The Wichita daily eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1890-1906, 1893-07-15
RATTLESNAKES ARE UGLY.
An Old Hunter Relates Some of His Expo-
riences With the Deadly Reptiles.

riences With the Deadly Reptiles.
"The rattlesnake. like the skunk"
said an old rattlesnake hunter. minds
its own business and doesn't interfere
with any other creature, unless il is
molested. In an old wood road one
spring | got sight of rattiesnake and
q pheasant near together. The pleas
ant was picking seeds on the ground
and the snakes eyes were glittsring at
1t from the center of its coil. so | kept
back, expecting to see the RATHER strike
at the bird, in case it came nearenough.
| soon noticed that the pheasant was
crippled. bat that it picked all around
the rattlesnahe, as though it didn't see
it, although the snake moved is head
and eyed the bird. When the pheasant
had limped around in front of the
snake it was not more than quar-
ter of the snakes length away from
the coil, but the RATHER didn't stir,
and the bird continued to feed.
with its tail toward the snake. All of
a sudden a wildcat pounced on the
pheasant from the side of the road, and
just as suddenly the RATHER shot out its
head. struck its fangs in the wildcats
left shoulder, and coiled again. The
wildcat leaped into the air with "a
scream, the pheasant fiuttered into the
brush. and the snake struck again Just
as the wildcat came down. hitting it in
the ribs. The wildcat sprang upon
log. and began TO bite its side. and the
RATHER threw itself into coil and
glared at it. In moment the wildcat
gave a cry. jumped down and started
to run around the snake. kissing and
splitting till the RATHER struck again,
but failed to reach. 1t cOiied once
more, and like flash the wildcat got
its teeth in the back OF its neck. rem
dering the snake powerless to use its
fangs, and while the RATHER was wrile-
ing the wildcat ripped its body into
strips with It's hind claws. Then the
wildcat got upon the log and began 10
lick its shoulder, bat in three on four
minutes it tumbled off, had spasIp or
two. and stretched out as dead as the
snake was.
while engaged in killing many hum
dreds of rattiesnakes for their oil, the
ttlu iiitlAEE ddAtu- 1 nGNt }ttAtl Ettn
but one fight between a RATHER and a
blacksnalSe, and that battle ended very
differently from some of the fights my
friends ten about having witnessed be
tween the same kind of reptiles The
rattlesnake was stretched ont on "A
rock, under sumaeh limb, and As
approached to pin il down. il threw IL
self into "a coil and raised its head
toward the sumach, in the top of which
there was blacksnake. | had heard
so much about the ability Of the black
snake To break RATHER all up that l
backed off in the expectation Of seeing
it done with my own eyes. The black
snake soon dropped its head and bout
two feet Of its body from the limb di-
reetly over the rattlesnake where il
remained stationary, the two snakes
cycling one another like Ramecoks
ready for battle In a short time
the blscksnake let Us head
swing from right To left, and at
that the rattlesnake buzzod a
little, ran ont its tongue and moved its
head. 50 as 10 keep track Of the black
snakes movements. White swinging
the blaeksnake lowered itself little
further. and when the heads Of the two
were al bout three feet apart the black
snake Sid from the tree 50 quickly that
couldn't zee how IL did il. and in the
next instant the jaws ~ the two were
locked and the RATHER was pounding
the blacksnske on the rock ~ fast and
furiou>lv that the blscksnake bad no
chance To coil itself around It's autago-
Eisi II was plain that the ratt.ssnske
had fastened its fAna,s ia the black
ara%es under jaw when the blacksuase +
tried to seize il by the neck, and that il !