Daily camera. [volume] (Boulder, Colo.) 1891-1928, 1897-10-25
WEALTH IN SNAKES.
A Minnesota Man Raises Them
for Profit.
He Sells the Reptiles for Exhibition
Purposes and Ships Hundreds
Of Them All Over the
Country.

Along the warm ana noneycombed
limestone bluffs that line thequiet Zum-
bro river in Minnesota are the homes OF
snakes by the million, and in the early
days of the settlement of the northwest
there were myriads of all sorts of dead
ly reptiles known to North America to
be found in this neighborhood. To-day
there are more snakes caught for cir
Gus companies and other buyers there
than anywhere else in the country e1-
cept in some of the lower counties of
Florida. All along the Mississippi and
tributary streams where snakes are to
be found they are caught for the
Rochester farm and sold to O. W. Estes,
the bright, keen-eyed young man who
runs the snake farm, and who for sew
eral years has been making a success
of the venture.
Mr.. Estes also carries on a snake
hatchery, something after the manner
of hennery, but considerably more e1-
citing. The eggs produced by his stock
are gathered and laid in the sun on the
sand, where, in the course of time,
they hatch, and there are youngsters
fully as lively and venomous as their
parents. So far this year several hun
bred have been Matched and ali have
thrived on the treatment given them by
Mr.. Estes and his assistants. Many of
these young snakes are raised for sale
and others are used for feed for the
king snake and others that eat only
their own kind.
A chief part or the business OF this
Minnesota farm is in rattlesnakes, as
they are more plentiful than any other
variety of the valuablereptiles. All that
region used to be overrun by them. A
single days receipts of diamond
backed and other rattlers often runs up
to several scores, especially when some
one or more of the outside catchers for
the farm brings in his sacks full and
sells them to Mr.. Estes. These snakes
vary from three to six feet in length.
AmOng the other varieties received and
crown are the spotted adders, blow
snakes, the beautiful turtle heads, the
sullen bull snakes, the gentle blue.
-acers, the spreading adder and many
',inds of water, grass and garter snakes.
'they are sold to the leading circus ag-
rregations, such as Barnum's, Ring
ing's, Forepaugh's, Sells and many
theirs, while the lesser concerns take
he less expensive, because less harmful,
'arieties. Alligators from Florida and
r.OcoSh1a S from abroad Iyol1 Como
'oreign snakes, are constantly kept in
stock for customers.
Estes is natural snake charmer,
and never, unless requested by his Gus
omer, takes out the fangs of the rep
lies in which he deals, and to this fact
he attributes considerable of the sue
less he has had in raising them. He
will, without fear, fondle a RATHER, a
Dull or an adder, force open its mouth
and, with his finger nail deity expose
he poison sacs and fangs. In all his
Ong experience III THIS sort of thing
ne has never Deen often.
His favorite method of capture is to
c~ab the rattler by the tail and deX-
erously swing him into sack, but
when one is found lying at full length
,stes grasps it tightly back OF the
cad. Though he has many assistants
.mong the farmers of the vicinity,
there is no other man, in that part of the
United States at any rate, who dares to
open their Jaws with bare hands, as he
loes fearlessly. His little daughter
Hazel, who is only eight years old,
seems to have the same power over the
reptiles, and can often be seen handling
the most deadly snakes and allowing
them to Irvine over her arms and about
her neck.
So far this year about COO snakes of
the more valuable varieties have been
shiprod from this farm. Not alone a~e
circuscs and menaGeries customers
of Mr.. Estes, but man cigar stores and
saloons where the re- les are displa ID
as An incentive to custom or Il ho~~ Die
example purchase from the Rochr .er
farm. A few days ago a rattlc-, sly Get
long, eight inches in r;rth and with &c
rattles, was sent to Minneapolis sa-
loon keeper for exhibit IN his window.
lhey are inexpensive things TO have
about the house, for a healthy reptile
taken in the spring will need no food
for year The rattlers in confinement
are now about becoming blind, preparo-
toy to shedding their skins, which they
do every summer, appearing in about
ten days with new, bright diamond
backs The wild rattlers do not shed
their skins quite so early The food
given these pets consists chiefly of
gophers, while frogs, rats, squirrels,
birds and rabbits are added occasional
". The small boys in the vicinity de-
rive quite revenue catching and sell
ing snake food to the farm. A stranger
scene can scarcely be witnessed than a
cage full Of snakes making meal Of
10 or 100 frogs. In their greediness
they often swallow each other, and It
is no unusual thing for snake to back
out of 9 companions stomach, where it
has r,r,rA1 q tArn{iDO froo Or ropb>~.