The Roanoke times. [volume] (Roanoke, Va.) 1890-1895, 1894-05-05
SNAKES IN FLORIDA.
A MAN WHO HAS CAUGHT THEM FOR
rWENrY-ElGHr YEARS.

Ho ChaEIns Them With N banjo nnd Cures
IAtes With u Northumberland Arc
Easy 10 Tansc--Jgho King Snake IL q King
Indoed-Tho Niggest IsattisN.
After MAD has spent 30 years Of bis
life catching snakes be knows what no
is talking about 81 Foman Is Is yeors
old Ho went into tho business Of cstoh-
ing snakes when he was 10. He shows
cvidence Of what tho Insurance Iheu
would call ION extra hazardous vooa-
ton" III tho shape Of rs or more scars,
the result Of wounds inflicted By the
fangs Of reptiles These aoars ore all
over his body-on his logs, one on ds
jaw, under the eye, where rather clip
ped him and hung one day. while the
back Of his hands look like crows nests
of scars He Is o colored man and hos
tho appearance OF having Indian blood
in his veins
Cali snakes" said 81, .1hke mustc,
and this banjo Is the thing nse tooatch
them with. Suppose I'm in the woods
and see sattlesnake crawl down o 30
'pher hole ! go to tho mouth Of tho hole
and play, and pretty soon here comes
the old fellow crawling forth IA coon
Ias no gets outside I pick him up and
pat him In tho bag II ha's in the open,
,coiled under n palmetto Leaf. I'm moro
cautioua About 30 feet off 7 sit down
and play, and the snake quickly unooils
himself and rolls around over tho ground
as if he enjoyed It He rattlos all the
,tima, but not as loud as DO does when
he means business and L. giving you
warning to give him moro roo1n4 I@ad-
ually approach, playing softer and soft-
er, and finally I pick him up about the
middle and slip him in tho bog and 20
looking for another.
A ratt1esnake is the most poisonous
Of all the snakes In Florida His bite
is sure death unless you havo an anti
doto very handy. I've got am antidote,
though, and O bite never troubles me
now in tho least 1t is so eHlcacious that
the wound hardly swella went down
and spent nearly two years among the
Seminolos In the Everglades to got 10,
and then 1t was good luck was out in
tho woods one day with Knothole. Tho
old fellow got bitten by rattleenaka,
and he started ut onco for his antidota.
l followed him, for know what no was
looking for. He tried to conceal tho plant
by crushing 1t down with his foot but
I picked it up and told him that was
the thing to euro snake bites Ho TO
marked That I was too much Of an In
dian and must stay always In the In
dian camp Tho plant not only cures
snake bite, but tho st1ngs of all kinds of
insects, and it is also said to euro rabies.
m 70
arc two kinds of rattlers In Florida
Ono Is the swamp rnttler and tho other
tho highlander. The swamp snake has
larger head and thicker body and is
altogether n heavier snake than his high
land brother. His coat, too, Is darker
and his diamonds brighter. Ho Is more
vicious and gives mighty little time for
you to movo when he sounds tho alarm.
'RattlcsnnkeS arc very cosy to tame
Let mo handle them for about four days,
and they know me and make no effort
whatever to bite I don't take the fangs
out, for what's tho use? In two weeks
they grow out again big enough to kill
you, and In six weeks arc as big as they
ever were have heard people say that
rattlcsnake gets his poison from O
plant, but it's oil nonsense It's In them,
for 1 find those year In captivity are
just as deadly as when fresh from the
woods
'"The biggest rattlesnake ever saw l
caught up here by Palatlia He was 10
feet / inches long, weighed 39 pounds
and had 56 rattles. had him In pit
thcro in tho yard for long tima A
heavy rain came onco and filled tho pit
up with water, and he drowned. made
vest out of his skin. I'm afraid I'll
never get another snake like that" and
81 sighed to think what he had lost.
'Si how far does rattlesnale striko?"
Some people say he strikes his
length, and others declare that he can
jump more than his length, but I've
watched them closely, and I know they
arc wrong. A rattlcsnal1o can't get far
ther than the length of two coils. That's
about half his length"
"Whero do You find most Of tho rat
tlcrs?"
Fort George is q great place for
them Pablo is another good field, while
all down the coast i'll the scrub there arc
thousands Then i'll the hummocks and
swamps you will find plenty, and in the
pine woods where there are gopher
holes 4 rattlesnako likes gopher hole.
It's nice snug place, and he lives there
with the coachwhip, the gopher and the
gopher snake i'll perfect harmony.
But the great snake, the smart snake,
the snake you can educate to perform
tricks, is the king snake, and he's the
king and enemy Of them all, and he
kills all he can and eats them, too, if