The weekly messenger. [volume] (St. Martinsville [i.e. St. Martinville] La.) 1886-1948, 1889-11-23
THE RATTLESNAKE
Some Peculiarities of this Ophi-
dian Terror.
When His Headless Tail is
Pinched the Neck Strikes.

ID INC N'"'"J' "c quote the following:
"Let US observe what happens when the
nttlesnake means mischief. He throws
himself into a spiral, and about one.
third Of his length, carrying the head
rises from the coil and stands upright.
The attitude Is fac and warlikc, and ar
lists who attempt to portray it always
fail. He does not pursue, but waits.
Little animals he scorns unless he is
hungry, so that the mouse or toad no
leaves for days unnoticed in his caoe
LARGE or noisy creatures alarm him.
Then his head and neck are thrown far
back, MS mouth Is open very wide, the
fang held firmly erect, and with an
abrupt swlftness, for which his ordinary
motions prepare one but little, he strikes
cnce and is back on guard again, vigil
ant and brave. The blow is a stab and
Is given by thro wing the head forward
while the half-coils below it are
enlightened out to lengthen the neck
and give power to the motions which
irive the fangs into the opponents flesh;
{. thej enter, the temporal muscle
closes the lower jaw on the part struck,
ind thus forces the sharp fang deeper
in. Il is a thrust aided by bite. At
this moment the poison duct is opened
B! the relaxation of the muscle which
surrounds it, and the same muscle
which shuts the jaw sGueezes the gland.
and drives its venom through the duct
md hollow fang into the bitten part.
an so complicated a series of acts
here Is often failure. The tooth
rnkes on tough skin and doubles back
Ff fails to enter, or the serpent mis-
Judges distance and falls short and may
quirt the venom four or five feet in the
" doing no harm. l had a curious
Experience of this kind in which q
FAKE eight feet six inches long threw a
FSpoonful or more of poison athwart
Fy forehead. 1t missed my eyes by an
zen or two. l have hal many near
Fapes, but this was the crimmest of
An inch lower would have cost mo
p sight and probably my life.
"A snake will turn and strike from
?! posture, but the coil is the attitude
ways assumed when possible. The
FA acts as an anchor and enables the
Flnal to shake its fangs loose from the
|'und. A snake can rarely strike be-
Pad half his length. If both fanps
ffer, the hurt is doubly dangerous, be-
F1'e the dose Of venom is doubled. At
pes fang is left in the flesh, but this
snot trouble the serpent's powers as
psoner, since mum berless teeth lie
pay to become firmly fixed in its c
Pee, and both fangs are never lost to- i
Faer. The nervous mechanism which ,
E'Fols the act of striking seems to be q
| nc spinal cord, for if we cut off a Il
FSes head and then pinch its tail, the c
mp OF the neck returns and with b
Pc accuracy hits the hand of the ex. n
Fnentcr-if he has the nerve to hold a
t Few men have. l have not. A "
f lnshman who took care of nv fl
f'dtoFy astonished me by coolly sus- o
||ns this test. He did it by closing al
eyes and so shutting out for a re
aent the too suggestive view of the it
|Hning stump. Snakes have always c.
@eu 10 me averse to striking, and cl
nave been on the whole much III
| gned. :,
Any cool, quiet person moving -
W and steadily may pick up and ~ :.
f1e gently most venomous serpents. :,
Fey however, that the vipers and =,
["pperhcad' are uncertain pets. Mr.. :.
Epson, the snake keeper at the II
'aeiphia Geological, handles his "
'a'' with IMMUNITY; but one day ~
. dropped some little moccasins a
lays old dowa his sleeve while he
81 their mamma in his hand, one of
aoies bit him and made an ugly w
II" AT present the snake staff is
to handle snakes. =
saw one October, in Tangiers, W.
mad long desired to observe-a '"
I cnarmer. Most of his snakes