The sun., 1903-08-14
THE RATTLESN.AKE'Ss WAYS.
More urI0W! Information Gathered From
PersOnal ENnerlcNCe..

TO THE EDITOR OF The SrS-ST. II seems
to me that my remarks relative to rattle
snakes striking before sounding the alarh
were misunderstood by both "Jerseyman
and N. r. H." The conoclast from Texas
said that Il rattlesnake always sounds hiS
rattle" before striking. My objection to Una,
statement lies In the use Of the word always
My claim, which was based upon two KNOWN
instances. sufficient for the purpose. has been
borne out by the corroboratve evidence sup
Piled by both "Jerseyman" and n N H.
We may therefore consider as proven the
point that q rattIesnakc does not always
sound its rattle before striking.
"Jerseyrnan" errs. 80 far as Texas rattters
are concerned in intimatng that when a
rattlesnake is disturbed il will always strike
without warning Occasionally it VIII. 1t If
true. but not always. | was once crossing
the Sierra Anacacho, Tex. on the Eagle Pass
trail when l heard the well-known rnttie
close beside my left foot. | side-stepped
to the right in record time and looked down
Instead of striking the rattler was breaking
its coil and stretching across the trail away
from me, in an endeavor to get 10 u small
bush. The snake, which died before II
reached the bush, had seven ratfles and was
apparently old enough to know the proper
procedure TO be followed IN snch cases. My
foot was four inches from the on tside Of the
outer loop of the snakes body when the
alarm was given.
Another time. along the lower Nucces. al
most opposite the 81 tie OF old Fort Ewcil. |
was walking through the weeds in the sandy
bed of watercourse when ! heard n rattle
near my right foot When ! glanced down
the reptile was sim ply rafting and olsing at
me. That snake was nine inches distant when
it first ratified and had eight rattles. Both
snakes were apparently sleeping and We're
suddenly disturbed Why didn't thev strike
Simply because. in the first case, rattlesnake
10 like most other living creatures. it will
run rather than fight, unless corncred. and IN
the other ii did not apprehend danger.
As 10 the efficacy of whskev as remedv
for rattlesnake poison ! am constrained TO
cl9st despite the fact that what he says is II
mite too sweeping. The difficulty in using
whiskey is that the person bitten thinks that
ne bpr9pSr thing TO 40 Is to drink as
but more experienced persons advise u small.
repeated dose. taken az intervals OF not more
than fifteen seconds II is to be taken they
say. only as an emergency antidote. when it Is
impossible TO secure medical assistance
promptly I'm sure | do not know what the
medical books say on the subject. and | am
not sure that II is important. anyway What
would like to know il what fellow lis 50 do if
he is bitten, say, back of the ankle, when alone
and long dstnnce from doctor whiskey and
tobacco?
While cases of persons dying from the
effects of Crotaus poison almost before the
snakes tail has stopped wggling are not
unknown. they arc very rare and are due
quite as much to the person g physical condi
tion as to the effects of the poison. II per
son is suffering from heart disease or serious
pulmonary trouble. his chance for recovery
will be reduced 10 the minimum, and IN some
cases death has come alm0st instantly, 1t
follows that the size of the fight for the pa
tent's life does not depend so much upon the
quantity Of poison injected as upon the phys-
cal condition of the patient
II II. II, opens a question as to the diff
ferences between rattlesnakes that J have
often heard discussed by scientists and others
around the campfire and elsewhere. Some
the species ms a whole, is more sluggish and
deliberate in movement than its Northern
brother. Climatic influence is given as the
cause. with analogles among human beings.
Another. and think a stronger claim. is that
among rattlers the rapidity of movement is
Influences of latitude and geographical posi-
tion, In support OF this clam IT is pointed
out that so far as known the most sluggish
of ali rattlesnakes is the large variety which
has the Wichita Mountains near Fort Sill,
for habitat, They are said to be so slow in
movement that person of average quick
ness can kick one out Of the path and not be
diamond back and several other varieties
are found which are remarkable for their
quickness of movement, IL will be generally
admitted by those conversant with the char
acterlstics Of the tribe, that the ground"
rattlesnake which ia In fact n massasanga, is
that wears buttons on it's tail. +. 8 f..
LAWRENCE Mnss Aug r.