Arizona weekly enterprise., 1890-07-12
A BATTLE ROYAL.
COMBAT BETWEEfl 4 CHA MONSTER
 AND SNAKES.
The Monster Kills the Snakes with It's Poisonous Breath---Interesting De-
 tails of the Combat.
From the Cincinnati Enquire

Zoo yesterday.
 It was fight, desperate conflict. be. tween a fierce and vicious rattlesnake and a venomous, and perhaps more poisonous copperhead.
 It wound up with d contest with the Gila monster, who vanquished by his poisonous breath both contestants.
 As is well known, all snakes during the winter season go into a state of hiberna- tion. In other words. skin forms over them which excludes all air, and from which in early spring, or just before the mating season, they crawI-in country parlance, ''shed their skin"
 Separate cages are not usually provid- ed for the members of the snake tribe. as it is found they generally agree well to- gather unless provoked by the bangs of hunger or irritated during the mating season, hence a copperhoed and rattle snake who all winter had lam undisturb- ed in opposite corners of the large glass cage of the reptile quarters were left to- | gether The rattlesnake shed its coat, an elegant satin-white sheath, transparent and resembling oil paper, some weeks l ago, and since then has eaten voraciously several white rats that have been put into the cage. The copperhead came quietly out of his scales Friday evening. and af- 1 ter his long fast moved about with con siderable activity, and at last climbed the leahess tree branch that ornaments the cage, and in whose crotch a boa-constric- tor spends most of his time sleeping of his gorges and eating orgies. Some time since venomous lizard, known as the | Gila monster, and found only ill the Vi cinlty of the Giia river, Arizona sleepy, motionless, plethoric reptilian of the liz ard tribe. who lies in the sand motion less for most of the time had been placed in this cage, so that fresh sand and more attractive box could be made for it. When the keeper, about 10 clock, took a pink-eyed, sleek white rat and put it into the cage for the rattlesnake's dinner he was astonished to see the copperhead | glide swiftly down from the tree branch and sinuogsly wind himself toward the unsuspecting white rat which remained motionless, seemingly unconscious of the danger that lay in wait for him. The rat tlesnake lay coiled within few feet from the rat, which his keen eyes soon saw His head at once arose a foot or Is inches l above his body, his gleaming eyes shIn- ing with an unusual brightness, while his | fangs darted back ana forth with light | LII StCOlAl. dliQ DSlOIt the copperhead reached the rat, the rat tlesnake was up and darted its fangs ovel the rat striking the copperhead in the neck The rat, frightened at the music of tie rattlers, or possibly touched by the rattler in going over, fled to corner O the cage. The copperhead at once ap peared to realize the situation, and, wind ing around in a circuit, first to the righ and then to the left, before the rattle had time to make another spring, gave the rattlesnake sharp thrust in the side The rattler felt the pain, for 1t was up al most standing on its tail and striking il all directions, while the coppeIhead dodg | ed, apparently trying to approach tht rattler from the rear. This parleying, O reoonnoiteripg, continued fer some sec ond5, when both snakes came together the copperhead winding its coils around the rattlesnake's neck and the latter dart ing its fanss into the copperhead,s- -hsd, 1 like a tr1p-haiDnitI-
 Round and round the rattler the cop perhead colled, every now and then dart ing it's fapgs into the white, yetlowish bell, of the rattler Both snakes were nov clasped in a deadly embrace, and rolled about in the sand their blood crimsonin, everything near them, and their bodie swelling into nut-shaped bumps, showin. where the venomous poison of the enrageC reptiles had taken effect They rolle( and ttlmbled and lashed each other as onl, snakes can. It seemed as if they wer trying to crush and break each other bones, and in their contortions bot monsters drew near the Gila lizard, anC their tails viciously lashed its body swollen to corpulency.
 The monster rose and stirred himselt His sleepy eyes appeared to recognize tn danger, and he sluggishly moved a feV inches. At last both snakes. in their fury rolled upon the monster. and it was sool in the embrace of both snakes Then tn fun began. The snakes squeezed tn Gila and the monster retnrted by ruunn out its tongue against the bodies of th snakes. What effect this produced it wa hard to tell, but the motions of the snake grew more vicious, and the Gila seeme
 to have awakened from its torpor and dis played an agility and power of craving o slipping through the tightening em
 braces of the snakes that one who ha
 watched the motionless monster for hour would not give it credit for
 Now 1t was out and on both snakes
 Now It would reEreat | few inches ffo1
 them, and opening its mouth swell il , sides to an enormous size and belch ou its breath upon them. Then again ge
 ting on top of them it would run out ii furred tongue and lap or rasp their side
 The effect was soon to be perceived. Th , bodies of the snakes jerked spasmodicall, as child jumps ln conYqlsioGs CT do jumps who has been polsoned wit strychnine. They no longer ran out the hut h,,1- ia1, ,I T
 still in each others embrace, and aft I or two perfectly motiopless, their eyt | | closed,
 The Gila continued swelling and bloy 5 ing its poisonous breath upon the snake at every whiff of which their sinuol lengths coiled up and then straightene out spasmodically. At last they ocean disentangled, and the copperhead Ia l stretched out, its body lacerated vii ! bleeding pointed wounds 10 larger thG , pin-heads, but swollen to the size of wa ,, ,, nuts and having a dark yellowish watel 2 appearance. The copperhead breathed ' If in deaths agony, and finally lay gui U . and moved no more.
 Not so the rattlesnake. With tn i peculiarity which marks the entire triI of rattlesnakes, this fellow appeared ' realize that it's end was near, and raisi1 its head, bent over and plunged its fan 7, repeatedly, blow after blow, quick al fast, into its own body Its yellow bel
 become black and dark in spots, and E last the Glla approached to within Il Il couple of inches of its head, and swe ,l ing twice its size opened its jaws al .e poured forth blast of poisonous breat -i li Slowly, like the dropping of curta u the eyelids of the rattler closed; its lo1 II slin)y form, blood -hedraggled in the sar Il lay motionless. It gave one muscul e snap of its body, and then lay dead. T . ,n Gila wagged its tall and crawled slow l. after the white rat, but the latter nimt
 hoped to an opposite corner, and seem
 to have no trouble in keeping out of |
 lizards way. Yhs Glia in future will
 allowed to have private quarters of
 own, and 1t is not probable that any a s- nal at the garden, neither the toma ve hued mandrill, nor the snoozing boa-cC of strictor nor the large -jawed alligat
 will wish to occupy a boudoir with {
 horrid, deadly -breathed Gila monst D. whose poison is the most deadly of a at animal known to science.
 1n l.. D. Chillson came in yesterday fir n- the Old Hat Mining District He repo