The daily morning journal and courier. [volume] (New Haven, Conn.) 1894-1907, 1900-01-13
SNAKES IN DEADLY COMBAT.
Methods, of the Rather and the King
Snakes in a Duel to the Death,

Snakes in a Duel to the Death.
VI If the rattlesnake Is justly called the
| king of Americas woods and rocks, yet
his crown is not held without danger
cince he Is hunted diligently and sue
cessfully. His fangs are, indeed dead
ly, and he wears fine suit of armor
: but the deer and the wild hog never fail
i. | to attack him, and he has an enemy of
his own kind still more dangerous to
him.
Snakes may be divided into three
classes. Those which are venemous,
the constructors and those which are
neither Unless the second of these are
wonderful for their size, they secure
little of our attention, and yet they are
generally beautiful in colors. most
graceful in action, and often among our
best friends.
In Florida we have two constructors
especially noticeable-the black racer,
which grows to the length of twelve feet
and makes a business Of warning on
rats and other small deer the farmer
hates; and the king snake, whose mis-
sion seems to be the determination of
the RATHER
One day was returning from days
hunt, at peace with the world and my
self, when heard a squirrel scolding as
If he were a ward politician the night
| before election. The noise he made was
SO loud and insistent that I turned out
| of my way to see what could be the
matter.
| L found the little fellow on the trunk
of a pine about ten feet from the
ground, jumping aboue as If in convul-
sions. He would flourish his tall wildly,
scold In anger, threaten an assault, run
back a little way UP the trunk, and
then return and scold again.
/ looked carefully and saw that his
anger was directed at rattlesnake
that lay coiled at the foot of the tree.
The snake was compressed into ball,
from the middle of which it's rattle
sounded continuously; it's blazing little
eyes were fixed unchangingly upon
those Of the squirrel
The buzz, puzz, .droned on the sum-
mer air with sleepy effect, but the
squirrel scolded in an ever ascending
key. But for the hint of the squirrels
eyes could not have located the rat
tier His color and his variegated'
markings offered but little contrast to
his surroundings. His monotone of
noise was indefinite, and to sight as
well as in sound he seemed only blur
on the background Of dark sand on
which he lay.
Was the squirrel only curious to sat
isfy himself as to the character of that
strange object, or was he hypnotized?
have often amused myself by exciting
the violent curiosity Of the little ami
NAL but never did waving or jump
ing object awaken such intense and
painful emotion as the RATHER always
demands.
/ knew what must follow soon; that
the squirrels cries would grow weak,
that he would grow dizzy, and finally
tumble from the tree, hang a moment |
by one claw, and then drop into the |
jaws of the living death that lay in
wait. / had raised my rifle to save the
little fellow, when the tragedy was in
terrupted from another quarter.
Swift as light, form raced on the |
stage. 1t was clothed in a cleaning |
coat of beautiful white and black spote;
it shifted and shone like necklace Of
precious stones, and | knew the king |
snake claimed Victim
The newcomer was smaller than the |
RATHER, it's ground color was a greenish
gray, and the spots scintillated in the
sunlight which sifted down upon the
scene from the tangled branches over
head.
At the first rustic of Its approach the
RATHER lost oil all interest In the SPUR
rel, which ran back into the tree.
The king snake held his head high
and raced round the RATHER in wide
circle while the RATHER tried to stink
away. The king darted forward as If to
attack, and the RATHER threw himself
into a coil. The king was again away
and racing around, with a swiftness the
rattler seemed unable to follow with his
eye. The rattler was cowed already:
his crest was lowered, his buzz, buzz
was jerky and uneven, and although he
presented very different appearance
from the self-confdent arbiter of the
woods which he had seemed when I
first saw him, could think of nothing
but some human bully surprised in the
act of torturing his helpless victim, and
compelled to face an adversa-
ry worthy of his strength The king
snake seemed to enjoy the situation as
4 cat does her cruel dallying with
mouse.
Round and round went the king
snake, and the rattler followed the
till its neck was twisted.
Whenever it attempted to turn the king
would spring forward, and it was evil
lent that the first failure of the rattler
n swiftness would be the signal for
muscle to clnch with venom. The king
would race from left to right and then
everse, and if the RATHER failed to fol-
ow that would be the end Of him. This
and I saw the king in the
lir, but could not catch the strike so
was it,
There was a confusion Of flying pine
leedles in a cloud of white dust, and
saw that two inches Of the kings coil