The herald., 1898-08-28
.RATTLESNAKE DAVIS.
Mysterious Old Man Who Follows a
Most Peculiar Occupation on the
Shores Of Lake George.

Nobody ever knew Rattlesnake Davis
by any other name. That might have
been his Christian name and his sir
name for ought of evidence to the con-
trary, and while there was firm Gre
dence in the belief that Davis was his
srname, there was also a we'll ground
ed notion that If he had any patron it
was a rattlesnake. Rattlesnake Davis
never answered to any other name be-
cause no one ever knew any other
name to call him, and no other appella-
tive could possibly have been more ap-
propriate or expressive, for he seemed
to have no other relation in life than
that which existed between him and
the only noise-makers of the reptile
species.
Rattlesnake Davis is known to every
body who has ever come within the
borders Of Warren County, New York.
He has been for years a lapsed tradi-
ton to the folks who make the Lake
George country their home as well as
those who seek sport there in winter or
cooling rest in summer time. No one
knows where he lives. He was never
suspected Of having any relatives. His
whole life Is wrapped in the coils Of
the rattlesnake.
This reptile was never suspected Of
having a pronounced commercial value
before Davis took it in hand. While he
doesn't farm them, he does harvest
them, and he makes them yield revenue
in a surprising fashion. The federal
government, with a view to the exter-
mination of the rattlesnake offers a
bounty Of twenty-five cents for every
set of rattles. 1t was this modest prof.
it which first enticed Davis into his
strange profession. He next discov-
cred that the oil of the rattlesnake had
! a value. From this source he realizes
| from seventy-five cents to one dollar
on every -attler killed He next looked
| to a market for the skins, which are
often very large, always substantial,
and frequently disclose glossy colora-
| tons and shadings Of exquisite tints.
! According to the size and beauty of
skin he gets from one to eight dollars
for it. In the aggregate then snake
| a day represents a good weekly profit.
! He finds his market for the skins on
the verandas Of the big summer hotels
on the shores OF Lake George. The
weird effects in the sheets of scales
have an inexplicable fascination for
women. who are his principal CUSTOM
ers. Frequently he brings his goods to
market alive in a glass-covered box.
He makes the uncanny monsters
squirm about. disclosing now soft
shimmering skim again a brown set of
los oh tn h1an nr q h1na hack
fading imperceptbily into yellow
belly
! Davis has spent years at his trade.
or his art, as his dexterity and expert
| ness would suggest that even so I'M
canny an accomplishment would be
called, more years than any of the
Lake George folk remember. 1t seems
| to them that the time wasn't when the
little old man with the hooked back
and bearded chin wasn't gliding along
the shores with his primitive ins.. T..
ments of capture on hunt for his
strange prey.
The available time, as he has held,
for capturing the rattlesnake is e. early
dawn, and this Is the time of day when
he is most frequently seen abroad at
his professional labors. The reason
Davis has found Warren County so rich
field is because the rattlesnake's cpl
curian diet Is the frog, and the shores
of Lake George are alive with the green
croakers. After an all-night musical
vigil the frog is apt to be caught nap
| ping about sunrise and this time the
RATHER finds most propitious for his for
aging. The naturalist having discov-
cred these traits bases his operations
upon them.
Davis weapon is long pair Of wood
! en- shears, the leverage at the far end
like pair Of manicure scissors. He
has his own unrevealed method OF ap-
preaching his prey, but once located,
his long prongs are sure capture OF MS
victim. for his skill Is unerring. He
brings the two points of his wooden
shears to bear on the snake just back
Of the head. Unless his prey is uncon-
trollable and apt to be unduly annoy
ing he does not kill 1t. He removes the
fangs and makes the captive discharge
his deposit of poison and then boxes
him for future disposition. Sometimes
he kills him directly, sells the rattles
to the government and the oil to It's
particular market. But IL the reptiles
coat is particularly fine he saves him
alive, for the tortuous windtngs dis
close the light affected gloss In SEEM
ingly irresistible way to his fair patrons
on the hotel piazzas.
No one knows much about Rattle
snake Davis. He appears and disap-
pears sometimes at intervals OF weeks.
sometimes of months, mysteriously as
the reptiles he pursues in the tall grass
and among the rocks on the lake shore.
His activity of years has not dimin-
tshed appreciably the native stock Of
rattlers in Warren County, and he Is
not beyond a certain discrimination in
singing his victims for market, for
| thew increase and multiply in spite Of
his continued depredations and the
/ Young are seen In hurried flights down
their mothers throats at the approach
of strangers. He seems to have the
commercial possibilities of the individ-
ual snaAe well developed and If his
hunts have been persistent he must
have secreted somewhere snug for
tune of which there is no sign Of out
ward and visible application in his un-
kempt pioneer clothes.
| A novel mode at the moment is to