Daily inter mountain. [volume] (Butte, Mont.) 1881-1901, 1899-07-24
A SNAKE FIGHT,

had carried us far into the bush, as the
forests of gum trees and scrub are there
called. We were walking through a clear
ing, when the unmistakable rattle of a
snake arrested us, and in a few minutes
we saw the beginning of a fierce elcoun-
ter between two deadly enemies-a black
snake and a RATHER. These two branches
or the snake family are hereditary and
im~placable foes, though what was the
origin of the feud Darwin saith not. Be
tween them there can be neither fellow
ship, amity, compromise nor even armed
neutrality. War to the death is their
unalterable law from generation to gem
GRAFTON. The blacksnake is much smaller
than the RATHER. but he is a terribly for
mldahle foe, and, as science is superior to
mere size or strength, he generally
comes out of the fray victorious. II
seems to scent the battle Cor ratherlthe
rattle) from afar," and gives himself no
rest until he gains a point of vantage
from which he can make a sudden swoop
upon then noisy foe. On this OCCASION we
did not see the blacksnake until he leaped
on the rattler's throat, nor could we af-
terward make out how he had got so near
without being seen. That power of ST.
lent. stealthy, rapid movement gives the
black fellow an immense advantage over
the rafting enemy. 1t is that, indeed, on
which his hope of victory mainly de-
ponds. Let the blacky by a sudden leap
grasp the throat of the unwary rattler
and the chances are he will never let go
again until death them do part; but if
that first chance be lost, and he two
meet in fair fight. after fair warning, the
fangs of the RATHER are pretty sure to
win him the victory.
In this instance no such misfortune was
the blacky's. He made his spring and
got his grip CT the throat, and there he
1nll ~, ;Iy rrr;,1 l1,tlS with n f,,rx
that sounds sometimes awful the RATHER
wriggled and shook. and rolled and
writhed. He leaped into he's air, twisted
and tossed himself about, banged his as
sailant down on the ground, rolled on
him and over him, but all in vain. Blacky
simply stuck. Nothing could move him,
nothing tempt him or compel him to re-
lax his hold for a single moment. To
have lone so would have been almost GER
tain death to himself; but, through all
the rearings, leapings, t%ossings, with
ings and hissings of his victim, on he
held with a relentless tenacity that was
equal only to his love Of his own life and
his hate of his foes.
Thus for more than an hour and a half
the life and death game was kept up
without a minutes intermission. anu
without any sign of weakening on either
side. Then we perceived that the rat
tiers strength seemed to be giving way,
and all of a sudden he coiled himself up
and lay still, as if to die. Whether it was
from sheer exhaustion or only a ruse to
deceive his enemy, a faint or a feint, we
were not sure. We thought it was the
former, but blacky evidently thought
otherwise. He understood his enemy bet
ter than we did, and did not mean to be
tricked. Down he law by the side of the
PROSTATE victim, but with his teeth firm
ly set in the now torn and crumpled
throat.
Then, after a quiet interval, the one
sided truce having come to an end. or the
ruse having failed, the rattler rose again.
and resume the unequal struggle WITH
the energy of desperation a supreme
struggle for life. Again he reared and
rolled and coiled, and darted up and
down, forward and backward, carrying
his enemy with him in all his contortions,
trying by every conceivable twist to get
his fangs into the merciless foe; but all
in vain. Then we began to see in the
poor victim renewed signs Of failing
strength; but, Notwithstanding increas-
ing weakness, he struggled for a time
continuously, then internationally, until,
more than two hours and a half after
the first attack, the poor RATHER gave up
the contest and lay down to die. This
time it was no ruse. The poor fellow was
done for, and within 10 or Is minutes
after the mute surrender he yielded up
the ghost. But even then blacky still
stuck, and it was not until the corpse be-
gan to stiffen that he for the first time
withdrew the nails which had been driven
nearly three hours before into the sure
place the throat of the unhappy RATHER.
Then, the tragedy being ended, the
comedy began, and a comedy indeed it
was, at any rate to the two spectators.
On the part of the victor there was no
sign of triumph, no dancing aroun the
PROSTATE enemy; but with all possible
staidness and straightforWardness the
hero prepared for the celebration of his
victory. He began by stretching and
Strengthening out the l~ifeless body,
smoothing out every crease and every
wrinkle on it's scaly surface, with what
intent we could not even guess. He
seemed to have assumed the role of IN
dertaker, and to be preparing the corpse
for decent burial, m~agnanlmous TOWARD
a brave though defeated foe. Not a twist
or wrinkle was left upon the carcass from
tip to toe, from nose to Outstretched tail.
Then, to our greater bewilderment, We
saw that he was licking the body from
end to end, making straight parallel lines
of saliva along its entire length, which,
with the rays of the setting sun falling
on it, exhibited all it's varied hues, and
made us long for its possession. that we
might carry it away with us. But the
darby had something better to do tina
indulge a benevolent sentiment for our
qualification. For ten minutes or more
he continued his preparations, until he
made four or five streaks of saliva, which
like satin ribbons, laid horizontally
on the dead body from end to end.
Then blacky rose and shook himself,
and, having done so, took up his position
at the head of his victim and calmly
gazed upon him, with the first CLEAN Of
satisfaction in his bright little eye. We
were still full of wonder and conjecture
a tn b;c p,,rnosa interment or some kind