Democratic messenger. [volume] (Snow Hill, Md.) 1869-1973, 1896-09-19

dian blood in his veins.
"All snakes" said 81, 'like music
and this banjo is the thing use ID
catch them with. Suppose I'm in the
woods and see rattlesnake crawI
down a gopher hole. | 90 10 the
mouth of the hole and play, and pref
~ soon here comes the old fellow
crawling forth. As soon as he gets
outside pick him up and put him
in the bag. If he's in the open, coil.
ed under palmetto leaf, I'm more
cautious About 80 feet off sit
down and play, and the snake quick
ly uncoils himself and rolls around
over the ground as if he enjoyed it.
lie rattles all the time, but not as
loud rs he does when he means busi-
ness and is giving you warning to give
him more room. gradually ap-
proach, playing softer and softer, and
finally | pick him up about the mid
die and slip him in the bag and 90
looking for another.
"A rattlesnake is the most poison
Gus ot all the snakes in Florida. His
bite is sure death unless you have an
antidote, very handy. I've got an
aniidote, though, and bite never
troubles me now in the least. Ii is
so eiiicacious that the wound hardly
swells | went down and spent near
ly two years among the Seminoles in
the Everglades to get it. and then it
was good luck | was out in the
woods one day with knothole. The
old fellow got bitten by rattlesnake,
and he started AT once for his antidote.
| followed him. for knew what he
was looking for. He tried to conceal
the plant by crushing it down with
his foot, but picked it up and told
him that was the thing to cure snake
bites. lie remarked that | was toe
much of an Indian and must s;ay nj.
ways in the Indian camp. The plant
not only cures snake bite, but the
stings of all kinds of insects, and it i.
also said to cure rabies.
We'll 10 get back to snakes. There
are two kinds of rattlers in Florida
One is the swamp ratiler and the
other the highlander The swamp
snake has larger head and a thicker
body and is altogether heavier snake
than his highland brother. His coat
too, is darker and his diamonds bright
er. He is more vicious and give,
mighty little time for you to NOV,
when he sounds the alarm.
"Rattlesnakes are very easy to tame
I.et me handle them for about foul
davs, and they know me and make n,
effort whatever To bite don't tax,
: the fangs out, for what's the use ? II
two weeks they grow out again biz
enough TO kill you, and in six week
are rs big as they ever were. hav,
heard people say that a rattlesnak'
gets his poison from a plant, but it
all nonsense. Its i'll them, for fine
those year in captivity are just a
deadly as when fresh from the woods
The biggest rattlesnake | ever saw
| caught up here by Palatka. He wa
10 feet II inches long, weighed 81
pounds and had 56 rattles. had hin
in pit there in the yard for Ion;
time A heavy rain came once an,
filled the pit up with water, and h
drowned made vest out of hi
skin. I'm afraid I'll never get anothe
snake like that and 81 sighed to thinl
what he had lost.
Isl, how far does rattlesnak
strike?"
Some people say he strikes hi
length, and others declare that he cal
Jump more than his length, but lv
watched them closely, and | know the
are wrong. A rattlesnake can't re
farther than the length of two coil:
That's about half his length
where do you find most Of tn
rattlers?'
Fort George is a great place 70
them. Pablo is another good field
while all down the coast in the scru'
there are thousands. Then in tn
hummocks and swamps you will fin'
plenty, and in the pine woods, wher
there are gopher holes. A rattlesnak
likes gopher hole. It's nice snu
place, and he lives there with tn
coachwhip, the gopher and the gophe
snake in perfect harmony.
But the great snake, the smar
snake, the snake you can educate
perform tricks, is the king snake, an
he's the king and enemy Of them al
and he kills all he can and eats then
too, if they are not too large. Th
king snake isn't afraid 10 tackle am
thing that crawls. I've seen one ki
= a rattlesnake almost twice as big as i
was. The king snake crawls silentl
up TO where the rattler is dozing an
;" grabs him with his mouth by the jaw