Rock Island daily Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1886-1893, 1890-08-28
AN ARKANSAS SNAKE FARM.
A Grewsome Place Where Rattlers Al
Raised for IIarket.

A Grew.,ome Place Where Rattlers Are
Raised for lfarket.
J. E. Childs has monopoly Of snake
cultivation and the pr oduction Of rattle
snake oil in Arkansas. a which state is 10
Gated what is known through that coun-
try as the Childs snake farm. This pecu-
liar and unenvied enter prise Is situated in
the suburbs of this lit lie village in the
northeastern part of the state, where
snakes, especially rattlers, are found in
abundance.
The manner in which the rattlesnakes
are caught and handled Is enough to make
cold chills run over persons who are timid.
Twenty-Five cents to one dollar per pound
for rattlesnakes, however, makes it an in
dueement for the natives who live near q
good market to hunt ano catch rattlers for
a livelihood, and here is now they do It:
Two men in search for profit in the
snake industry go together. One of them
carries long forked pole, or cane, and
when snake is found this pole is used to
hold the reptile to the ground, which is
done by pressing the pole down upon the
snake just back of the head The other
snake hunter carries s5rong cord, which
is looped over the head of the poisonous
prey and is then used for carrying the rep
| tile TO market, which, however, Is done
| without injury to the snake. Other hunt
ers use the pole in the way described, but
instead of bringing their captives to
| market by means of the string they use a
box which has sliding lid, and which can
the cooped up RATHER.
When the snake catchers arrive at the
| residence of Mr.. Childs tn latter, in q care
fal, L. 81 .,%
and if a box of rattlers, for instance, is
brought to him, he removes the lid of the
| box and takes the snake wild from the
woods out just as one would reach in for
and take hold of rabbit The RATHER, as
soon as the top of this cage has been taken
| off, sets up continuous rattle and Kisses
fearfully. Mr.. Childs, however, pays NO
attention to this little rae et, but simply
| takes the snake TO his farm, weighs it, pays
the catcher and is then ready for a repeti-
Jion of the act. A good big rattlesnake will
| weigh from six to ten pounds, and il fat
| will be worth nearly or quite as many dol.
| lars.
| The size of the snake farm is about halt
an acre, with tightly closed pen in its
center, which is the abiding place of the
snakes. Here the ugly reptiles are KEEP,
and fattened, and when they are ready t.
be put under process for the production OF
oil the reptiles heads are neatly chopped
off and by means of string are tied, head
| upward, to the side of the pen where the
sun Is brightest The heat of the sun, 1t |.
said, causes the oil of the snakes to drit
out and it is caught in a receptacle and laiG
aside TO be subsequently sold at from 81 81
TO 81 an ounce or from $50 to $50 pint
Mr.. Childs is said to be the only genuine
producer of rattlesnake oil IN this country
When quite young he her,ied in Dakota
and here it was that he for med the friend
ship of Mathematics friendship which
he states, has grown until now he vii
pick up a RATHER wild from his den with
us little fright as he gathers the innocen
rabbits and toads which he constantly feed
TO his captives.-Harrisburg ARK Letter