The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1898-01-02

a farmers best friend, and it should never
| be killed. In regard to rattlesnakes many
| people are under the impression that they
| are more honorable than other snakes,
| never biting until they give warning by
| rafting. This is not fact, because they
| often strike without making any noise
Mr.. Gruber has suffered from all sorts of
! bites, from rattlesnake bite TO frost bite.
! Nowadays he minds bite as little as a
! boy does a whipping. Ten times he has
! been bitten by rattlers, and 400 or 500 times
| by other kinds of snakes. He does not re-
| member exactly how often; and 80 or 100
! one way or he other would not make
much difference anyhow. After being Bit
! ten MIR. Gruber, in common with all snake
| handlers. cut open the part that is bitten
ana lets it bleed very freely.
| Then he uses upon il a solution of per-
| manSanate Of potash with a hypodermic
! syringe, and also dips the affected men,
| Der Tor an hour or so in kerosene Final
| " he drinks a lot of whisky.
After being bitten by a poisonous
| snake, explained Mr.. Gruber, ones flesh
about the affected part feels just as ones
root does when it is asleep. After taking
! The remedies which | use become death
/ ly sick. Then there is some improvement.
/ For period of twenty four hours nv
/ tongue always swel.s up and l lose the
/ sense of taste.
J
greeuish. 1t shoots out in two streams
and with the force as though from a hy-
! podermic syringe
Il am told he continued. 'that the bite
J OF a COBRA reptile which abounds.in In
dia' is fatal beyond the possibility of a
/ cure or the snakes which we have in the
/ east the bite of rattlers, copperheads and
/ cotton-mouth moCcasns are very danger
Gus, but not necessarily fatal Those of
black snakes, racers, hoop, bull, pine, gar
/ ter, green, chicken and milk snakes moe
casins and spotted adders are harmless.
The same is the case with the bite of
boa constructors and anacondas from
South America. Owing to the enormous
size OF Florida ratters it seems to me
that there would be very little chance OF
4 recovery If one were bitten by an Shooter
such as roam those swamps
The funniest snake of all is the Joint
/ snake from the south 1t may be broken
into pieces. If a part Of the very long tail
IS broken off it will grow again / had
one in my collection and tried il.
Lack snakes, garter snakes anacon-
| das and boa constructors lay eggs from
which the young are Matched. The young
Of rattlers, copperheads and water snakes
are born, passing into bags from The
| mother snake. When few minutes lace1
the bag or sack dries up, ii cracks and out
craw.s the young snake. Soon afterward
| il sheds its skin, and is then full-fedged
/ citizen of snakedom Snakes breed once
a year.
The general idea that snakes have legs
| is myth. l have looked for them time
! and again, and they do not exist. Most
snakes, except rattlers, are tree climbers
| If you tease a RATHER or wound him bad
~ he will commit suicide by striking his
fangs into his own body
That snakes are canniba.s is fact thai
has been proved time and again. Many 6
snake has swallowed another snake alive
presumably to satisfy his hunger.
You have heard the cowboys say thai
snakes viii not cross hair lariat," con
tinued Mr.. Gruber. Well l tried that with
two rattlers at home, and they did not dc
| a thing when encircled by the lariat bu
crawl right over it,
Snakes, unlike other animals, can never
be made pets in the sense that they WI,
ever care for their owners. have yet tC
see the first one that shows any affection
or attachment for its owner
You ask how snakes are bought? Well
you can buy them by the piece foot OF
pound. Once got a bargain at an auction
for $3.50 1t was fifteen pounds of assorted
| snakes, and as pretty a lot as you eVel
| saw. There were bull snakes, copper
| heads, rattlers and an adder or two. The
memory of that bargain lot of snakes still
makes me feel good. Snakes, you know
| usually sell at from 50 cents to So cents
| a pound,
'Of course. when a menagerie is sold out
| by a sheriff you can get snakes cheap
But ordinarily you ger them for the fol
lowing prices, if bought by the piece:
Diamond rattlesnakes, 21a to feet, &
cents 10 81 EACH Texas yellow bull snakes
) to 8 feet, 81 to s. each; moccasn blue
snakes, ) to 6 feet, so cents to 81. 80 each,
coach whips or racers, to feet, 50 cents
10 81 each; moccasns or water snakes
3 to AZ feet, so cents to $50 each; other
bright co,ored and rare snakes, such as
king snakes, coral adders, spreading adj
ders, copperheads moccasns, cotton
mouth, sand snakes, etc, at 81 each
by the foot they sell from 80 cents up
ward.
You feed snake every now and then
| in a museum, say every three weeks
/ When at large he never eats a thing all
| winter. [ had a back snake named linn
| for seven years. 1t ate only once a year
! This annual dinner Jim took with mani
festations of great joy. 1t consisted of as
many live rates and mice as he could stow
away within his skin. OF course, the meal
] lasted some time. It was none of your
| business mems fifteen minnie lunches II
used to do my heart good to see Jim swal-
low those rats and mice. 1t evidently did
! him good also. No one ever gave me a
| satisfactory explanation Of why he would
| eat only once a year
Il have said the bite of the boa con-