The news and herald. (Winnsboro, S.C.) 1877-1900, 1895-10-15
Ways OF RATTLBSNAkES.
COMMON ERRORS REGA RDINI
Ti::3IE FIEETING ABILITIES.
They Can't Bite, Eut Kill by & i;lo1"'
1,ou.i .J,.o =, f-oiI y,acora 81 r;i.

Il r OBODT was ever bitten H.
y rattlesnake. ami nol'o.;.T
y ever will be- said a maA
:, who has studied them. and
the reason is the best that could pos
sibIy be. \ r&ttlcsnaSe cant hiSH.
1t lsu't likely that any creature that
lives and is provided with teeth 'aI
jaws has less power Of bitinc. HE
sna'f='s jaws are lot hinged. They az
attached to each other b. an elastic
cartrjia@e THUS the snake has no lev
cragc whatever in closing one I"w
against lie other, and if it attempted
to ir:1;c! injury by biting, it cou'1n {
so nucl as pierce the skin. The tan@s
OF a rattiesoake are driven into the
flesh hJ' g stroke, not bite, as Is we'll!
shown by the TACT that punctnras are
made only bv tbs armament Or lie
! nppe= jaw. Tie lower jaw has IT,
i0g to dc with the act, i nlaa strl';-
ius r boat heck into leg is ar eSavt
representation Of the naaaet II wh7oA
the rastlesraIse bites. Sc Whenever
any c1e tells you about soma one
else being bitten by a rattlesneke, bet
him it isn't 50. You'll win. It's an
inposEibility for rattlesnake TO bite.
but, although the rattlesnaAe eau t
bite, if you're fooling around in
country where be is spending the
summer, you want to keep youz eye
peeled. And there is one particular
thing you don't want to forget. 1t 10
a common and widespread fallac!T that
a rattlesnake is entirely harmless so
lorg as he is uncoiIed. I believed that
once, and found out By II startling
personal experience that it wasn't 80.
It is true that when a. rattlesnake IS
stretched at full length, with the
muscles extended to the utmost, he
could not strike al inch forward, but
from that position he can strike back
ward his full length, and with light
ning-liEe velocity. One day I dropped
u big stone on the head Of big rattler
that lav in this position, crushing the
head, the stone lying partly on the
head. After gazing for some time at
the quivering reptile, SO suddenly
taken from life, I stooped down to re-
move his rattles. I had 40 sooner
touched his tail than bis 'autilated
head few back, and almost grazing
my cheek, struck the sleeve OF my
coat Just below the shoulder, where
both fangs were buried, pulling ont OF
the jaw Gnd remaining in the sleeve as
the snake fell back to the ground.
They had not missed my check by
more than hairs brealth. With
precaution l have made that test Of
rattleshake'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 have
known n rattler, two hours after It's
head was sevp> Il from its body, to
strike back felcely with its bleeding
stump the Instant its TAIL was touched.
There is at least one case On record
where this belief that rattIesnake
couldn't strike uutil it was IN coil
resulted fatally. The mau was work
ing in his garden, when no discovered
a rattlesnake lying with only its rattles
and two or three inches o. its tail
projecting from under the bottom rail
Of the fence on the side next to bin.
The 1nan, being unable to give the
snake blow that would kill it while
it was il that position, thought lie
would seize lis rattIes and pull 1t
quickly out into full view aud kill it
with his hoe. He crept up and seized
the rattles, but bad no sooner touched
them than the rattlcsuako doubled
back over the rail and sank its fanss
i'll the hand that held it's tail. The
man killed the 5nako and hurried to
the house, where lie died i'll a short
time.
But the typical position OF the
1attlcsnake when intent on deadly rs
sault is the coil. This is not always u
symmetrical spiral, but the ho,!y is
massed in more or less regular folds,
The muscles arc contracted, anl tho
reptile is literally an animate set
spring. From this position tue rat
tier can spring from ue-bal' to two
thirds OF his leugth. Bcforo tic
stroke the mouth is opened wide, the
fanss falling down from the!r sockets
in The upper jaw and standing 1irmly
in their position. The head 10 thrust
forward, the half coils below it being
straightencd out to lengthcn the neck
and to give power to the strike. There
is no preliminary motion. The STAB
is made with abrupt swiltuess that de-
fies escape Of tho victim. There ii
but one strike. The snake passes back
iuto its coil asain with the same swift.
ness that ii threw itself out. As the
fangs enter the flesh the Yeuom is in
| iectod. II the thing struck Mt is he.
yond the rattler's reach, the snake has
tic power Of squirting its 7cuom III
Jets, which it cun do TO distance Of
four feet OF more. Dr.. Weir Mitchell
hail q narrow escape once. An I'M
menso diamond-lack ratttcr he had in
his collection thy ~ teasrooniul Of
lis venom in thus WY in the doctor g
lace, from distauce Of four feet It
! struck him on The forehead. IF it hal
Iallen all inch lower it would have en-
terel his eyes, certainly binding him.
and perhaps killing l1m.
Sometimes q rat;ieslake loses lis
rau2s in tue flesh OF the object it
sIri'cs, but that tlccs only temporary
damage to its deadly armory. There
are plenty of iucipient fangs lying in
the jaw, only waiting for chance
like that to come forward and be III
line for business. They grow very
fast, md in the course OF two or three