Iowa County democrat. [volume] (Mineral Point, Wis.) 1877-1938, 1893-07-28
THE PUFF ADDER.
Some of His Capers Among the People
and Animals Of South America.

and Animals Of South America.
South America is what herpetolo-
glsts call erich in snakes" and es-
pecially in puff adders, which, on ac-
count of their size, are among the
most dangerous. At this season
scarcely a day passes without q puff
adder incident being recorded. And
in consequence of the towns spread
ing sparsely over wild districts, with
| detached residences and extensive
gardens, it is no uncommo on occurrence
to see puff adder meandering down
the ''street." Happily, in the ma,
jority of cases, the people know how
to avoid them or deal with them,
but, notwithstanding presence of
mind and good courage, fatalities do
occur says the Philadelphia Press.
An intelligent school-boy, near where
! [ was staying last November, was in
yestigating an ant hill. and put q
stick into q hole, when a pun adder
AN unsupported occupant-struclx
at and bit him On the arm. The
boy, 2 years Of age, was nearly q
mile from his home, whittier he
fastened, sucking the wound as he
went. The wound was promptly scar
flied and ammonia was applied, but
the poor fellow died in a few hours.
The delayed treatment in this case
aggravated the danger.
The reptile even gets into houses
sometimes, as do the cobra5 OF India.
A gentleman, Mr.. j. B. Bower, was
walking across his diningroom when
he felt something knock against him,
and, looking down, he found a puff
adder hanging on to his trousers.
1t had struck at him, but moss
proTldentially the fangs had caug ht
only the garment. The ast0nished
wearer, to shake off the reptile, per-
formed, as he afterward declared,
1.-The most vigorous hornpipe that
ever was danced" until he got free
Of the snake, which was then quickly
despatched. Dogs become frequent
victims through their keen sense of
smell and their determination to in
vestigate. One splendid large dog
and two fox-terriers met with their
death last summer near Port Eliza
beth through the bite of puff adders
Though there are other highly VEN
omous and equally abundant snakes
at the Cape, they are more of the
active cobra kind. while the puff
adders are extremely sluggish and
inactive reptiles, which do not get
out of the way, but lie half hidden
among the heritage or among roots
and stones, with which they assimi-
late in color. By their hiss they be-
tray themselves when danger
threatens. and that is ALL A very
remarkable circumstance occurreI
at Port Elizabeth, where a puff
adder was actually in the bed of a
sleeping lady. That it did not bite
her can only be accounted for by the
fact that it could not do SO. It was
under the bed clothes and had no
space for action. The lady had a
pet cat who was allowed to sleep IL
her room
One night, when too much asleep
to aranse herself, she was yet con-
scioh. of something on her chest,
but supposing it was only her cat,
she did not bestir and arouse herself,
but fell off again into deep slumber.
In the morning she saw puss asleep
on chair, where she had settled
herself the previous night, aud a
puff adder in her bed Happily,
these great deadly serpents are not
aggressive and do not attack unless
provoked. The sleeping lady was
also unaggressive, which fact, added
to the cramped-up position of the in
truder, insured her life.