Democratic Northwest and Henry County news. [volume] (Napoleon, O. [Ohio]) 1894-1905, 1895-11-21
THE RATTLESNAKE.
COMMON ERRORS REGARDING ITS
FIGHTING ABILITIES.

Fangs-He VIII Not Go Out of His Wa,
to Attack Anything.
Nobody was ever bitten by a rattle
snake, and nobody ever will be, said q
man who has studied them. "And the
reason is the best that could possibly be.
A rattlesnake can't bite. 1t isn't likely
that any creature that lives and is pro.
vided with teeth and jaws has less pow.
er of biting. The snakes jaws are not
hinged. They are attached to each other
by an elastic cartilage. Thus the snake
has no leverage whatever in closing one
jaw against the other, and if it attempt
ed to infiict injury by biting it couldn 7
so much as pierce the skin. The fangs
of rattlesnake are driven into the
flesh by stroke, not bite, as is we'll
shown by the fact that punctures are
made only by the armament of the up
per jaw. The lower jaw hasS Sothing to
do with the act. A man striking a boat
hook into log is an exact representa-
tion of the manner in which the rattle
snake bites, So whenever any one tells
you about some one else being bitten by
o rattlesnake bet him it isn't SO. You'll
win. tits an impossibility for a rattle
snake to bite.
"But although the rattlesnake can t
bite, if you're fooling around in coun-
try where he is spending the summer,
you want to keep your eye peeled. And
there is one particular thing you don t
want to forget. 1t is common and
widespread fallacy that rattlesnake is
entirely harmless SO long as he is un-
coiled. I believed that once and found
out by a startling personal experience
that it wasn't SO. 1t is true that when
a rattlesnake is stretched at full length,
with the muscles extended to the utmost,
he could not strike an inch forward,
but from that position he can strike
backward his full length and with
lightningike velocity. One day drop
ped big stone on the head of big
rattler that lay in this position, crush
ing the head, the stone lying partly on
thevhead. After gazing for some time
at the quivering reptile SO suddenly
taken from life, I stopped down to re-
move his rattles. had no sooner
touched his tail than his mutilated head
few back, and almost grazing my
cheek struck the sleeve of my coat just
below the shoulder, where both fangs
were buried, pulling out of the jaw and
in the sleeve as the snake
fell back to the ground. They had not
my cheek by more than hairs
breadth. With precaution have made
that test of rattlesnake's capacity of
striking in that way many times since
then, and the snake always struck. The
instinct is SO strong in this reptile that
l have known rattler two hours after
it's head was severed from it's body to
strike back fiercely with it's bleeding
stump the instant its tail was touched.
"But the typical position of the rat
tlesnake when intent on deadly assault
is the coil This is not always SYM
spiral, but the body is massed
in more or less regular folds, the mus
cles are contracted, and the reptile is
literally en- animaate set spring. From
this position the rattler can spring from
to two-thirds of his length.
Before the stroke the mouth is opened
wide, the fangs falling down from their
sockets in the upper jaw and standing
firmly in their position. The head is
thrust forward, the half coils below it
being Strengthened out to lengthen the
neck and to give power to the strike.
There is no preliminary motion. The
stab is made with abrupt swiftness that
1efies escape of the victim. There is but
one strike. The snake passes back into
it's coil again with the same swiftness
that it threw itself out. As the fangs
enter the flesh the venom is injected. If
,he thing struck at is beyond the rat
jler's reach, the snake has the power Of
squirting its venom in jets, which it
IAN do to distance of four feet or more.
Sometimes rattlesnake loses its
'angs in the flesh of the object it strikes,
out that does only temporary damage
% its deadly armory. There are plenty
of incipient fangs lying in the jaw, only
waiting for chance like that to come
Onward and be in line for business.
They grow very fast, and in the course
# two or three days rattlesnake that
las lost its fangs is refitted with
orand new pair. This is good thing
% remember, for it is the popular be-
ief that rattler is made harmless by
its venom fangs. The only
way to render one of these reptiles
harmless, besides killing it, is to apply
edhot iron to the cavities left by the
angs. This will destroy all the vitality
# these dangerous parts, and new fangs
will not come in.
"The rattlesnake never pursues his
,rey; he waits. He will not 90 out of |
lis way to attack anything. He will in
'ariably keep on his course if not cor
lered or teased. You may step within
our inches of a rattlesnake and will |
lot be disturbed by it if you keep right
N your way. If you stop, the snake at
nee will take it for a challenge and
lit you only too quick. 1t is said, as if |
" authority, that the rattlesnake never
ounds his rattle until he has coiled. If
hat is SO, rattlesnakes, that I have seen
must have been freaks, for they have
attled when lying at full length and
ven when moving, as we'll as in their
oils. The rattler, when travelling, will |
ross lakes and streams, and he swims
With his head and his rattles raised
veil above the water. The force with
which rattlesnake can strike is such |
hat I once teased one into striking at a
'iece of betting at least quarter Of an
nch thick, and he sent his fangs clear
trough it. New York Sun.
Heavy Freight.
Landlord (apologetically )-This ele. |
ator seems to run little slow just
low.