
lasses and table salt, the latter stirred
in the molasses until it was as thick as
butter, kept on the wounds made by the
snakes fangs, and the usual generous
doses of whisky. was the treatment in
both cases. One man, a young one.
with healthy constitution, was we'll
in five days. The other man, a middle
aged man. and not physically strong,
died in two days.
"A human being seems to be the
only creature that suffers pain from a
rattlesnake bite. Every thing else
that l ever saw that had been bitten
by one of the reptiles acted as if it had
been chloroformed. You can hardly
see where snakes fangs enter the
flesh. and not drop of blood flows
from the wound. Inflammation sets
in at once. The breath comes hard
and short In dumb animals paralysis
soon occurs in the hind parts. The
blood leaves the extremities and be-
comes thin. The heart of any animal
that dies from rattlesnake poison will
always be found to be filled with blood
in thin. fluid state. instead of being
coagulated, as it will be in a human
being. My experience has been that
the number of rattles on a rattlesnaks
are no indication of its age, the popu-
lar belief in that respect to the con.
trary Notwithstanding" -Harrisburg
(Pa) Cor. N. Y. Sun.
The World and Chance.