The Indianapolis journal., 1903-07-12
RATTLE BETWEEN SNAKES.
Blue Racer Needed Rather for Dinner
and Enjoyed Catching IL.
,tter in New York Sun.

Leidy (Pa) Letter in New York Sun.
Snakes" said a native OF the Young %
Women's Town district OF the Pine creek
spread OF waters, lis curious critters. an
some kind o. snakes, Of course, is curiouser
than others. -
amt half so sudden as them that only
travels on their shape. For instance, the
blacksnake can git up and nght suner tnan s
dried ellskin, notwithstanding that the
rattler's got a toothful o. juice that d mako
even a hippypottymus think he'd been hit
by lghtnin' if it was ever introduced into
Some folks say that one snake won't
swaller another one. Maybe IL won't, bur
If 1 didn't see a big blue racer git away
with rattler wunst about as slick as
gray drake could bolt sucker, I'll eat your
hat. / was over along the creek huntln
and heerd a rattlesnake of In the SCRUB
brushes Just more than shakin music out
en- his tail knowed that somethin more
than common must be goin' on. an went
over to see what it mowt be. discovered a
racer more than six feet long, which had
just begun TO take his lunch of a rattler
half his length.
HE had the pizen peddler's head in his
mouth and was working the rest of him
down into his hold. The rattlesnake was
switchin' his tail and wrigglin like a
skinned eel. 1 grabbed a stick and punched
the racer until he spat the rattler out, ana
the rattler turned and started 10 go away IN
the brush. But the racer didn't calculate
to lose his dinner, not IL ne could help II.
He headed the rattler of every which way
he'd turn, till by and by the venomous crit
ter stopped, throwing himself into coil
and showed fight.
took on as if he havin' more larks
than a passel o. boys in swimmin. He'd
spring over that rattlesnake and stride
him like fashin' o lightnin'. The racer'd d
edge up to within easy distance OF the rat
tlesnake. and, though rattler strikes about
as quick as a gun goes on, that racerd
dodge the fang every time: sometimes
passin' under the rattlesnake's head. and
sometimes jumpin' clean over it.
1.-The pizen touthed yarmints eyes looked
like two sparks OF fire, and his tongue
played in and out of his mouth like a sew
in machine shuttle passin' 10 and fro: He
had struck at the racer maybe a dozen
times, the racer doin the incest kind o
ground and lofty tumblin' over him all the
while. when he raised his head for another
ugly dart, and the racer lassooed him as
slick as a Mexican could "a slid his rope
around a wild steer. He had throwed a
loop of his timber body round the rattler's
neck and he held the wiggin' fang shower
as If he was in wise. The rattlesnakes
wind was soon shet off, and IL wasn't no
use of his tryin' to strike, for the racer had
him SOS he couldn't turn his head.
1.-The rattlesnake gave Up his squirmin
before long, but he kept right on soundin'
his buttons Then you ought 10 seen the
cuteness O. that blue sacer blacksnake. He
slid his coil up TO the rattler's head and
pinned his mouth tight shet. While he
his own saws open, and they could "a took
in a full size rabbit, and then showed the
TStters 6n head b II nd eo ow2 the ri
body he crammed the whole business in
after the head
1.-The rattles never stopped rattlin' till
they disappeared in the blacksnake's NAV.
In a little more than ten minutes time that
blue racer had piZen enough slowed away
inside of him to kill a team o tannery
mules 1t didn't kill him, though, and 10
wouldn't "a. But fiattened his head with
club and took him and his contents home.
Young Womeps Town. where / live.
ca5 ha a nlacP a I
any in the State. / kin remember when
you could hear 'em singin any time o day.
an folks didn't think much more OF IL than
they do now o hearin' grasshoppers. For
that matter, the snakes was a blame sight
better than the grasshoppers. for they
didn't do no harm. But nowadays you can
only hear a rattler sing wunst in a good
while and ii kind o makes me lonesome
when think o. them old times.