Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1896-04-18

| /fTT I Tlaa in every direction,
Ns-$ and may well be
| = S~4sSssr compared TO the
| II streets of a city on
account Of their
| proximity to each ether and their numer-
| Gus crossings. Each path is clearly marked
| by being almost destitute of heritage. II
you trace them up, you will find that they
all end in holes just large enough to ad-
| NIT half-grown rat; and if you beat the
| thicker punches of grass you will probably
| see small rat-like animal running at
quick little trot along a pathway to the
! burrow. He is a vole, very like rat or
| mouse in appearance, but much less MIN
BILE and much more delicate than either;
| he is larger than a mouse, and considerably
| smaller than a rat. His fur, too, is much
| longer and thicker in proportion, being
| more ike that of the rabbit in its texture.
| Boys both white and colored in South At
| RIGA, consider them very good eating, and
! enjoy them roasted in embers whenever
| they can catch them. Many of the voles
! live in each colony, and the colonies are so
| numerous that you cannot travel a mile in
| any direction without crossing one. But
| the voIe has worse enemy than the boys.
| If you approach colony, and carefully
| survey all the runways, particularly if
| there be bush there, you will perhaps
| see the enemy alluded to-d living rat trap
lying in the path; and the very sight of
| his broad, fiat head and sinister, cat-like
| eyes will make your blood run cold.
| He is the terrible puff-adder, short, thick
| bodied, broad-headed, long-fanged. death
dealing alike to vole and to man-and even
! TO the prowlne lion, should he in his wan
| derings set paw upon the deadly reptile.
| He is beautifully colored, having a ground
| work of velvet black, with half moons of
| yellow and small specks of the same
marked along his back from head to tail.
| More than once l have found puff-adders
in VOL nail nd hara &c
| doubt that they deyour great numbers of
| them Nor will puf-adder be satisfied
| with or As soon as he has swallowed his
| first catch he looks around a little, and
| then lies in wait for another, which he
| catches just as he did the first. His method
| of securing them is this. He wanders about
| till he comes TO the colony. His tongue
| tells him by the touch Of its delicate points
| that his prey is in the vicinity. For a
| while he searches busily about. If he
catches sight of vole he lies quiet in or
| close by the path. He knows by instinct
| th-t his remaining motionless for long
| time Will arouse the little animals curios-
ity. The vole, seeing the snake moving is
| probably frightened, and runs to his hole;
| but finding that he is not pursued he soon
energies and looks around for the snake.
| He discovers the reptile motionless.
| Dead, thinks the vole, ''or asleep, may
be; and he cautiously approaches TO in
Nesugate. Inch by inch he ventures sniff
| ing into closer proximity to danger; he
even runs around the snake, who never
moves in the slightest At last the unfor-
tunate little Quadruped allows its curiosity
TO master its prudence; ii ventures too
| close. The living spring of the snakes
| neck flies out and the vole is held strug-
gnng IN the jaws of the reptile, whose
demonstrating fangs are buried in its
| tender body. He never relaxes his Jaws
for single instant. Soon the deadly Sc
erection does its work, and the vole passes
stomachward out of sight The puff-adder
then repeats his tactics with like stlctess
I'll! he is satisfied or becomes thirsty when
ne goes off TO seek water in the Hoops, or
hides under a bush TO avoid danger and
sleep till his necessities arouse him 10
another change of lodging.
With large, fierce rats the tactics of the
puft-adder are somewhat different. Six
which L kept i'll my collection at Graham
stoon In the Cape Colony, gave me many
oppoi iunities OF Observing their methods
with rats too large and powerful to be
caught and held in the jaws while dying
one instance will explain their methods
with such animals.
Leaving one of the puff-adders loose i'm
my room locked the door and prepared
TO give him rat of unusual size When
the puff-adder had coiled himself in a shad-
oWy corner behind table leg | cautiously
opened the wire trap and let the rat run
out seating myself in a chair to watch
the methods of the puff-adder Ii he saw
the rat coming out to the trap he gave
no sign of 1t whatever. but law as sin
as II he were dead. The rat, too, didn't
see the snake until he approa ched the fatal
corner, which he did with that bUsiness-like
gait peculiar to rats seeking holes As
sat perfectly still, the rat was in no great
hurry, so that he did not run bhndly on
the snake. He got within foot of his
enemy before he seemed to notice him:
then, with rat-like inquisitiveness he sal
up on his launches shifting tremblingly
10 De sure II IL were really a snake As ne
did so the puff-adder became alarmed at
his size and gave vent to a loud blowing
hiss. at the same time drawing back his
head with the nose inclined downward
, ready to strike The hiss alarmed the rat
which jumped past the snake uttering a
squeak of alarm. But the reptile was
quicker than the quadruped, and struck
him nicely While still on the jump. The
action of the snake was quick that he
must be said to have struck the rat rather
than to have bitten it. He did not hold it
at all, SO that II continued its slightly in
terrupted journey: but alas, it had the
venom injected into its lungs: and before
| 1t reached the place where i sat IL totter-
| ed over to the other side of the room and
lay down dying, resting on its side behind
pile of books on the floor close by the
wall, in such position that it was COM
| pletely out of the snakes line of vision
| II the puff-adder It first view of the rat had
coveted 1t for dinner he certainly was
| much alarmed in striking It, for his loud
blowings filled the room for probably not
less than a minute afterward. Finally he
| ceased these n anifestations, and yawned
| widely, stretching his fangs and Jaws to
their utmost extent The rat was by this
| time lying dead behind the books SO that
| nothing remained to excite the snake fur
| Their; and he soon set out little jour-
| ney OF exploration. Over the rats path he
| went for while; then he left it, going
back to his corner. Again and again he
| went backward and forward, then extend
ed his search round by the wall until he
came to the notionless body of his VIC
| tim, which he tried on every side with his
tongue, to make sure that life was thor
| oughly extinct. At last, satisfied on this
| point, he took its head in his mouth and
| swallowed 1t down with considerable diff
| culty-for he was occupied in the process
| for the full space Of forty minutes-the rat
Being as has been mentioned before more
| than usually large.
The rattlesnake, the copperhead and other
| deadly snakes Of the viper class all catch
| rats and mice in this manner: and none
| Of them will ever hold an animal which
| they fear on account of its strength or
| ferceness. Nevertheless, they will all
| strike 1t to death. as the puff adder, and
| after an interval set out to find its corpse
| and swallow It at their leisure, If it prove
| to be- every way desirable.
| An Unsuccessful Plea.
| From the Amusing Journal.