The Dawson news. (Dawson, Ga.) 1889-current, 1907-01-16
/ SNAKE HUNTING BUSINESS
uu1s PENNSYLVANIA KNOWS
ALL ABOUT REPTILES.
rmpIoys Many People to Help Him
Catch Them. Skins Valuable
for Commercial Purposes.

for Commercial Purposes.
# there is anything about snakes,
,,ool or foreign, dead or alive, that
c.i4+h Jones, a Welshman, whose
home is in Tobyhanna, Pa, does not
rnow it is not worth knowing. He
:. acouainted with all kinds of SER
nonts from the python and cobra
- the indies to the boa constructor
q couth America and the blacksnake
and rattlesnake of the United States.
tones has had many years of ex-
noripnce among the snakes of India
and the East Indies, but for the last
.ovpn years he has carried on his
cnake-bunting in the western part of
New Jersey and in the northern part
of Pennsylvania.
In the wild sections between the
snprs of the Blue Ridge Jones is capt
rring every year rattlesnakes by the
thousand.
The scene of his operations is close
IN the famous summer resorts, Del
aware Water Gap and Mount Po-
como.
There are two seasons when the
snakes are most easily caught, one
is in April and May, the other in
october and November In Novem-
her they seek their dens under the
rocks in the mountain, and are in
stupor and half-frozen state dur
ing the winter months.
In the spring, when the sun
strikes the mountainside and the
snow melts, when the stones and
earth begin to get warm, the snakes
likewise feel the touch of returning
warmth. They come out of their
long stupor and crawl toward the
light Then it is that Jones, the
snake catcher, has the easiest time
of it. The snakes are lazy, and their
movements are sluggish. Their poi
son bag is nearly empty, and what
remains is less virulent than later
on in the year.
Jones says that if a person is bit
ten in the spring the poison will not
affect him fatally, but if bitten as
late as September there is not the
least chance of recovery, unless the
best snake remedies are at hand and
applied Immediately. From August
to November a rattlesnake bite may
kill a person in fifteen minutes.
Mr.. Jones has made his snake
catching a regular paying business.
He usually employs from twenty to
thirty men to assist him. With the
coming of spring Jones can be seen
going over his territory. He makes
certain places and puts men there to
watch them.
When a snake puts it's head out
Of hole it is caught around the
neck with a steel spring hook. II
this fails to capture, wooden thongs
are used. Frequently snakes are too
active, and then they are killed with
club. This is done, however, as
last resort, as Mr.. Jones wants to
get the snakeskins as little bruised
as possible.
Although Jones is after rattle
snakes mostly, as their skins are
most valuable, he also catches milk
snakes, blacksnakes, copperheads,
racers and kissing adders. Rattlers
and c0pperheads are the only two
Of the lot that are venomOus. The
others belong to the constructor class,
which kill by winding themselves
around their prey.
A firm in Germany wanted 1O,OOO
fattlers skins last year, but Jones
could not promise to fill the order.
Ihe snakeskins net SO and rs cents
10 81 apiece, according to size ana
quaIity Mr.. Jones has process OF
Ills own to treat snakeskins. BY his
method of tanning the skins retain
nelr beautiful markings and are
made as soft and pliable as KID
among the numerous articles maze
VI y. Snakeskins are pocketbooks' neck
Ies' card cases, ladies purses, beltS'
uaI bands and money bags.