The intelligencer. [volume] (Lexington, Mo.) 1887-1891, 1889-10-19
SNAKES WITHIN SNAKES.
Interesting Telescoplc Habit of Down
Enat GaEnnn.

East %Serpents.
The prize snake story of the season is told
In killlngWorth, Conn. Samuel Cox and
his son Walter were Carting hay from the
Parker Hill meadow in that town the other
day when Walter saw a huge blacksnake
stretched motionlcss on a little hummock
not many rods from the cart. He went to
the serpent, which appeared to be dead,
picked it up by the tail and threw 1t on the
load. At the barn it was laid on the floor,
and its stuffy look excited the curiosity Of
father and son.
The blacksnake was not more than six
feet long, but its girth was enormous. Mr..
Cox, ST., placed the tip OF his boot on the
makes head, which now exhibited signs Of
life and some interest in the proceedings,
and Walter, gripping the reptile about the
throat, forced open its jaws. AS the jaws
parted Walter discerned the tail Of another
snake protruding from the black ones gull
let. He wound his fingers about the slip
perry tail and yanked a water snake of
medium size out Of the bl~acksnake, whereat
the big fellow emitted a sigh Of relief and
soon became so lively that the men had to
kill 1t. Exhilarated by their success, they
made a careful post-mortcm examination OF
the remains to see whether the blacksnake
had any more snakes concealed about
his person, and finding no more they
searched the water snake, actuated by q
similar intent. In the water snake they
got q small striped snake, and nothing
more; but now their curiosity was great to
discover just how far the telescope
arrangement Observation-Disclosures there was
O smaller snake in the striped serpent. Mr..
Cox, ST., put his boot tip on snake No. 3,
while Walter pried open the striped ser
pent's mouth and searched him faithfully.
But the reptile had nothing in him but a
few trifies-a field mouse, q grasshopper
and o few beetles. Both the striped and
water snake were dead when they were ex-
tracted.
The incident noted tends to prove, some
think, that snakes, like swallows, have a
habit of flocking in autumn, and they do it
in a different way.
At North Ashford, the other day, two
boys, Charley Morse and BERTHE Fish, caught
and killed q big water snake that also was
stuffed in q wonderfully liberal style. In
the snake were sixty-one little water
snakes, all well and frisky.
Herbert Banning, a Hadlyme farmer, had
a similar experience while moving his
meadow on the bank of the Connecticut
river. After he had killed n large and
vicious water snake in the rank grass he
was surprised to see that a part of the
serpent's body was tremendously swollen,
so that it was about as big as a mans
thigh. He ripped the reptile open with his
jack-knife, and a knot of twenty-nine small
snakes, varying in length from seven to
nine inches, rolled out on the grass. Two
of the little ones were apart from the main
bunch, and were tied in u perfectly formed
square knot. All were lively. The collec.
ton was seen by another Hadlyme man,
who processes to know all about snakes,
and he said it Is a habit water snakes nave
when fearful for the safety of their young
ones to open their mouths and let the little
chaps run into them and scatter about in
the department of the interior.