St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1892-06-10
WAY OUT IN FRESNO.
The Habits of the Effete East
Don't Prevail Out
There.
The Rattlers Hunt Hogs In
stead Of Hogs Hunting
Rattlers.
The Porkers Rounded Up In
Droves and Picked Off at
Leisure.
A Tall Snake Story From
the Land Of Tall
Trees.

"Among the odd things that have been
told so much that everybody is familiar
with them,' said a Californian to the
New York Sun, sis the one that the
deadly venom of the rattlesnakes has no
effect on hogs. Now l don't know
whether the poison bags of rattlesnakes
that have their habitat in Fresno
county, CAL, are filled with venom of
greater power than the poison rattle
snakes of other regions have or whether
the hogs of other localities have weaker
constitutions than the hogs of Fresno
county have, but know that hogs are
Just picnic for Fresno county rattle
snakes.
Here in the East, as have read
many and many time, the fayorlte
amusement and recreation of hogs that
live in communities where the rattle
snake abounds is the hunting down and
destroying of these deadly reptiles, the
hogs going in among them win as
much nonchalance as II they were en-
tering corn crib, tearing the reptiles
to pieces. and devouring them all but
the heads. l had an old Pennsylvania
backwoods friend once who often told
me, with tears in his eyes, how he had
to kill a valuable brood sow OF his,
because of her persistence IN hunting
and destroying rattleSnakes to that ex-
tent that the locality was in danger or
being entirely depOpulated OF the rep
tiles, which would have seriously at
fected the income of my friend, as the
rattlesnakes in his bailiwick yielded
him a snug sum annually from their Oil
and skins. He tried to train the sow to
fetch the snakes home that she killed
and deliver them over to him, put sne
wouldn't have it that way, and SO he
had to kill her to prevent a snake
famine.
Fleeing From the Rattlers.
"But it is different out in Fresno
county. The hogs out there don't hunt
rattlesnakes. Rattlesnakes hunt the
hogs. If you should ever be in that
garden spot of occidental chimes and
Should see hog tearing over the plain
like small cyclone, its eyes hanging
out, its tail curled up like a corkscreW
and its whole bearing indicative or an
Overpowering wish to get out OF the wet
somewhere, you need have no appre-
benslon. Not for yourself. mean. You
NAV have some for the hog if you want
to. for not far behind it, and surely
gaining on it, you will see rattlesnake
Sliding along like a streak of creased
lightning, his head raised about six
inches from The ground and his glitter
Ing eyes on the flying hog.
1T will be something out of the COM
mon if that hog gets home with his life,
for even if it is in fair way to escape
from the pursuing rattleSnake, the
chances are that it will find itself am
buscaded by others. II you see the hog
stop suddenly in its wild flight and tack
off from its course one way or the other,
you may know that an accompllce OF
=, the pursuing snake has risen up IN IionI
of the hog and barred its way in that d.
rectlon. Then if the hog stops suddenly
again in the new course it was forced to
take and make break in another direc-
ton. YOU may safely bet that third
rattlesnake has as much as said to the
beleaguered pOrker that he can come on
if he likes, but he may not like II. ana
so. if YOU see the hog try every point OF
the compass and stop short at every one,
and at last stand still and snort and
soueal and frOth and tremble, make up
your mind that escape has Deen cut OH
on every side by rattlesnaKes ana ne
will be dead hog i'll Jltfy, Tor ne Will
have the fangs of one of the snakes III
his jugular before you can count ten,
and he lies down, swells up ike toad-
FISH and passes away.
~ have heard of band of these hog
hating rattlesnakes of Fresno county
rounding whole droveS of hogs and
driving them up the hills and imprison-
Ing them among the rocks, where the
snakes would amuse themselves by
picking their victims off at their leisure,
make Them run the gantlet of long rows
of snakes and have other flendish fun
with them. The snakes don't eat the
hogs, for even Fresno county rattle
snake has not capacity enough to gulp
down anything larger than rabbit
They simply seem to have an uncon-
trollable and deadly hatred for swine,
and kill them just because they hate
them"
Bears Plentiful I'm Pennsylvania
alt NAV sound strange and improb-
able" said Phin Anderson. veteran
Woodsman of Northwestern Pennsyl-
yania, "but it is fact, nevertheless;
that bears are becoming more plentltul
every year in the lumber regions OF
PENNSYLVANIA. l have theory to eX-
plain this which may seem parad0Xlcal,
but believe it is correct, all the same.
There are more bears today In Plke,
Monroe. Clinton, Potter and other back
woods counties in Pennsylvania than
there were forty years ago, for the rea-
son that the woods have gradually dis
anneared. l have been laughed at
scores of times for advancing such
theory. but no one in the backwoods de-
MES that bears are more plentiful, and
certainly no one can deny that woods
are much less in area than forty years
ago.
sit is very plain to me. When the
timber was thick the bears were COM
PEELED to skirmiSh more for food ana
had to dependsto great extent on roots
and bark on the rather Scanty supplies
which the sheepfOlds and pigstleS OF
the scattered settlers afforded. Inc
clearing away of the woods has been
foIiowed bv the appearance in limitless
areas of all kinds of berries, which bears
especially relish, and on which they
thrive. While bringing about such
condition, the cutting away OF the tim
Der has in no way affected the cnar-
acter of the dense swamps. in the con-
fines of which bears find safe places
for hiding and eluding dogs and hunt-
ers and tor bringing forth and rearing
their young. The rocky lodges, with
their rayines and cavernS, still remain,
and there the bears find winter LARS as
secure and comfortable as they were
when the forest grew above them. Be
sides, the clearing up OF the forests
makes room for a large collection OF
sheep pasture and pigsties, and thus
adds TO the field for forage.
"You NAV set it down for fact that
bears in Pennsylvania and not only in
Pennsylvania, but in every Eastern
state where bears are found are more
numerous and bigger and fatter, than
thew were in your grandfathers' days,
and will keep on being that way longer
than any one on earth will live."
AGreat Country for Owls.
81 suppose that the greatest place for
owls on this continent is the Craig
mountain region in Idaho" said New
Yorker who has been looking over that
country lately. "There are owls in
that region not much bigger than a
robin, and others that can show seven
foot spread of wing. There are white
owls, red owls, spotted owls and striped
owls; owls that go about i'll the day
II IL II nj -, aar,