The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1898-08-07

had ialn IN The uni @id die OF Che road, and, 'a after
snSii's pace I" over The. VwitSered leaves toward
the bushes and tree who're hts mate had. taken
T Psrt 81 E EIs joS Mg sRfSSf S not H5n bol GnS ia h Re f fois
owed very exactly the course of his predeces-
sor. still am not quite certain, rs had 70 run
too fast In that chase To note ut oil carefully the
This second, slow-moving snake 1 watched
same bushes nj the foot Of the tree, There he
was lost to our view, l naturally expected
where the other had taken refuge. But MIN
o Of h TltG aG minute a Pf last. i by TT& we we s sESh "a f I6:e
R Rl@h sSr & SGoqhi oS TG really att S seem az Enough q rR0 to bo pro 6HS
that he had traced his mate. and we were now
posted my two companions at Opposite sides
OF the bushes aud then went in myself TO
There he was on tho ground. right under
the branch whereon l had caught his compan.
ion, He would not rum but, stood his ground
with great energy and .curvinG his neck TO bite
at me; but | soon had him ,grasped round the
slowed him safely away in the same bag with
the mate he, had been seeking and had been
t6lcEet had spoiled the trail know not. but at
any rate he was either entirely baked or greatly
Satisd n his ottempt to 10, follow SS, it through the
to the hole wherein his mate had 30 recently
lain IN hiding.
snakes trS SltSh In n9 PAIRS, G Sna i myself ysSRf'9h s sGy o ffeat
found two together. but this WINS only at GER
t1tn s sSssG fts wa EG %i1 mSst h RPTs t IF the mS ssS q each b
find each, other seemed TO me u rather curious
and p~uz2llng question; 1 had had a suspicion
that, by smell or otherwise. they followed
eqch others trail, because In the previous year
I had caught u blacksnake on this very same
tSe fC 2R q ihT!assy gin SRS' fGts oaSnd W in 1h t6s s aSfia Ss
s x; Where ! had caught 1t another blacksnake
From what I had now Actually seen NJ the
snake which had been Killed on that occasion
when it was two days old.and had stopped at
the exact spot where l had caught ii, aud
fingered there until some passing pedestrian
came up and beat 1t heartlcssly to death. Per-
haps 1t, too. had obstinateIy, refused to leave
caught on this days hunt OF which / / write re-
fused, when l came to catch him. to move from
among the bushes beneath the branch when no
could trace his lOnged-f for partner no further.
Now. the question being settled that snakes
do actually trace each other land l have since
observed 1t on other ,ocGasionsl, the, strange
point now arises, how do they know when they
come to n trail which direction it leads in? I
have observed, Alright, run along smiling at the
ground until they come, to a trail. whereupon
fully in one direction.
,"lf now, after pursuing it for q while. they
find that the scent gets fainter, they retraoe 1t
again back to where they started, and follow it
up until II gets stronger, But IL. in the first in
stance, they find it growing stronger and more
recent, then they continue along il and pursue
it more and more ardently. so that their speed.
energy and excitement increase us they feel
that they are. getting nearer and nearer to the
object of their pursuit.
Very probably it is thus with snakes also,
although 1t Is hard to credit them with so much
Intelligence. Yet It is the only reasonable en-
PLANTATION. for surely il is not to bc supposed
that when that second blacksnake which | cap
tured on the day of the present hunt came 10
the trail of his forcrunner, marked plainly III
the dust, he could reason out the, direction II
led in, ms did. by arguing, from the fact that
the dust at the curves were banked up higher
at the eastern side, that the snake which made
the mark had consequently taken q westerly
course, because the pressure which drove him
forward in his gliding movement was naturally
cXerted In a backward direction"