The Washington times. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1902-1939, 1903-08-07
A TERRIFIC BATTLE
BETWEEN SERPENTS
Big Blue Racer Needed a Rather
for His Dinner and He Got Ii.

Snakes" said a native OF the Young
W0meEs Town district OF the Pins
Greek spread Of waters. is curious crit
tiers. an some kind O. snakes. of course.
is curiouser than others.
Now. snakes with pizen in their
tooth amt half so sudden as them that
only travevls on their shape. For instance,
the blacksneke can git up and fight all
round a rattlesnake, and soon squeeze
him sitter than a dried eelskip. not
withstandin' that the rattlers got a
toOthful O. juice that d make even
hippypottymus think he'd been hit by
lightnin IL il was ever introduced into
his system
Some folks say that one snake won't
swaIler another one. Maybe It won't.
but II I didn't see big blue racer git
away with rattIer wunst about as slick
as a gray drake could bolt a sucker. I'll
eat your hat. / was over along the
creek huntin'. and heerd rattlesnake.
on in the scrub bushes. jest more than
shakin' music outen his tail / knowed
that somethin' more than common must
be goin on, an / went over 20 see what
il mOwt be. I discovered a racer more
than six foot long which had just begun
TO take his lunch OF a RATHER half his
length
He had the pizen peddler's head in his
mouth and was wOrk!n the rest OF him
down into his hold. The rattlesnake
was switchin' his tail and wrlgglin' like
a skinned eel. 1 grabbed stick and
punched the racer until he spit the
RATHER out and the RATHER turned and
started to get away in the brush But
the blue racer didn't calculate to lose
his dinner. not If he could help 1t. He
headed the RATHER on every which way
he'd turn till by and by the venomous
critter stopped. throwed himself into
coil and showed fight
Then there was fun, That blue racer
took on a. if he was havin' more larks
than passed. O. boys IN swimmin'. He'd
spring over that rattlesnake and stride
around him in circles and zigzag across
him like Aashin o lightnin'. The raeer'd
edge up 10 within easy distance O the
rattlesnake and. though the rattlar
strikes about as quick as gun goes OF.
that racer'd dodge the fang every time.
sometimes passin' under the rattle
snakes head. and sometimes jumpin'
clean over 4.
The pizen-toothed varmint's eyes
looked like two sparks o fire, and his
tongue played in and out Of his mouth
like a SEWN machine shuttle passin 10
and fro. He had struck at the racer
maybe a dozen times. the racer doin' tia
incest kind O. ground and lofty tumblin'
over him ell the while, when he raised
his head for another ugly dart and the
racer lassoed him as slick as a Next
can could a slid his rope around wild
steer He had throWed a loop of his
timber body round the rattleT's neck.
and he held the wigglin' fang-shover as
II he was n a wise. The rattlesnake's
wind was soon shet on. and it want no
use of his tryin' 10 strike. for the racer
had him so he couldn't turn his head
The rattlesnake give up his squirE-
in before long. but he KEEP right on
soundin his buttons Then you ough1
to seen the cuteness O. that blue racer
bIacksnake. He slid his coil Up TO the
rattlers head and pinned his mouth
tight shet While he held the rattle
snake that way he throwed his own
jaws open. and they could a took in
full sized rabbit, and then showed the
rattler's head in and closed down on TO
IT, Then. slidin his coil down the rat
tiers body, he crammed the whole busi-
ness in after the head
The rattIes never stopped rattlin' till
they disappeared in the blacksnake's
NAV. In 4 little more than ten min
utes' time that blue racer had pizen
enough slowed away inside of him TO
kill a team o tannery mules Ii didn't
kill him, though. nor il wouldn't q.
But / iattened his head with a club
and took him and his contents home.
Young WOmens Town. where I live,
used 10 be as good a place for rattlers
as any in the state l kin remember
when you could hear EN- singin' any
time o. day and folks didn't think much
more OF IL than they do now o. hea-in'
grasshOppers. For that matter the
snakes was q blame sight better than
the grashOppers. for they didn't do no
harm. But nowadays you can only hear
d RATHER sing wunst in good while and
IL kind o makes me lonesome when I
think o them Old times '-Leidy Pal
Correspondence New York Sun.