Huntsville gazette., 1890-05-03
SOME FLORIDA SNAKES.
The Rather is a Gentleman In Compar1-
son With the Moccasin.


son With the Moccasin.
He was typical Cracker" and when
one of our party asked him if he had
ever had any real adventures he dis
played unwonted animation.
''Waal," said he, I'll allow was
skeert. once. Turned my ha'r white in a
minnit. was coming out er Water Oak
hammick when jist as / struck solid
ground-put my right fut down within
two inches of the biggest damon back
ever seen in these parts-an' its gum on
snakes. He ratified an l jumped, but
afore he was fairly coiled had Betsey
up an put er ball thru his head. He
measured eight feet-I've got his skin
ter hum, an can show it ter ye if ye
misdoubt my word. F,sf,
Snakes? Waal, l reckon Fust OF
all is the damon back rattlesnake
you call him. He's bottled hell fire.
When he strikes it's like chained light
ming. Their amt any help for ye; ye're
a dead man. Only the other day an In
dian was huntin' on the Kissimmee
river; an was struck three times by a
damon back. He was dead inside of
half an hour. These little groun' rat
tiers that lie in the ,piney woods, hev
seen their bite cured. Big doses of
whisky II do it. But never knew the
bite of a rale old damon back, such as
lie in the moist ground nigh the bay
heads, cured 'cept onct. A negro hand
was cuttin' cane in the cane fields
around st. Cloud an was bit in the
IL ~, 4
ter Kissimmee, six miles, an it TUX
two hours tew bring him thar. By that
time the mans leg was swelled ter
twice its material size, an the swollen
was creepin' up his body. Doc lowed
there was no time to lose. He'd brought
erlong er sum kind O. cure for snake
bites, an he used it. Directions said
give teaspoonful an no NOAH. He
guv' teaspoonful an the swellin stop
ped. Then, as the man was nigh dead,
he guv' i'm another, an the swellin' be-
gun to go down; he guv' i'm third an
next morning the niger was we'll. 1
brut back bottle er that remedy. an
next snake bite l hear Nv mean ter try
it. No, ther amt many damon backs
rOun here. Theirs three critters that
lows ter destroy 'em-deer, hogs and
black snakes-an' all on ems plentiful
in this country. Whenever deer meet a
damon back they're boun' ter kill i'm
eff it's possibility. l seed an old buck
do it in onct. He went jumpin' toward
him on all fours at onct, and er rattler
strikin' all er time, so when er buck
landed on his coil he had no pisen left,
an 'er buck cut him ter pieces with his
sharp hoofs in no time. Ginerally
there's three or four deer attacks to-
gether. Hogs hunt 'em down and kill
'em much er same way, only they ] is err
which does 'em no damage. After kill
in 'em, hogs eat 'em. A black snake
ginerally kills the damon back by
jumpin' on him an stranglin' him.
Beautiful critter, this damon back.
His back is jist er row er damon shaped
figgers CLOWN with every sort er color,
an a-lookin' into his eye when he's lit
tie excited shows you the most wonderful
picters ever painted. A lady in Tampa s
hevin' dress made of rattiers' skins.
''But the damon back is gintleman
side o the moccasin," continued the
raconteur, shifting his quid to the other
cheek. This fust-named alters gives
notice afore he strikes, so: Whrrr. But
the moccasin lies low in the tussock, an
strikes when yer thinkin' i'm a thousan'
miles off. kin cure his bite, though.
My boys has got two little hound pups
they think er heap ov. They was all
down playir' er. side Rio Water Lake
t'other day., when one ov er pups run
squar on tremenjus big moccasin. He
was as big roun' as yer leg, stranger.
I'll low he was. He bit the pup, and
afore l got hum at night twas all up
with him. If I'd been ther' l could er
cured him. Jist take wet gun-powder
an bind it ter er bite, The pisenll take
it in er minnit-make it hard as stone.
Ye keep bindin' it on till it stops cakin'
an the wounds cured.
Eyes, there's other kinds O. snakes.
There's the -bullsnake, SO called, reck-
on, cause he's got er neck like bull.
An the pilot snake. Dan Budd killed
one out yere this mawnin'. Looks jest
like rattler, an is sort ov pilot fur
'em. Wen We see one roun' you can cal
kerlate a damon back amt fur off.
The curiesest snake, tho, is the hoop
snake, critter that Jest takes his. tail
in his mouth an rolls toward ye like er;
hoop. He has er sharp horn in the tip
of his tail that he strikes with" .s.
Why" said l, that's identical with
the hoop-snake of Georgia. One Of
them rolled for Major up there the
other day, struck at him and missed,
and his sting went so far into a gum
tree that he could not draw it out, and
SO hung there until he died.
The Cracker looked at me cufiously.
"Waal stranger, I'll low ye TUX the
words right out ov my mouth. saw
that same. thing done onct over in the
Gulf hammick when l was on hunt for
panther an bar. Only it was me he
cum fer, an he stuck his horn in 'er
cypers stead Of a gum tree" a
At this point the Cracker betook him
self off on his hunt, and we strolled
back to the inn, keeping bright look
out for the s'diamon' back" which might