The Roanoke times. [volume] (Roanoke, Va.) 1890-1895, 1895-03-31
RAT1'LESNAKES' PARADISE.
Southern Arizona Is tho Re ptile'e
Favorite Breeding Ground.
Experiences OF "Rnttlcr Jim" Davis. tn,
'1ost Celebrated Snake Killer OF tho
Southwest-EGlcacy OF Whisky
nm Ent;dotc.

y
sonlan institution says. that is SO nat
ura IL breeding ground for the rattle
snake - the Crotalus horridus-
southern Arizona. Similar authority
is quoted to the effect that there is
scarcely Il more venomous reptile in
the country than the bloated RATHER
of this region. The rocks of tho
mountains and foothills are n heavy
yellow and gray color, and the soil is
so nearly the hucs of RATHER that n
Shake can move slowly along and be
hardly perceived by person fifty feet
| AWAY. The hot, dry air, and the warn,
candy earth, through at least ten
months in the year, and the immcnsn
quantity of small birds and ground
squirrels in the mountain canyons and
brush. all combine to make lifo for
rattlesnakes in this region one of rare
casc ana comfort for many q long year
There are literally tens of thousands
OF rattiers IN the sage brush and chap
arral along the edge OF the southern
Arizona wastes. They grow to cnor-
nous size, and it is common to read in
inc local newspapers of this part OF
the territory items of news of the can
lure OF rattlcsnalscs five and six feet
long and with fourteen and fifteen
rattles. Localities and objects OF ma
ture all over the territory have been
named from the serpcnts. There arc
rallicsnake canyons, rattlcsnal:e A.
royos, rattlesnalic creeks, rattlcsnaI,o
mountains and rattlcsnalic gulchcs.
over at Maricopn an old fellow has
named his dispcnsary of intoxicants
alter the most vcnomous American
snakes and Rattlcsnale Koost."
painted in clumsy letters. stands in
bold relief over the door.
The best informed man in regard to
ratticrs i'll this part OF the territory is
acknowledged to be Jim Davis. He is
ABOUT sixty-fivc years old, and has
lived on the border of civilization Tor
fifty years. He is one of the LARGE
army of men who were etcrnally de-
moralized by the gold booms in Cali
1ornia years ago, and became relecatcd
70 dcvil-may- carc, Independent and
happy-go-luclSy way of getting his liy-
s dng by using his gun and by travelling
across the mountains and over the val
&teys with blanket and skillet across
Shis back. Everyone says that for un-
isadultcrated snake information there's
mo one like Rather Jim"
S do | know much about rattle
fssnakes?" said the old man as he sat
s%tippcd back in n chair, sucking vile
sacorncob pipe, in saloon in Benson,
"a. T., the other day. "You bet yer
filfe L know Il thing or two about 'em.
i've killed thousands of 'em. I've been
Fhere in this snake country just close
onto twenty-four years, and never
nave been out Of it. l could sit all
night and keep telling you something
new every minute about rattlesnakes
Gosh! how l hate the varmints.
never miss trying to kill em off, but
us about useless tryin' to clear out
TINS yere country of rattlers. They
breed SO darned easy. Every female
RATHER is good for thirty or forty rat
tlesnnkes year, SO I've about given
up tryin' to do anything more at snake
KILN.
This is the dryest year we've had in
long time in this end of the territory,
and it's an awful season for Snakes. It
is SO dry and we have had terrible hot
weather since May. These here locust
bugs are all over the country, and thew
buzz just like tho rattlers. Whenever
I'm out hunting and kick q bush q
'iAOAS oNui III VI lOSuoCS, DuZLln LOT all
they're worth, come flying out. Their
singin' puts me off my guard, because
l can't hear the rattlesnalSes Il rattlin'.
I'm most afraid to hunt at all now, for
you know it's just about certain sure
death for an cid white man like me to
get Arizona rattlesnal1e venom in his
body at the end of n long summer. I'd
rather be shot plumb through the chest
any day than to take chances on
puilin' through pizenin by desert
rattler, when he is pulled up plumb full
OF pizen as they are now. At some
seasons of the year there amt any
where near as much danger from rat
tlesnalses.
But Arizona rattlesnakes amt near
SO dangerous in some ways as them
used to be back in the mountains of
pennsylvania and Ohio. The desert
FATHERS are fat and lazy. They amt
got no fight in 'em. They amt got no
real meanness in 'em. AS a general
thing the Arizona crawlcr will set up
"a rattle and slide off in the rocks or
brush. Horses, cattle and sheep know
that rattle as we'll as man. Some
times they get bit, but that is only
when they tread on snake. 1t amt
likely to kill Il sheep if he is struck In
the wool. a wild deer will kill n snake
every time he sees him. He Jumps
with all four feet together on to a
axe and is OF and gone so quick that