Iowa state bystander. [volume] (Des Moines, Iowa) 1894-1916, 1895-04-05
INDEED, IT WAS QUITE A SNAKE.
Antique But Hearty and Probably
the Progenitor of Family.

Antique But Hearty and Probably
the Progenitor of a Family.
II know that den Of big black
snakes over in Potter county thai
Simon Kent talks about in the Item.
but | never knew about the IA foot
snake that tried to capture mule"
said man from Welisville II
haven't any doubt of it, though, for
bigger one than that tried to getaway
with Charles Wolhing blacksmith
from Pike Mills. one day last summer,
and two others, one 10 feet long ,;nd
the other II, waylaid old Mr.. Compton
and his daughter and were bound to
carry them off That den has been
there from time out OF mind. 1t is in
the southwestern part Of Potter
county, along the Young Woman's
Creek, in u stretch of deep, dark
woods known as the Black Forest. A
year never goes by that Il number of
immense blacksnakes are not over
powered in that locality, as they are
always prowling around looking for
unwary transfers and unsuspecting
pedestrians. ] don't suppose there is
another spot on this continent where
such monstrous blacksnakes can be
found. don't know what it is that
makes them grow SO big there, but my
opinion is that it is because the locality
where they dwell is SO wild and hard
to get at that the snakes have undis-
turbed opportunity to reach a patriar-
chal age, and take on their size with
years | believe blacksnales would
get just as big elsewhere if they
could only get the time. There
is no doubt in my mind
that some of those Black
Forest serpents were born long before
this country was settled. | have seen
them with their faces as wrinkled as a
walnut, and with long gray hairs on
their upper lips. | killed one once
down there that had funny lump on
it's side. cut down into it four or five
inches and found flint arrow head at
the bottom of the lump. There is only
one explanation for the presence of
that arrow head there. The snake had
been shot by an Indian sometime, and
as there hadn't been any Indians hunt
ing with bows and arrows in that oun-
try for q good many generations, of
course the snake must have been a
lively native before the days of the
II Y,
knows how many years before, either.
III bet anything on that snakes being
Il hundred years old at least, and it
was as hale and hearty a serpent as
ever saw. | say killed it, but that
is hardly the truth, either, although it
owed its death to me. l was lumber
ing aleng Old Woman's Creek, and had
a lot Of logs banked ready for rolling
down the steep slope into the creek.
Accidentally l let q log get away from
me in unloading it, and away it went
down the hill. 1t had gone maybe
half way down and had acquired ire
mendous momentum when | saw one of
the big blacksnakes of the region come
tearing out from some place where it
had been hiding and rush right out in
the way of the rolling log. l don't
know what the snake thought the log
was, but he was evidently in state OF
supreme fury at it, for he stopped and
raised his head and awaited the COM
ing of the log. The log kept right on
and struck the snake full force. The
crash was good one, and the log was
stopped as still as if it had brought up
against rock.
'''Well,' l said to myself, that's
pretty good. There a snake with a
constitution or there never was one'
II went down the hill and found the
log canted up against the snake, and if
man unused to that country had come
along just then I'd have said to him:
g Just look at that snake and that
log"
He'd a looked and then said:
(which is the snakep'
but the snake was dead, and I very
foolishly, after cutting into the lump
on his side to satisfy my curiosity and
finding the ancient flint arrow head
pried him out and rolled him down into
the creek with the log, instead of
measuring him and reporting his death
and size. Consequently | can't tell
how long he was, but he was d dandy.
But actually believe that if he could
have been seasoned and sawed up he'd
have cut up into as nice bill of six
teen inch boards as anyone ever
bought. That snake, of course, was
an exception to the ordinary run of
Black Forest snakes. / may be wrong,
but believe he was the founder of the
blacksnake family there. There wasn't
a gray hair on him, though, and his
teeth were as sound as pebble. p
Philadelphia Item.