Akron daily Democrat. [volume] (Akron, Ohio) 1892-1902, 1899-08-26
SNAKE HUNTING.
A Special Charm to Rural Life In
Pennsylyania.

Pike county farms, with the exception
OF those lying in the narrow valley OF
the Delaware, are wedged in among
ROCKY hills and are separated by wioe
wastes of half grown forest and brush
lands, says an eastern Pennsylvania cor
respondent of the New York Sun. IF
forts at cultivation have been confined to
few acres here and there that lie a lit
tie lower than the surrounding hills, and
some of the farms have small streams
running through them. The cultivated
parts of Pike county do not interfere
very much with the processes of nature,
and the natural conditions for the propa-
CATION of snakes in general and for rat
tlesnakes in particular are almost ideal.
The question whether or not snakes re-
quire drink is still under discussion, but
it is a fact that they flock TO the valleys
during Il drought, attracted perhaps by
the greater quantity of prey to be found
near a running stream.
AT haying time the farmers of Pike
county merely hire a couple of extra
hands and set them at work with scythes
in the old fashioned way. The mowers
begin at one corner of the field and rock
their way around and around. An occa-
sional snake is seen, and almost ipvari-
ably it dr6gs itself into the shelter of the
long grass When the field is once cir
cumvented. there seems little inclination
on the part of the snakes to escape, and
they are gradually rounded up in the
center of the field. Finally nothing re-
mains unmowed except a small square
in the center. Then the fun begins As
this square is reduced -the=rops- tho
timothy can be seen vibrating with the
movements of the snakes. There are
snakes of all kinds and conditions, from
the thin and harmless garter UP to a rat
tier OF the size of a mans arm. Very
few of them attempt to creep across the
moved part of the field. Neither do
they appear to mind one another at this
moment of common danger. Ratt!ers
and copper heads and black snakes crawl
over under and around one another pro-
miscuously.
As the unmowed part is still more re-
duced, and with greater care now on the
part of the laborers, the rattlers begin to
send out their shrill challenges and pre-
pare for their final stand. 1t is apt to be
a vigorous fight, too, for haying time is
chosen with regard to heat and dryness.
A rattler's natural home and fighting
ground is among the rocks along the side
hills, and the man who disregards its
warning here is either a fool or a novice.
The men, armed with poles long enough
to deal a blow without getting in range
of the snakes, have much the advantage
in the open. There is always a fight,
however. The agility of the snakes is
such that the deathblow is often delayed
for five or six minutes of continuous
thrashing. When a man misses a blow,
the 1.-THE bodies are hurled at the end of
the stick with a speed that is marvellous,
and very often & few drops of venom
are left upon it. The pilots are even
more lively than and nearly as danger
GUS as the rattlers. and when these are
dispatched attention is more leisurely
directed toward killing off the other vari-
eties. 1t is a wholesale massacre, moth
ing in the snake line being allowed to
escape. The skins that will make mar
ketable trophies are separated from the
dead snakes and tanned for sale to some
city boarder, who will hang them up in
his room and undoubtedly lie about them
before next Christmas.