The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1907-06-30
RATTLESNAKE FARM In TEXAS
FAT TENOMOUS REPTILES !
BROWNSVILLE PRODUCT.
Caught I'm Mexico and the Southwest and
Then Fattened TO he Sold at From so
Cents 10 81 4 Pound Thousands OF
Rattlers Handled Yearly by One Man.

tthts W I'll u Uuiiu - ioNotliho VI
Rattlers Handled Yearly by One Man.
BROWNSVILLE. Tex. June 27.-Snake
farming is not 50 bad a business as enc
might suppose. F. B. Armstrong ci this
place has been at it for twenty-five years
and has made big money by it.
He handles and raises the most venomous
reptiles known to the Southwest and Mexico.
Rattlesnakes are his specially. He handles
thousands of them in the course Of a ear.
Snake farming is in a class by itself. Mr..
Armstrong has no competition in the bust
ness. Practically all the rattlesnakes and
other reptiles peculiar to this region which
are found in the museums, circuses, side
shows and public parks Of the United States
and Europe are furnished by him.
He also does a good business with snake
charmers. He sells the snakes by the
pound, receiving all the way from so cents
to 81 a pound, according TO quality and
variety.
The snake farm is situated Just outside
of Brownsville. 1t embraces about twenty
acres OF ground and is surrounded by a
strong, tight fence,
Upon a slight elevation within the main
enclosure are the pens or corrals where
NllC "a nv hSBNF al
though this is the dull season at the farm
there are more than five hundred rattle
snakes in one pen.
The pen is formed by building a tight
board fence about fifteen feet high. The
fence has no opening and the pen is entered
by a ladder.
Twelve species OF poisonous snakes are
known in Texas and Mexico. These are
the harlequin. the cottonmouth, the copper
head, the Gulf coast massasauga, Edwards
massasauga, the ground rattlesnake, the
diamond r~attlesnake, the Texas rattle
snake. the banded rattlesnake, the dog
faced rattlesnake, the prairie rattlesnake
and the green rattlesnake. These snakes.
with the exception Of the harlequin, are
all known by a peculiar mark in the form
Of a pit in the skin Of the upper ia W. be-
tween the eye and the %nostril, and forming
a triangle with the nostril, the eye and the
rit for the three corners.
Mr.. Armstrong has had specimens Of
nearly all kinds OF poisonous snakes in
the pens upon his farm. He keeps the
snakes in the pens 10 fatten them. They
bring better prices when fat, as he sells
them by the pound.
Rats and mice are their principal food.
The rodents are brought 70 Mr.. Armstrong
ny NltNlCdH DOyb' anu " pluCcu III lIlt
pens and the snakes do the rest. Having
gorged themselves with The squealing,
squlrming rats and mice the snakes retire
20 the holes which they have made for
themselves under the brush and lie there
until the meal is digested.
The small Enclosure keeps the snakes in
active and they fatten very rapidly. When
In prime condition they are removed from
the pen by means Of a wire lasso hitched in
a tight moose around their necks. Just below
their heads, They are placed in a box and
removed TO the operating shed.
II is In the operating shed that the poison
and fangs are removed from the snakes.
Mr.. Armstrong takes from each rattlesnake
from one 10 two tablespoonfuls Of green,
liquid poison.
In extracting the poison the snake Ia
made 10 bite on a glass tumbler. The
fangs dart forth and the poison is elected
into the glass, Then the fangs are re-
moved.
There are from six 10 eight fangs in each
snake. They are rom one-fourth 70 one