The herald. [microfilm reel] (Los Angeles [Calif.]) 1893-1900, 1894-05-05

A MAN VINO HAS CAUGHT THEM FOR
rweNTy-EleHT YEARS.

He Charms Them with Banjo and Cures
Bites with Weed mathematics Arc
Easy 10 Tame--The King Snake Is King
tndeed-rhe Biggest Rather.
After a man has spent 80 years of his
life catching snakes he knows what he
Is talking about 81 Fonan is 48 years
old. He went into Che business Of catch
ing snakes when he was IS. He shows
evidence OF what the insurance men
would cali Fan extra hazardous voca-
ton" in the shape Of rs or more scars,
the result of wounds inflicted by the
fangs Of reptiles Those scars are all
over his body--On his legs, one ON his
jaw, under the eye, where RATHER clip
! ped him and hung ono day, while the
back Of his hands look like crows nests
of scars He IL a colored man and has
the appearance Of having Indian blood
in his veins.
"All snakes, said 81, like music,
and this banjo Is the thing use 60 catch
them with. Suppose I'm IN the woods
and sec rattlesnake crawl down q 10
pher hole. go to the mouth Of the hole
and play, and pretty soon here comes
the old fellow crawling forth. As soon
as he gets outside ! pick him up and
put him in the bag. If he's In tho open,
coiled under o palmetto leaf. I'm more
cautious. About 30 feet off I cit down
and play, and the snake quickly uncoils
himself and rolls around over the ground
as If be enjoyed it. He rattles all ths
1 time, but not as loud as he does whea
he means business and is giving yoa
warning to give him more room. Igrad-
ually approach, playing softer and sob.
er, and finally pick him up about the
middle and slip him in the bag aud go
looking for another.
IA rattlesnake is the most poisonous
Of all the snakes in Florida. His bite
is sure death unless you have an enti-
dote very handy. I've got an antidote,
though, and bite never troubles me
now in the least. II is so cfficacious that
the wound hardly swells. went down
and spent nearly two years among the
Seminoies in the Everglades to get it.
and then it was good luck. Twas out in
the woods one day with Knothole. The
old fellow got bitten by rattlesnake,
and he started at once for his antidote.
followed him, for ] knew what he was
looking for. He tried to conceal the plant
by crushing it down with his foot, but
/ picked 1t up and told him that was
the thing to cure snake bites He re-
marked that was too much of an In
dian and must stay always in the In
dian camp The plant not only cures
snake bite, but the stings of all kinds Of
insects, and it is also said TO cure rabies
''Well. to get back to snakes There
are two kinds Of rattlers in Florida.
One is the swamp RATHER and the other
the highlander. The swamp snake has
larger head and thicker body and is
altogether heavier snake than his high
land brother. His coat, too, is darker
and his diamonds brighter. He is more
vicious and gives mighty little time for
you TO move when he sounds the alarm.
''Rattlesnakes are very easy to tame.
Let mo handle them for about four days,
and they know me and make no effors
whatever to bite / don't take the fangs
out for what's the use? In two weeks
they grow out again big enough to kill
you, and in six weeks are as big as they
ever were. have heard people say that
rattlesnake gets his poison from a
plant, but it's all nonsense. It's in them,
for l find those year in captivity are
just as deadly as when fresh from the
woods
"The biggest rattlesnalxe / ever saw I
caught up here by Palatka. He was 10
feet IL inches long, weighed 38 pounds
and had 56 rattles. / had him in pit
there in the yard for long time. A
heavy rain came once and filed the pit
up with water, and he drowned. MAIDS
a vest out of his skin. I'm afraid IN
never get another snake like that, and
ST sighed to think what he had lost.
ISL, how far does rattlesnalze striker
'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 know theyi
are wrong. A rastlesnake can't get far-|
ther than the length of two coils. That's
about half his length. y
Where do you find most Of the rati
tlers?' !
Fort George is a great place fof'
them. Pablo is another good field, whild
all down the coast in the scrub there ard
thousands Then in the hummocks nnG
swamps you will find plenty, and in the
pine woods, where there are gopher
holes. A rattlesnake likes gopher hole
It's nice snug place, and he lives their
with the ooachwhip the gopher and I'll
gopher snake in perfect harmony. 81
"But the great snake, the smart snak1
the snake you can educate to perfor4
tricks, is the king snake, and he's th
king and enemy Of them all, and lFa
kills all he can and eats them, too, 4
they are not too large. The king sna3
isn't afraid TO tackle anything thsS
crawls I've seen one kill a rattlesnaiS
almost twice as big as he was. TIL
king snake crawls silently up to whe8
the RATHER is dcEing and grabs him wiz
his mouth by the jaws SO that the I'd
tier can't possibly use his fnngs. Ting
In the twinkling Of an eye, he coils hi \
self around hir enemy ard tightens 4 II
coils and stretches them until you q
hear the bones crack. When he leay4 <
the RATHER is like a jelly. "-FlorA 7
Times Uizion. IN
Kufant Terrible. III
Tommy-Do you ever ride on Il
horse car without paying? 81
Mr.. Sappey-No Why? AH
| stxu~zy ha.~1 r,ar,,raa ca " she rid