Mower County transcript. [volume] (Lansing, Minn.) 1868-1915, 1889-09-25
The RATTlEslsAKE

Tl4E RATTLEsNAkE.
HSu Ifs DesA1y Hlous Ara DeaivefsA go
Its Venom injected.
Let as observe what happens when
the ratflesnake means mischief. He
throws himself into spiral, and about
one-third Of his length. carrying the
head, rises from the coil and stands
upright The attitude Is fine and war
like. and artists who attempt to por-
tray it always fail He dees not pur-
sue, he waits. Little animals he scorns
unless he is hungry, so thai the mouse
or the toad he leaves for days nnnoticed
in his cage. Larger or noisy creatures
alarm him. Then his head and neck
are thrown far back, his mouth is
opened very wide, the fang held firmly
erect, and with an abrupt sWiftness.
for which his ordinary motions pre-
pare one but little. he sfrihezonee and
is back on guard again, Tigiiant and
brave. The blow is a stab, and is
given by throwing the head forward
while the half-coils hhOw it are
stras ghteBed ont to lengthen the neck
and give power to the motions which
| drive the fangs into the opponents
flesh; as they center, the temporal
| muscle closes the lower jaw ON the
part struck, and thus forces the sharp
fang deeper in. 1t is a thrust aided
| by bite At this moment the poison
duct is opened by the relaxation of the
muscle which surrounds it and the
| same muscle which shuts the jaw
squeezes the gland and drives its
venom through the duct and hollow
fang into the bitten part
In so complicated series of acts
there is often failure. The tooth
strikes On tough skin and doubles back
or fails to enter. or the serpent mis-
judges distance and fails short and
| may squirt the venom four or FIVE feet
liz the air, doing no harm. had q
curious experience of this kind in
which a snake eight feet six inches
long threw a teaspoonful Or more of
poison athwat my forehead 1t missed
my eyes by an inch or two 1 have
had many near escapes, but this was
the grimmest of all An inch lower
| would have cost me my sight and
probably my life
| A snake viii turn and strike from
any posture, but the coil Is the atti-
tude always assumed when possible
The coil acts as an anchor and en-
; ables the animal to shake its fangs
loose from the wound A snake can
; rarely strike beyond half its length.
If both fangs enter, the hurt Is doublE
. dangerous, because the dose Of venom
: is doubled Al times fang Is left In the
flesh. but this does not trouble the ser
penis powers as a poisoler. since num-
t berless teeth lie ready to become firm
: IL fixed in its place. and boL fangs are
, never lost together The nervous
4 mechanism which controls the act OF
a striking seems to be IN the spinal cord,
j | for If We cut Of a snakes head and
= then pinch its tail, the stump of the
i | neck returns and with some ae
| euracy hits the hand of the ex
# perimenter- he has the nerve Il
+ hold Oh Few men have have not
d A little Irishman who took care OF m.
Is laboratory as:onished me by eooily sEs
a tanning this test He did It by elosins
e his eyes ard 80 shutting oHt for mo
o ment the too suggestive view Of the re
& turning stump Snakes have Away
q | seemed to me- aEerse TO striking. an.
h they have been On the whole muel
n maligned.
, ANY cool. quiet person moving slow
= ~ and steadily may pick up an
!, handle gently most VICTORIOUS serpeabs
fancy, however. that the vipers an
the eoppsrheads are uncertain pets
Mr.. Thompson, the saake-keeper a
T. the Philadelphia Geological. handle
49, his serpents with immunity; but On
g day. having dropped some little moe
. casins few days old down his Slew
= while he carried their mamma ia hi
- hand. one OF the babies bit him an
made an ugly wound At present tn
- snake staff Is used to handle snakes
saw one October. in Tangiers. wha
&c I had long desired to observe snak
se eharmer. Most Of his snakes Ner
= harmless; but he refused, with vel
- acted horror, 10 permit NE to tax
III hold Of them He had also two larg
= brown yipers; these he handled wit
- care, but saw at once that they wer
kept exhausted Of their venom by ha,
= ing been daily seased into biting On
= bundle of rags tied to stick The
~ were too tired to be dangerous. has
" often seen snakes IN this state. Afte
= three or four fruitiess acts of instincs
&c i've use Of their venom they give VI
d. and seem to become Indifferent TO a,
g breaches. and even to rough handling
oa DIR. @. Weir Mitchell, IN Century.
wi Remarkably intelligent Cows