The daily morning journal and courier. [volume] (New Haven, Conn.) 1894-1907, 1895-06-03

I
| their heads, but it frequently occurred
that the snake became bruised in its
handsomest parts, running it for the
purpose for which it was sought. Last
year 1t was recommended that he kill
them with chloroform. This he tried,
and although the snake invariably sue
cumbed at last, it was long and tedi-
Gus process. 1t is also more or less ex-
pensive when it is considered that some
days he has as many as thirty or forty
| to kill He has tried drowning them,
but never succeeded in mastering up
enough patience to remain and see
them die.
| The snakes come out from the crew
| ices and holes in the ledge, where they
make their winter quarters, about the
| first of April, or as soon thereafter as
the frost goes outof the ground and the
air becomes warm and summerish.
| Not snake, however, Is molested till
early fall First, for the reason that 1t
is in June and July that they lay their
eggs and raise their young. Then
about this time their winter dress or
skin Is shed, it requiring some little
time for the new pelt to get into prime
condition. If killed as soon as the
change of skin is made the coloring is
found to be duller than a few weeks
later, and the beautiful mottled mark
ings, like those Of the alligator less
regular and plainly defined.
Mr.. Bartlett talked most interesting
ly to the reporter regarding the adders
eggs and the subsequent young. 1t was
very rare that their eggs were to be
seen, but occasionally a nest would be
discovered lying in some secluded but
sunny spot, the she adder curled up
around them, gazing stupidity around
with sullen eyes fixed with most
freezing glare. The eggs are oval In
shape, Of blush tint, and frequently
hung together in manner similar to a
string Of beads. 1t is extremely rare
that he ever gets sight OF the very
young, and this leads him to believe
that Immediately after being Matched
the young are taken into the belly of
the parent snake, where they are car
ried till they have developed sufficient
ly to look out for themselves, when
they are expelled. He has read in nat
ural history books, he says, that it Is
myth pure and simple, about a snake
gobbling up her young when excited or
alarmed He has, however, frequently
seen an old female, who was crawling
about the ledge with some dozen or
more Of her young, open her mouth and
with one fell swoop eat all her numer-
Gus progeny and then scamper into
some crevice. He has watched for
hours but has never been able to de-
tect one In the action OF expelllng them,
a. IN, IA To lok
such is the case as If the young were
destroyed by being taken into the pa
rents stomach the supply would soon
be exhausted, and he would have to go
back to raising corn and wheat.
1t was only last summer that Mr..
Bartlett tried an experiment, the out
come Of which was such as to strength
en- this opinion. 1t was early In May
that he discovered a large female in the
act of gobbling up her young as he APP
preached. He captured her, and, TAX
ing her home, confined her in a box
He watched eagerly for the expelling
of the young adders, and at the end Of
two months, having an order for an
unusually large pelt killed her, To his
utter astonishment, he discovered four
teen small snakes in her stomach,
which she had taken In nearly two
months before, which were alive and
healthy. He set them free on ledge,
when they dragged themselves out Of
sight into the nearest crevice, So far
as he knows, they are all alive and well
to-day.
Up to the present time Mr.. Bartlett
has never done anything in the way OF
feeding his flock of snakes, but has
about made up his mind to try 1t next
summer He has been. told to get
dozen or so guinea pigs, which breed
with astonishing rapidity, and to turn
the young pigs loose on the ledge,
where they can be caught up by the
hungry snakes. At present they live
largely on frogs, which they can get in
the swamp in the grove, and on birds
and mice
When he first commenced the bust
ness of killing and selling his crop he
used to ship carcass and all to the Gus
toner, but he discovered that in going
long distances, especially in hot wealth
er, they frequently commenced to pu-
trify, causing a dlsagreeable odor as
we'll as an injury to the hides. He then
NOlliillCllStu " ShllI lllC Slluhtos COlll-
mencing with the mouth and pulling
the skin backward toward the end of
the tail, thus removing the pelt intact
and free from any cut or bruise. A lit
tie salt Is all that is required to keep
the skin in good condition till it reach
es the tannery, where it is properly pre-
pared and stretched,
Mr.. Bartlett never kills the larger
specimens in his flock, as he believes
them to be the best breeders, and he is
wise enough to realize that 1t would be
disastrous to allow his supply to dwin-
die. In reply to a query by the re-
porter as to how many adders he had
probably taken from the ledge since he
commenced to market them, he replied: |
ooh, hundreds and hundreds. |
haven't the least idea how many. You |
see at first I killed them simply be- |
cause 1 wanted to get rid of them, and |
then when I began to have calls for |
them never kept any count, as I new |
or thought 1t would amount to any
hing. Some days in the fall / kill from |
fifteen to twenty, but generally not |
more than three or four. You see they |
ire no fools if they do crawl and they
ire not as tame as they used to be. |
They are getting quite scary Of me now,