The San Juan County index. (Aztec, N.M.) 1890-19??, 1901-06-21
Hunting x
x Snakes
lsnnclnl Inl1erA

Especial letter.
The prices Of snakes are booming. A
few years ago a diamond-backed snake
would not have brought s cents from
any dealer In reptiles. Today a good
sized rattlesnake is worth $40 at least.
This increase in the value OF snakes
is due in part to the demand for them
by naturalists, who wish to study
them, but more particularly to physl-
clans who wish to experiment with
their poisons. The later compare the
effects Of these poisons upon the hui
mar system with the effects OF tox-
ines produced by the bacilll Of various
diseases. In this manne they hope to
discover not only an antidote for snake
bite, but an a~ntitoxine for swamp fe-
vers and dozens Of other Ills that flesh
Is heir TO. DR.. Weir Mitchell, author
and scientist, has at times as many as
1000 snakes in his laboratory.
Our Poisonous Snakes.
For various reasons poisonous
snakes are much less common than
they were at one time. Still there are
enough to make things interesting In
many localities. In western Texas
ranchers' families living In sod huts
look under the bed daily for prairie
rattlers, and only sleep secure under
a mosquito net canopy. The poison
GUS species Of snakes in the United
States are the %rattler. copperhead, moe
casin, and coral snake. The first three
belong all to the same family-the era
talidae-and their poisons, so far as
known, are similar. The coral or har-
lequin snake is found only in the
south, and its venom very much re-
sembles that Of the East Indian cob
ra. He is brightly banded, small,
harmless looking, but very vicious. No
certain remedy rs known for the bite
Of any Of these snakes. Whisky and
%strychnine, given in doses large enough
often to produce commissions, are usu-
ally most effective. Very much de-
Ponds upon the constitution Of the per-
son bitten, and upon the portion of the
body that the snakes fangs strike. In
general nine-tenths of the persons bit
ten by these snakes die.
Snake Hunting In South Carolina.
For persons who enjoy snake stalk
ing, says r. L. Ditmars, who con-
Quoted expeditions for snakes on be-
half Of the Bronx New York; zoo 1
can recommend certain parts of South
Carolina above any other section Of
the United States. For example, a
four-mile swamp near the little town
Of Robertsvilie, in Hampton county, is
a snakes paradise. Portions Of the
swamp are overgrown with huge rush
es and portionsof canebrake dovetailing
into pine swamps, the trees running up
to so feet to the first limb and hung
thick with sage green moss. Trees,
ground and water are alive with rep
tiles.
Snake hunting is as fascinating as
deer stalking-especially to a man who
finds some meaning in every band on a
pit viper's back. No moose was ever
more ready to take alarm than are
these slippery 1uarries, and to land a
bag full of vaiuable snakes is a task
that calls FIR adroitness mingled with
a high Quality Of perseverance.
Nigh. is the very best time for
catching snakes, for 1t is then that the
serpent tribes uncoil themselves and
glide kissing about the swamp In per-
feet freedom. Obviously this sort Of
thing is not without danger, and after
n trial Of 1t the snake hunter usually
prefers daylight. In the moonlight a