Iowa County democrat. [volume] (Mineral Point, Wis.) 1877-1938, 1894-05-10


.Attcv man has spent ~ wears vi his
life catching snakes he knows what ho
is talking about 81 Fomau is IS wars
old, lie went into the business vi catch.
ing snakes when he WAS Is. He shows
evidence of what tho Insurance men
would call IAN extra hazardous voca-
ton" IN the shape of - or moro scars,
the result of wounds inflicted Ivy tho
tauES Nt reptiles These scars arr all
over his hody--on his legs ono ON his
jaw, under the eye where arattlor clip.
ped him and hung ono day, while the
back wi his hands look like CROWS nests
ot scars He is n rolorod man and has
the appearance ot having Indian blood
in his veins
AN snakes, said ST. "hlc music,
and this hanjo is the thing use to catch
them with suppose I'm in the woods
and see u rattlrSnHkr crawl down " ~,
phor hole | 81 to tho mouth ot tho hole
and play, and pretty soon hero comes
the old fellow crawling forth As soon
~ he gets outside | pick him up and
put him iii the bag II he's III tho open,
coilrd under n palmetto leaf, I'm moro
cautious About 30 feet otr sit down
and play, and the snake quickly uncoils
himself and rolls around over the ground
Ms if he enjoyed it, He rattlcS all tho
time, hut not rs loud rs he docs when
he means business and is giving you
warming to give him moro room. lgrad
ually approach, playing softer and soft
cr, and finally pick him up about tho
middle and slip him in the bag and 70
looking for another,
"a rattlesnako Is tho most poisonous
Of all the snakes in Florida His hitc
is suro death unless You have an anti
doto very handy. lvo got an mtidote,
though. and bite never troubles mo
now III tho least II iSso ctlicacious that
the wound hardly SwcllS won't down
and spent nearly two years among tho
Scmiuolos i'll tho Everglades to got ii.
and thCu ii was good luck Twas out in
the woods ono day with knotholc. Tho
old follow got bitten by II rattlcsnako,
and he started ut onco for his autidotc.
| followed him. for know what he was
looking for, He tried to conceal the plant
by crushing it down with his foot, but
picked ii up and told him that was
the thing to euro snake bites Ho re-.
marked that l was too much of an In
dian and must stay always in tho In
dian camp Tho plant not only cures
snake bite but tho stings of all kinds of
insects, and it snlso said to euro rabies.
"Wcll. to got back to snakes There
are two kinds of rattlers in Florida.
Ono is tho swamp RATHER and tho other
the highlander. Tho swamp snake has
a larger head and II thicker body and is
altogether heavier snake than his high
land brother His coat, too, is darker
and his diamonds brighter. He is moro
vicious and gives mighty littlo timo for
you to move when he sounds tho alarm.
'RattlcsnakrS arc very casy to tame.
Let mo handle them for about four days,
and they know mo and mako no effort
whatever to bite. | don't take the fnngs
out, for what's tho use? In two weeks
they grow out again big enough To kill
you and in six weeks are M big rs they
ever were. hnNo heard people say that
II rattlcsnnl,o gets his poison from II
plant, but it = all nonsense It's in Thorn,
for ] find those II year in captivity arc
just IA deadly as when fresh from the
woods.
"rho biggest rattlcsnake over saw |
caught up here by Pnlatlth He was 10
feet / inches long, weighed 3S pounds
and had o. rattlcS, | had him in n pit
there in the yard for n long time, A
heavy rain came once and filled tho pit
up with water, and he drowned. mado
n vest out of his skin Pm afraid I'll
never got another snake like that, " and
81 sighed to think what he had lost.
"Si how far does II rattcsnako striker"
"Somo people say he strikes his
length, and others declare that no can
Jump more than his length, but I've
watched them closely, and know they
are wrong. A rnttcsnakp can't get far
thcr than the length of twocoilS, That's
about half his length. "
Where do you find most Of tho rat.
tiers"
Fort George is II great place Cor
liltilI, hDlo ~ 'ulplIHI Bp'el lI'I'l, "Illib
all down the coast In the scrub there are
thousands Then in the hummoclls and
swamps you Will find plenty, and IN the
pine woods, where there are gopher
holes A rattlcsnaic likes gopher hole
It's "A nice snug place, and he lives there
with tho coachwhip, the gopher and tho
gopher snake in 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 aud enemy Of them all, and he
kills all he can and eats them, too, If
they are not too large The king snake
isn't afraid to tackle anything that
csawls I've seen one kill rattlcsnallo
almost twice az big ~ he was. The
king snake craw!s silently up TO where
tho RATHER is doing and grabs him with
his mouth BY the jaws, - that the rat
tier cant possibly use his fanRs. Then,
in the twiukling Of M eye, he coils him
self around his enemy and tightcns his
coils and stretches them until you can
hear the bones crack When he leaves,
the RATHER Is like "A jelly Florida
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