Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1893-1920, 1895-11-15
THE RATTLESNAKE.
COMMON ERRORS REGARDING ITS
FIGHTING ABILITIES.


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't
so much as pierce the skin. The fangs
or rattlesnake are driven into the
flesh by stroke, not bite, as is well
shown by the fact that punctures are
made only by the armament of the up-
per jaw. The lower jaw has nothing to
do with the act. A man striking boat
hook into log is an exact representa-
ton of the manner i'll which the rattle
snake bites. So whenever any one tells
you about some one else being bitten by
a rattiesnale bet him it isn't SO. You'll
win. 1t is an impossibility for q rattle
snake to bite
But although the rattlesnake can't
bite, if you're fooling around in a coun-
try where he is spending the summer,
you want to keep your eye peeled. And
there isNone 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-
| cooled. l believed that once and found
out by startling personal experience
| that it wasn't so. 1t is true that when
rattlesnake is stretched at full length,
with the muscles extended to the utmost,
| he could not strike an inch forward,
bat from that position he can strike
backward his full length and with
hghtningIike velocity. One day drop
ped big stone on the head of q big
RATHER that lay in this position, crush
ing the head, the stone lying partly on
the head. After gazing for some time
at the quivering reptile SO suddenly
taken from life, stopped down to re-
move his rattles. I had no sooner
touched his tail than his mutilated head
! few back, and almost grazing nv
| check struck the sleeve Of my coat just
below the shoulder, where both fangs
We're buried, pulling out of the jaw and
| remaining in the sleeve as the snake
fell back TO the ground. They had not
missed my check 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
| ] have known a RATHER two hours after
| its head was severed from its body to
| strike back fiercely with its 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 a SYM
metrical spiral, but the body is massed
i'll more or less regular folds, the mus
Giles are contracted, and the reptile is
literally an animate set spring. From
this position the rattlef can spring from
one-half 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
defies escape of the victim. There is but
one strike. The snake passes back into
its coil again with the same swiftness
that it threw itself out. As the fangs
enter the flesh the venom is injected. If
the thing struck at is beyond the rat
tiers reach, the snake has the power Of
squirting its venom in jets, which it
can do to distance of four feet or more.
Sometimes a rattlesnake loses its
fangs in the flesh of the object it strikes,
but that does only temporary damage
to its deadly armory. There are plenty
Of incipient fangs lying in the jaw, only
waiting for a chance like that to come
forward and be in line for business.
They grow very fast, and in the course
of two or three days rattlesnake that
has lost its fangs is reftted with q
brand new pair. This is good thing
to remember, for it is the popular be-
lief that RATHER is made harmless by
extracting its venom fangs The only
way to render one of these reptiles
harmless, besides killing it, is to apply
redhot iron to the cavities left by the
fangs. This will destroy all the vitality
Of these dangerous parts, and new fangs
will not come in.
1.-THE rattlesnake never pursues his
prey; he waits. He will not go out Of
his way to attack anything. He will in.
variably keep on his course if not cor.
nered CT teased. You may step within
four inches of rattlesnake and will
not be disturbed by it if you keep righ,
on your way. If you stop, the snake a,
once will take it for challenge and
hit you only too quick. 1t is said, as il
by authority, that the rattlesnake neve,
sounds his rattle until he has coiled Il
that is SO, rattlesnakes that have seen
must have been freaks, for they have
ratified when lying at full length and
even when moving, as well as in theil
coils. The RATHER, when travelling, viii
cross lakes and streams, and he swimi