The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1907-08-27
SNAKES FROM TEXAS.
Where "RattIesnake Pete" Of Ro-
chester Buys Serpents.
Utica Observer.)

Where do you get your rattlers?"
asked an inquisitive visitor at RAT
tlesnake Pete" Gruber's place. You
don't raise them, do you?"
mo, don't raise them," Mr.. Gruber
replied. Il get them from different
parts of the country. Some come from
Pennsylvania, others from Georgia and
Florida. but most of them, and the
most expensive. come from Texas.
Most of those from Texas come from
Brownsville"
why is it that you get so many
from BrOwnsville?" he was asked.
THE man I buy from has a snake
farm down there. He has been az it
for many years and has made a for
tune, I understand. lie buys and sells
all kinds of snakes, especially the
venomous ones found in the southwest
and Mexico. but rattlers are his spe-
cialty and he always has stock ON
hand"
The snake farm from which Mr..
Gruber's reptiles come lies Just outside
Brownsville. 1t covers about twenty
acres of ground and is surrounded by
a high, strong and tight fence Inside
the fence is a low hill. and on this are
the pens or yards in which the
venomous snakes are kept. 1t is said
that there are now about 500 rastlers
in one pen, and this is the dull season
of the year. The pen is formed by
building a tight board fence about
fifteen feet high, with the lower end
of the boards sunk an inch or two in
the ground. AS the rattlesn1ke does
not burrow the fence is an impossible
barrier. The pen is entered by means
of a ladder.
as soon as they are caught. and are
fattened. The serpents tire sold by
the pound, hence the amount of fat
they take on represents, in a measure,
the amount of profit accruing to the
snake farmer. Rats and nice form
the principal food of the rattlers. The
animals are caught by boys, Sho sell
them to the snake farmer. The ami
mails are thrown into the pens, and
as the latter are not large and the
fence is impossible, they re soon
caught by the hungry snakes.
When an order is received for snakes
it calls for so many pounds. A man
takes a wooden pole, to which is at
tached a piece of wire arranged with
a moose. The moose is slipped over the
head of the snake and before Mr.. Rat
tier realizes what is going on he is
dropped into a heavy burlap bag, in
which some grass has been placed.
Air is admitted through a piece of
wire gauze previously sewed in the
side of the bag. When a sufficient
number has been secured and bagged,
all in one bag, If the number is not
too large, the bag is sewed up and
placed in a box provided with suitable
openings TO admit air. The box is then
forwarded to its destination. Very
few snakes die on the journey from
Brownsville to Rochester, unless the
weather is exceedingly cold, when,
sometimes, q few freeze.
Rattlers are not the only snakes
raised on the farm. AS much atten-
ton is given TO other poisonous vari-
cites and to non-vencmous snakes.
The most beautiful of the poisonous
snakes found in the United States is
the harlequin, which is said to be the
most deadly snake found north of the
Rio Grande. Mr.. Gruber received one
some time ago from Georgia. He did
not know that it was poisonous, and
its beauty attracted him. 1t was
striped with scarlet, black and golden
yellow.
isn't it a beauty?" said Mr.. Gruber.
as he showed it to some of his friends.
The next day he received a letter
from the man in Georgia who had sent
him the snake.
BE very careful in handling the
pretty little snake" the letter said,
1T bit a niger a few days ago and
he was dead in an hour"
Mr.. Gruber hasn't cared to have any
of the harlequins since, although they
are a comparatively rare snake and
are the only relatives on this side Of
the Atlantic of the cobra of India
None Of them has come to him from
the Brownsville snake farm,
But he has received many harmless
snakes from there, including the GO
pher snake, the bull snake and others
and poisonous snakes. such as cop
perheads and cotton mouth, the last
a variety of moccasin snake.