The Logan County banner. [volume] (Logan, W. Va.) 1889-1903, 1889-09-26

A CHARMED CHlPMUNK.
IL Paid No Attention to Pistol Shots Until
One Killed . Snake.

II Paid No Attention to Pistol Shots Until
One Killed . snake.
sThose knowing folks who ridicule
the idea that rattlesnale can charm
the bird or animal it covets for its
dinner don't want to talk to ME, after
an experience had few days ago, I.
said Edward B.aisdell, OF Hawley, Pa
III was always little skeptical myself
on the power of the snake to charm,
and consequently when was taking a
walk through the woods near Hawley
one day last week and saw q chip
mnnk sitting on rock and giving no
sign that my near approach to it dis
turbed 1t in the least, the thought that
the influence OF a snake had any thing
to do with the indifference OF the little
squirrel was the furthest thing from
my mind, although it struck me as
being singular, the agility with which
the chipmunk makes itself scarce as a
person approaches it being we'll known
to me.
1.-The squirrels side was toward me,
and it was as motionless as il it had
been part OF the rock itself. Jtwas
gazing intentiy in the direction OF a
log that lay a few feet from the rock.
stopped within less than rod OF the
rock and watched the chipmunk
moment. had my revolver with me.
and made UP my mind would see
what the effect OF "a shot at the squir-
rel would be. fired, not aiming to
hit the chipmunk, and the bullet fur
rowed the rock close by. The squirrel
did not move hair. I fired again.
but the chipmunk paid not sthe slight
est attention to the noise or the whizz
of the bullet that struck the rock
directly in front OF it. began to
think that the little animal was dead.
/ stepped little closer and got direct
ly behind the squirrel and fired bull
let close over its head, and into the
log. The result was startling.
Something fell from the log and
began to thrash around among the
ferns and low bushes. The chipmunk
started up, ran to and fro on the rock
in dazed manner. and then lodged
with its peculiar chirp into it's hole off
to one side of the rock. stepped for
ward to the log to see what was the
cause OF the disturbance there, and
found an enormous rattlesnake. It
had been shot through the neck. and
was still writing under the effects Of
the wound. ! had been SO taken up
with the strange conduct of the chip
munk that Ihad not seen the snake,
which must have been lying on the
log among the moss that covered it in
range of5my bullet. That the SNAKE
held the squirrel under the spell OF its
fascinating powers, which accounted
for the chipmunk's Indifference to my
presence, there can be no doubt. The
moment my bullet struck the rattie-'
snake and knocked it from the log the
fatal spell was broken. and the
squirrel, recovering in few seconds
from its effects. was able to escape
into its hole. ~
'ln the same vicinity, some years
ago, Soloman Purdy, who lived near
Hawley. discovered red squirrel on
log in condition similar to the
one in which discovered the chip
munk. He knew the habits of rattle
snakes, and understood at once what
the situation meant. He got his eye
on the snake, which wasspoited on the
end of the log, its head uplifted and
its eyes fairly glittering. He shot tho
snakes head off. The squirrel dropped
from the log, also. Purdy went to
the spot where the squirrel had disap-
peared. He found it lying on the
ground dead, although there was not
a mark OF injury upon 1t. IN. Y:
Sun. sfs'as ~
,---------s -s-- 1870