The Progress., 1893-12-23
MOtR'S AXE SrORy

e"o "i i"r RATHER lie Set,
N5'usht Town In M.Iic..
81 have before stated that was q
t,lehu 10 the snake, and especially to
She rattlesnake," said John Nuir
tne noted scientist and discoyerer Of
the great Muir glaciers in Alaska to
San francisco Examiner renorter
Ihls may sound strange TO Won. &c
IL apparently has to others that
nave told it to, but | cannot helm
mat II l would and. candidly, l don't
thlnk l ought to if could
1.-The fact Is, the rattlesnake Is a
much maligned animal. Most people
think he is lying around all the time
on the watch to see whom he can
olte. 1t isn't so. A rattler won't
bother anybody If he is let alone, and
ne Will always get away if he can.
81 had striking illustration OF
this one time in the Yosemite valley
when l was doing some engineering
work. 1t was midsummer, and the
pretty valley was all abloom with
varl-colored flowers. The grass was
knee-high. There were blue bell,
and yellow anemones, buttercups.
daisies, pansies innumerable and
many more.
1.-The scent of pines was In the air.
A gentle breeze was blowing, and
patches of shadow dotted here
and there the sunlit, flower
adorned valley. was walk
walking along, musing on the beauty
OF the scene, and with the sound of
the Yosemite and Vernal falls in
my ears,
'Looking over the verdure toward
the base of FL Captain, | saw pecu-
liar black mark, sticking straight up
against the horizon. At first il
looked like a stake, but l knew there
were no surveying stakes there. So
/ said to myself: This surely is a
snake, and in all probability a
rattler.
al stood and looked at him. He
was just as erect and still as though
he were stake driven in the ground.
l continued to stand and look, and
pretty soon / saw him move his head
slightly rs he examined into the
situation. Then / knew it was a
snake. He didn't know but | would
go for him, and was studying me
from safe point of vantage.
II remained and watched him. It
was interesting. The snake dis
played all the intelligence of man.
He grew more confident of his posi-
tion. pretty soon l walked over to-
ward him. Then he jerked down
into the grass and l couldn't see
him. All right said, and | kept
on walking. Before l got to where
he was l stopped and waited. He
didn't show up Immediately, but
stayed below some time.
"At length saw the merest object
like the end OF a stick above the
grass. 1t didn't move, and for a
moment | was inclined to think il
had always been there. and that till
now had overlooked it AS | stood
and watched. however. it heightened
out, and behold my old friend the
snake was there before me.
81 could see that he was a large,
/ handsome fellow, beautifully mottled.
| In colored flowers and green grass
he was exquisite. | walked toward
! him again, and then there was a
peculiar winding, wavy motion oi
grass, as OF the wind playing in 1t.
My friend was crawling away. had
a stick in my hand, and could have
overtaken and slain him, but | would
not do it
"I have had many experience:
with rattlers in the high Sierras
while on the United States geograph
ical survey, and have unexpected J
come across hundreds OF them. There
was always q skurrying to get out
OF sight. No; this experience with
the Yosemite great snake taught
me lesson. He is inquisitive and
curious, but that 10 all He won't
fight il you let him get away.