The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1895-07-07
Copyrighted


SSIil' IN captivity, 1 have found them re-
1u -I. sueh diet Toads, they, in common
WIN Didck snakes and others ahbor
lshes they will not eat, nor will thev
"o'4SM other snakes, which the HARM
-. - LACK snake does with avidity =
Ms 49,, AFTER their catching 1 tried them
with common house mice. of which m
L-alS ate only seven in the course of three
weeks The female refused evervtbine
put water. From October to March aI
'pOush Kept in a warm room where orbcr
SNAKES ate freely, neither could be fnduc-
- ~ eaAe food of any kind. Nv Joy NAV
oe imagined when 1 found them most rav.
enously feeding on frogs
VI all the snake hunts in which have
ueeh engaged, the capture of this pair of
SOppefleaus was probably the most excit-
ing ana dangerous. Having been unsuc-
cessiui IN my search in other localities. 7
q last determined TO try my luck in Cold
spring on the Hudson. for l had heard
that there they were very abundant one
companion from New York accomnanied
me on my hunt
ABOUT mile from Cold Spring is the
emerson house at Jacksonville. and he
yond this for another mile the road is lin
ed with woods, until it is broken again bN,
a loW-lying field covered on the upper narts
with grass and on the low-lying places
oy RANK weeds and swamp grass as high
waist 1uEOukn the middle of
TINS neld lazy stream meanders in a
muddy course, closely shaded on both
siues py thickets of leafy alders For man
nest reasons this piece of ground is called
the Copperhead field, As we entered at the
gate we found one dead. But tramp as
we might, through weeds and grass to the
waist we nowhere could meet with a
snake, though our nervous trepidation NAV
De imagined, for at any moment we might
step on one unseen.
Unsuccessful we returned to the woods
which in the close vicinity of the field are
sad 10 be the worst snake haunted spot
IN Cold Spring. The feelings of the peo-
PIE aDOut II may be understood from the
ract that no hunter will enter unless booted
70 the knees; and young man of the local
lty VINO had Joined me (for my New York
companion had gone off by himselD de-
clared his intention of sitting on rock
by the roadside while made nv. cautio,,s
way alone into the wooded kingdom of
the copperheads. The trees grew thickly
together, and the underground was so
dence that 1t was not possible to see more
IMAM a Few yards in any direction. Sud
in i came out into clear
and rotted; but the Clearing SV was ie eYen
more dense than the thicket for weeds
climbing and creeping, had usurped all the
opening and netted themselves to the
~ allCHes OF the trees round about it,
breaking my way through these, and lift
ing them up on my stick, stopping and
peerlng, l Stood and there lay a copper
head, leather hued, banded with brown.
IN coil, and big coil at that. five feet
IN 'front.' of my nose. The head lighter in
color than the rest stood up a few inches
IN the center. Even as / saw him out came
the yellowish quivering tongue, feeling the
ar with It's points, which plainly told that
hoo
woodchuck dashes through brambles that
screen it, so did with my snake stick
dash IN on the coveted coil of the copper
mead, the first had seen in nv lifetime
In spite of the twinelike stalks which held
the place in a network, l got forward
and shot In my long stick over the head
sticking up from the coil, and now mon
aclng me. Down came the stick with a
quick push on his neck He turned and
DIT II, so l moved II closer to the head:
ana then, throwing myself forward, stoop-
ing, halt stumbling, half falling, seized
him with left hand at back of his laws
and drew him forth from his coil But he
Iore mad drawn him foot, out came an
other head, heretofore hidden. which
dashed at my hand. But this second
snake, which to my surprise was in the
sape coil. didn't succeed in wounding me.
thanks to the density of the undergrowtb
against which her jaws spent their venom.
Having the smaller one of the two nv
the neck in my left hand, l now held nv
stick TO my right, to press down the other
snake also, lest It should attempt to glide
off before my companion could come to
assist me. But my right hand alone was
quite insufficient to press her. The stick.
too, was over her middle. She turned and
bit it, going gradually off out
of sight through the weed walks.
Dropping my stick, / flung myself saw
agely after her, determined at any risk to
get her, for the stick was too long to be
in such a thicket She went to-
ward some rocks whore big one leaned
slantingly over lesser. In a cavity under
the upper and behind the lower one she |
entered and was rapidly Withdrawing her
body. | flung myself forward on my face.
and with my right hand clutched at the
last six inches of her tail. There l held |
her, yelling like mad to my companion to |
come and help me. Like a charging buf |
falo he plunged through the bushes. I |
wish | could tell what he felt when he saw |
me lying there, fiat on my stomach. NV |
left hand resting on the elbow and holding |
a copperhead by the neck; the right hand |
holding another copperhead by the tail, |
while her head sticking out at a second |
opening higher up than the one by which |
she had entered. was biting and dashing
at my face within less than a |
foot of my nose. With the young mans |
assistance I dropped the first one into the
bag, and then took my time with the
other 1 got her TO go back through the
hole by which she had entered. Letting
90 her tail as soon as her head appeared
put my stick across her neck just as 1
had done with her mate. Without diff
,ulty we got her also into the sack and
carried both off in triumph to the Emer-
son homestead, where we were delighted
o be informed that the female of the pair
vas the largest copperhead but one they
,ver had seen, being at least a yard in
ength and two inches in diameter
G. r. O'Reilly.