The Republican. [volume] (Oakland, Md.) 1877-current, 1894-08-16
AN EXPENSIVE LESSON.
He Paid to Find Out that BIacksnakes Are
Fond of Wildcats


bounty Of two dollars head on wild
cats then. said Uncle Joe Vondersmith.
OF York county. Pennsylvania, 1t
wouldn't have cost me a cent to learn
that blacksnakes We're fond of wildcats.
As 1t was, it cost me twenty dollars
But S pose the knowledge | got was
worth the price
Il used to peddle through the lower
counties and down through Maryland.
| Those are great districts for snakes, es-
pecially blaclSsnakes and copperheads
It's fun to see folks doing their having
down through there, especially when
they loading it after it is cut and
cured. A man will take upa forlzful of
dried grass, but he won't pitch it on the
wagon right away He gives it three
or four peculiar shakes to rattle the
snakes out of it. If four or five copper
heads don't tumble out the man ant
satisfied and gives the hay another
shake. It's worth going a long journey
to see EN- load hay down there.
They never speak about big black
v
of it, because there ant any little
blacksnalles, At least you never see
one, unless you call one nine feet long a
little one. They don't run much finer
than that. If one is killed smal Her than
that it is toted around as curiosity.
1t was in that stretch of territory that
| learned to talk intelligently about the
Partially of blacl1snaies for wildcats.
| was driving along one day through a
scrubby piece of woods near the York
county border, and hearing a peculiar
noise at the side of the road l got out
of my wagon to investigate. In a hol-
low stump found nine wildcat kittens
almost as big as full-grown house cats.
"'Ila. ha.' | says. Here's eighteen
dollars for me. sure enough
''While was busy appropriating the
scrambling and scratching young cats,
out of the woods came the mother of the
litter, and made right for me. put
two or three pistol balls into her. and
that was all there was of the fight"
Have to call it twenty dollars now
| says, and tumbled the old eats car
cass into the wagon, and put the nine
kittens in by her. They snuggled
down as meek as mice, and | started
on, feeling good.
81 had gone mile or so when hap
pened to look back along the road and
saw big black streak coming toward
me like hurricane. | knew what it
was in second. 1t was one of the IA
nous blacksnakes of that district. |
put whip to my horse, thinking might
get away from my pursuer. but didn't
know the qualities of those snakes
This one closed up the space between
us so fast that he was almost at the
hind wheels of my wagon before my
horse had run five rods. | thought. of
| course, that the snake wanted me. and
| quickly turned over in my mind what
was best to be done to save myself.
Having often read of travellers pursued
by wolves tossing dogs and other things
from their sleds as sop to the wolves,
thus gaining time and distance. hap
py thought struck me, and | grabbed a
wildcat kitten and tossed it out to this
snake to see how it would work. 1t
worked first rate. The snake stopped.
| whipped up my horse. Looking back
| saw the snake getting ready to en-
velop the kitten and ! thought | was
saved. But just then out of the woods
at one side of the road whizzed another
blacksnake as big as the first and went
to climbing right up into the wagon.
| grabbed another kitten and chucI<ed
it out, and had to groan little. for it
was another two-dollar contribution to
snakes.
Then away I went again, hoping to
save the rest of the prize money. BY
and by | looked back to see how the
land lay. 1t wasn't laying at all. 1t
was all torn up by four more immense
blacksnakes, which We're putting in
their best ticks to catch me, not more
than a hundred yards in the rear
threw another kitten out surprising
the four snakes would stop and have a
squabble for it. But they didn't. One
got it, and the other three came right
on. And more snakes came out of the
woods and joined in the chase saw
it was no use, and so stood up. nv
horse going at full jump and fed them
snakes wildcat kittens Until the whole
nine We're gone, and | was eighteen
dollars out.
81 was pretty near out of the woods
by this time l could see the clearings
right ahead,
LII save the old dead cat by gum.
| says, and clean up two dollars out of
this, anyhow
But was overhauled by a trernen-
dous big blacksnake before got to the
end of the woods and | knew by the
hump on him that he had at least two
of the kittens inside of himself already.
l had to give up the old cat. and went
out of those woods into the clearing a.
humming. | looked back and saw the
whole caboodle of snakes having a
grand old gh-and-tumble over the
body of the mother wildcat, but didn't
stay to see how it came out. SO
found out by personal observation that
blacllsnakes are fond of wild cats. but
it cost me twenty dollars. ~. Y. Sun.