The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1897-05-09
MOSELEY'S BALI OF SNAKES
WHEN he CAPTURED THEM THEF
WERE l. ~ A TfNGLE.
nat when They Thnwc I'd out Ito rInd About q
Rushei ana n It~air-Therc wercIs7 In All
Moseicy's Den Hung with Trophies OF Rattioru


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nut when They Thnwcd out TIC tad About q
Itu-hci and n ulnIr-Therc Were Is7 in All
MoselcJ's Den Hung with Trophies or Rattioru
From the Philadelphia Times.
Henry Mosclcy. who is ut present n resident OF
Wolcott, captured more than q bushcl and a half
of somi.torpid rnttlcsnal:cs at the foot OF Rattle
snake Hill. below Thomaston. u few days ago.
The snakes were being thawcd out by the rays
Of the warm spring sun. Tho hau! was an un-
usually large ono oven for that snake country.
Mosclcy is n native OF Massachusetts He and
his musical instrument are inseparnbla and
both nro In great demand at the countryside
dances. His banjo goes with him everywhere.
and hc usually punctuatcs his stories with occa-
sional plunks on tho strings. Along the caves
Of his shanty nrc hanging rows Of tho snakes
taken in his recent haul, strung by the heads on
sticks so placed that the sun may have an op-
portunity to loosen their skins.
Il am not much OF n hand at spinning a snake
yarn" said Mosclcy modestly. =" but there were
some things about this last catch Of mine on
Rattlesnake Hill that were unusually interest
ing to me and prove TO my mind that tho RATHER
has n memory us good as yours or mine. ] am
satisfied that the RATHER never gets so far away
from home but that It can find its way back, and
that's more than any other snake or four.footed
animal can do. From the quantity of snakes
got. l judge that they came to the hill from q
distance OF from five to fifty miles. for I know
we don't have any such number OF ~rattlers
around here in the summer. They como back to
the hill because 1t is their birthplace and to
spend the winter in n secure refuge.
Ever since l first came into these parts %
many ~rattlers have been taken about Rattle
snake Hill that l have known there must be o
alternating and ancestral den on 1t somewhere
for the reptiles. Besides, / was told that there
was, and I've been trying to find the den, Off and
on, for n long time. There was an old snake
hunter named Holabud who informed me that Q
great many years ago he'd seen hundreds and
thousands of ~rattlcrs coming back to the hill
from the surrounding country to spend the win
ter, and that they went into a den. where they
rolled themselves into a big ball. to remain in o
torpid state until the warm spring weather and
the peep of the frogs would bring them out again.
NJ Holabud was too feeble to show me
where the den was. but he told me that he was
sure II was the birthplace Of the %rattlers. that
they spread in all directions from there, and
that their return to its protection from the lite
l,gious duty with them as the flying OF birds
TO a warmer climate in winter. But how they
could remember to locate Rattlesnake Hill so
certainly, and return TO it every time Hola-
Of one Of the experiments Holabqd said
he made to convince himself OF, the cor.
its way to its winter home. One time, while
shooting woodcock up in Goshen woods. proba-
Holabud said he encountered a young RATHER
and he held the ,seTpent,s head down on the
10 marx the reptile was twisted on its tail. The
next winter. Holabud said, he killed, that same
Rattiesnake Hill. This shows tina, the serpene
6 Gg So to vert certainty mt t the way cSm to get Ho, back abld to 9; its
soon after telling me this story.
Now. didn't want 10 disbelieve Mr.. Hole
and I should feel bad il ! 1 thought any one you'd
not believe what l say about snakes. but still I
SSf e az sSase 50 to see m S.s Of s eafile IS Ssfie HtIl,:
they say, A rattlesnake isa heat,loving, crea-
sure, you know, and as had peyer been able to
business this spring to watch for the reptiles
when they came out of their long sleep. Sol
hunted the rocks over and under. and prowled
here and there until last Wednesday, when I
came across a monstrons big ball Of the snakes
part. where the air was as warm as toast;
1T was by all odds the greatest sight l ever
interviewer, heads and points, just about half
alive and hall dead. like SO many strips Of thick
Il inns warm SaH ns Ike b ball Pt wss sort 'n Of re Ell RsdfP and
cushion. Not far away was a narrow dssure in
the ledge. which saw at once was the entrance
Clean eH ene and S well carpete efn; with hni leaves Sesef Which Msa
had been beaten down by the movements Of
eviden"e that It had been occupied as a snake
den for years. for there were the backbones Of
that had been ]sioushed Of I poked up the soil
with a stick and found that it was full Of the re-
mains OF former rattiers. There was not a snake
in the place; all having Joined in the formation
OF the ball that l started to tell about.
Il will go back to the ball. AS soon as the
snakes saw me they seemed to give a signal. for
the ball frightened up all at once and started to
roll right for the flssure in the ledge.
SO excited. There was $50 or S75 worth Of
snakes there. all balled up for me. and I didn't
have a thing with me to kill them. ! never felt
so disappointed in all my life. You see. l never
expected TO have so much to do in the way Of
annEa hunting So early in the season and all II
could lay my hands on was a piece OF wide
board, which was lying there. All the time
those snakes We're a-Retting up more headway
and a-rolling faster and faster right for the en-
they would fall into the cavern. and like as NOT
l should lose threc-quarters of them.
Il acted on the impulse OF the moment .6ai3
/ to myself. m try my best. and We'll see what I
/ could ahead of the snake ball and managed to
throw my board down and cover up the entrance
70 the cave just before the ball reached the spot.
The big ball struck the board with such an i'm.
petus that 1t bounded clear over the assure and
the rext instant was on its way down the hill
and across the Top OF the ledge. Before the
snakes could untengle themselves the ball was
bouncing down the %tootpath on the east side OF
RRttlespake Hill. 1t soon whiZzed so fast that
the snakes had TO tighten their grip for safety.
" stood watching the ball as il, went down
the path. 1t was a big whirling brown mass.
All went we'll with. 1t until II reached a sharp
turn, in the path, where il flew of the
is about fifty feet high. The ball fell into q
mud bank below, and the thud seemed to stun
the snakes. for when | finally got TO them they
had not moved, so l had no reason to feel afraid
OF them. l had n good deal OF trouble in un-
! could cut the throats OF the lot"
Mr.. Moseley secured li7 snakes in all.