Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1902-01-27

ceived very hard usage from the sharp
and strong beak of the shrike. it's body
was decidedly full of life.
THE situation showed plainly a fight to
the death. with the honors divided about
as follows: The bird had sadly battered
the head of the reptile and one claw
was deeply, very deeply inbedded in the
snakes body some four inches from the
mead. while his snakeship had two coils
of the latter part Of himself tightly about
the birds neck and was choking him as
hard as he knew how
THE shrike did not take kindly at all
to my efforts ut rescue for it pecked
iierceiy at nv hand. even tearing the
heavy Kid dri ling glove wore and strus-
sled hard to free itself from my grasp.
but l persisted in my philanthropy never
theless.
II first tried to uncoil the snake b. re-
versing the coil with it's tail but the in
slant ] tried the the snake instinctively
contracted the remaining coil the more
tightly until from the way the bird cried
and ran out its tongue il was plain the
remedy was worse than the disease. be-
sides the birds neck and body offered so
little resistance in comparison to the
strength of the snake that it appeared to
be wholly impossible to accomplish my
object in that manner
And again, the moment | relaxed my
hold on the snakes tail, presto. two more
fresh coils would be added TO the poor
birds neck, whose cries of pain or horror
or both. were truly pitiful. Several times
tried this uncoling process and each
time gave it I'D as liabl. 20 result fatally
10 the bird.
1T would naturally seem to the listener
Of the story that TO uncoil the snake was
a simple thing to do. ! only wish you
might have an opportunity to try, FOR
then only would yo,, realize the difficulties
presented in The shape of a struggling
bird. whose soft body you could not
grasp tightly without danger of squcez-
ing out forever what little breath the
coils OF the snake allowed to enter its
lungs. and whose neck afforded no resist
ance whatever In the necessary pulling
process.
This with the additional pressure of
the coils of the snake, instantly ! tried
to remove him made the problem decid-
the bird would die if not speedily re-
leased, and the law of necessity prompt
ed me to a happy thought. | have for
years carried as Z companion to my pock-
ct knife pair of small scissors. No
sooner thought of than / had them in
nv hand and with them l very carefully
shipped one of the coils close to the BIRDS
neck, severing 1t completely and yet With
cut harming a feather. Instantly there
was a transformation scene. the rear
half of the snake lay in the grass at my
feet while the shrike went through my
hand like shot and was flying away to
the TOP of an apple tree with the other
half dangling from its claw which was SO
firmly embedded that he could not shake
il off
II watched him from his elevated perch
for some time and he never moved ap-
parently a muscle or feather There
he sat thinking it all over and was
forced to smile as ] imagined he was
wondering if he had simply been seeing
snakes like oldihary human beings.
MY explanation of it all is this: That.
finding the snake in the grass the shrike
had pecked its head until he supposed
it was dead and then picking it up to
carry away. it proved to be more alive
than dead and. throwing Its tail about
in an aimless way. it happened to light
on the birds necl. and took few turns
just for luck. The shrike in its struggles
set one claw in the snakes back so deeply
he could not withdraw it and 1t then be-
came case of rip and tuck. How long
the bird had been undergoing the squeez-
ing process / don't know, but probably |
not long. as / had passed that locality |
but short time before.
81 am strongly of the opinion that this |
particular shrike will give snakes a wide
berth after his narrow escape from such |
a novel but relentless guillotine.'
GLIDE QlnQ cnIIRT