Los Angeles herald., 1905-03-26
Dicks First
Big "RaffIer''

TT was on one of the warmest of the
early spring days that little Dick
Brown killed his first rattlesnake.
Little Dick was not the very small boy
that his name would imply. The. lit
tie" was incorporated into it to distin-
guish him from big Dick, his elder bro
ther.
The mother of the two Dicks had been
Richardson. an old family in that
part of the country, and the first son
was called Richardson Brown. Then,
family pride being still strong with the
advent of the second Gon a few years
later. he had become a Richardson
John Richardson Brown. To be called
John. after his father certainly, but as
the mother looked with pride from her
eldest to her youngest child she had
exclaimed with delight
See my big and little Dick!"
That was as good as a christening,
and there were big and little Dick from
that time on. Now little Dick was ii
big. sturdy youngster and he had killed
his first rattlesnake.
Richardson Hill, included in the old
farm, was noted for its rattlesnakes'
den, the number of ratt;esnakes caught
there, and big Dick had acquired
reputation as a rattlesnake hunter. The
place, ten miles from the nearest rail-
road town, was comparatively wild.
Wildcat was the biggest game but
there were foxes, hares, mink and
enough game birds to make it hunt
ers' paradise on a small scale. Big
Dick was an all around woodsman and
little Dick was following in his bro
theirs footsteps.
A rattlesnake's den is not always what
it's name would seem to imply but
merely the warm side of the hill, facing
the south and covered with big, sharp
edged boulders left by some upheaval
of years before. The great pieces of
flint stone, covered with moss now,
rested loosely, one against the other,
many of them small enough to rock
and throw the unwary traveller. Be
tween them were innumerable crevices.
Undoubtedly
beneath, for frequently steam could be
seen ascending, and with the sun
shining from above, this was one of
the first spots to emerge from the
SHOWS in the spring.
Each fall the snakes, returning from
their travels about the country. would
lie here for days summing themselves
before disappearing between the rocks
to hibernate during the cold weather
When the spring sun shone warm again
they would reappear, lazily warm
themselves and make ready for the
summers outing in search of food. 1t
was at these seasons that big Dick did
his snake hunting.
But on this particular day it was to
be camera hunt and there was not one
chance in many that there would be a
snake in sight. 1t was early for that,
but one of the sportsmen of the pre-
vious fall who had captured large
snake with an unusually fine skin was
anxious to have a picture of the den.
This was the first propitious day.
II Wd5 BloilOuS niolHih6- IheIc was
fresh odor of spring in the air the
sun was warm, but there was a crisp
ness that told that winter was not yet
gone. There were three of them off for
the den-blg Dick, little Dick and Baby
Margaret. The baby, who was five,
had pleaded hard to go and take pie
lures, too. She was a healthy little
country girl and 1t would be a good
outing for her, her mother said.
mo chance Of snakes today" said
big Dick oracularly. TT is too early
and too cold for them to have their
nightcaps off yet"
However, they took the gun along
and a big stick. The stick made use
ful staff in climbing over the rocks and
was the best weapon for killing a
snake. A light blow. on lust the right