The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1897-04-25

| NONh W ~ WNfAI III amman W ~ HIIll KICK
ing with It's hind legs in struggles TO got free
II have often observed that the blowing
sddcr; or ,spreSdhsah,, when much worried oI
! ever noticed this behavior on the part OF q
snake was when 1 was a child. Al that time
an old negro man and a small dog. The dog
found q common black epreadhead, and with,
out actually taking hold of It began TO worry
u by running around e, snAppinR at It., and
supposed was deadly peril. / struck the snake
Immediately elected a toad It had swallowed.
1sSn SR y:sur%ed ie on lite lie b t,sSlf am. IN Il, sssirS sISsi and Il
fectly still. There was not even a wIgsle in
i H. tail whom pinched: Believing. as | then
thIs ono had killed itself. I was on tho point
,."'oh, mol II you leave them when they bite
thsm,olves. then their mates come along and
lick the bite, and fetish them TO life again,
no amount OF licking would ever heal. The old
man svidently knew by some means that snakes
which appeared thus TO commit auicide would
recover, and knowing no real explanation OF
why they should. hc invented one. therein fol.
lowing the example Of mora eminent mon than
himself. Before | nEain noticed such action by
a snake I had studied ZOOLOGY n little. and had
learned that the spreadhead was said to DO
met one and began TO cultivate a closer ac-
ouaintance, with IT, and IL seemed after a time
s to nf IL tssi:, ! was a., much H., ,Sprpris.di and be;
not have poison fangs after all. The adder had
tur aed itself on It's back and was lying rigid in
tions I turned II right side up again. II was
playing dead so earnestly that 1t could, not lie In
60 iifelike a position, and Immediately turned
Then, of course, / knew thai q snake which
was too dead to stay In tho position In which
] determined to watch 1t. Accordingly / RE-
moved 1t to a smooth, clear place, and then
withdrew TO n little distance. In about m.
teen minutes tho snake CnutlOuNlS raised ira
head and two or three inches OF its body and
recognize me. aud in q few seconds / I'D turned
itself over and was making of. When l nd.
van ,ed quickly toward IT. the ,nnke redounlcd
It's Efforts TO escape, but was easily CAPTURED.
1t did not. at that time. again play postum.
Often since then | have watched them go
through this pretended suicide; Usually when
one Just described. but occasionally when they
lind themselves overtaeen as they ere making
off they again Mt once feign death. Some
times whilo playing dead. IL one Is sharply
prickcd with q needle or otherwise acntely slim
surrounding things and either snow fight or try
a ratflesnako Is the biggest coward In tho
world" said John Kent OF Swamp Run. Clin-
tlesnakrs for their hides. grease. and %Tattles.
ers. he saws. he has built up a large trade.
The RATHER would Re scared at his own
S sMnT from III h IL. f uS.t1 he seG found o.; Sia ah %Gd Il s, sas 70 pt fhh
1t. When he made the discovery that he
settle the whole difficulty by turning his poison
on himself and committing suicide. Some
suicide. SAY he will. I've seen %rat,lers put
an end to themselves dozens OF times. but
never when they we're in captivity. Why that
Is l can't say. II you have a rnttlesnake Gagged
MIN. and. while he Will work himself into a rage
won't let his feelings 80 far overcome him as
TO bire and kill himself. Il is different when
he Is M hne xo on his i. n . s.n, 5sTT ,hIn and nn So sn ssd
to himself until he hae exhausted all means
at hand in trying 70 get out of.the trouble he
beyond his control. and he twists his head
around ard sets his fangs in his body right
over the heart. and in less time than you could
kill him he stretches out stiff.
III you should happen IN see q garter snake.
one Of the most innocent and harmless things
that live. going along O road In one direction.
and q rattlesnake travelling on the came road
toward the garter snake. and one os those
one of them do you suppose would keep the
right Of way7 Naturally you would Ray the
and that's just where he is mistaken, 'Now.
instead of the rattlesnake's keeping right on
and the ga5t:r snaks.s getting out ut, Of 1t the way ,
will do il in double quick the. and slide on
to q safe place Of hiding. But II n.t instead Of
the garter snake, It was a copperhead. or any
ise'1 r. ssiesns as s &oSid k ss 1h 1iG Ess't Cn. a ana shc
two reptiles. each with poison enough in Tia
jaws 10 XIII three men would pass each other
quietly. or may De stop for a moment and have
q little confab together. One Of the funniest
things in nature 10 that venomous snakes never
ticular grudge against any Of the non-venom-
Gus snakes. But srakes that carry no poison
assressine and unrelentina enemios Of the poi.
son snakes, and the latter live in deadly terror
of item; A rattlesnake will go far OUT of his
way rather than meet 3 garter snake. although
the rattlor might be big enough to swallow
the sart-r's whole family a, one gulp.
or a copperhead irro fits Ut once. He knows
he will have 10 fight. and he knows that he 10
sure to get licked; But ve9opous snakes viii
ties every rattlesnake, and every copperhead
blackspnke. though, Is more than a match for
half a dozen rattlesnakes and copperheads. for
horse is quicker tran an OK team. once saw
a six foot biacksnake tackle q big rattlesnake.
and the rattler'p signal brought four other
from different directions. But they might better
have remained away. for It didn't take the
blIcksnake more than six minutes TO do the
whole lot Of them. He seemed TO dive and
dart in and out and around those rattlers and
hissers Ike a ziEzng streak OF lightning among
crunch. and that was the END of o rattler or u
copperhsad every time.
the bushes whore I mrs: saw the fight to within
q couple OF YARDS OF the uRnrers. ana Wnen the
biauksnake had finished the lot his eyes fell
on me. and interpreting my presence there 20
mean that I wanted n piece OF the fight. too. no
slid at mo with tho evident determination TO do
me MP as he had the snakes. Before l could
move he had himself wrapped about both of
my legs. and was working his way upward with
q rapidity that would have put my wind pipe at
his dist osal in FIVE seconds more: hut ! made
q grab and caught him around the neck with
both hands. and closing OH him with all my
strength. I choked his tongue out till 1t hung
down nve inches. and his eyes popped out on
his cheeks. The blacksnake was glad enough
10 quilt. but I held on to his throat until he was
as dead a. the snakes he had been having his
picnic with.
'He was tho incest specimen but orc / ever
captured OF his kind. That ono ] gathered In
q few minutes after killing the first one. I
was carrying my, prize home. and in getting
oyee q stone wall happencd TO look back over
my shoulder. About fifty feet behind me. and
getting over the ground at u mile-a-minute
rate, was another hlacksnake. presumably the
mate OF the one | had killed. This snake was
:oning for me and no mistake. hadn't much
time to think. but what thinking l did was 10
the point. ! three the dead snake back over
he fence and grabbed a stone. When the pur-
suing snake came TO the body Of Its dead mate
IL stopped and passed slowly around II. Wien
IL offered a favorable mark / hurled the stone