Bisbee daily review., 1907-06-08
KING SNAKE AND RATHER
 HAVE A BATTLE ROYAL

Anson H. Smith of the Mohave Min CT Is a member of the church, a tenn perance man and otherwise a repu- table citizen, otherwise the following description by the Miner of a snake fight might te reproduced with justi- fable hesitation:
 'One of the fiercest and most san guinary battles to te death between large rattlesnake and kingsnake ever witnessed, took place fn the edge of the great palm forest, south of Yucca, Arizona, a few days ago. R. P. Wheeler, superintendent of the Biy Sandy Min ing company, and two companions were drinving from Signal to Casten- ada's We'll and found the snakes in fierce combat in the road For more than an hour they watched the tide of battle win unusual interest. The snakes fought warily, seeking advan- tage, but like flash the kingsnake gripped the rattIer close to the head and was folding itself coil after coil around the body of its antagonist. Near the middle of the rartIer the kingsnake had formed a running knot of its body like a figure 8 and in its creepy folds was soon crushing out the others life.
 With a desperate effort the rat tier freed it's head fro mthe grip of the kingsnake and like a flash of light was sinking its deadly fangs into the others body. Time after time the rat tiers head quiyered and flashed as it struck it's poisor fecked fangs against the sides of the writhing king snake until at last they became fast ened in its body, requiring an effort to loosen the hold. During all this time the snakes were wrIthing and such a cloud of dust that their move ments could scarce be followed.
 Soon it developed that it was but q matter of a little time until the kingsnake crushed out the life of the rattler, as he again had him in his deadly folds and agaIn gripped him close to the head. The hour being late in the afternoon, MT. Wheeler and companions placed the snakes, still locked in their deadly coils into a box and took them 10 Castenda's We'll, where they were dumped ouc and the fight continued. Within an hour the rattler was crushed ino an inert mass. The Hngsnake realizing that his foe was dead, proceeded to investigate, and smelled his old enemy over care fully from head to tail. One of the men had removed the rattles from the rat tlesnake toward the last of the battle and the stump was still bled!ng. As the kingsnake came to the bleeding stump his body writhed and swelled and his head raised and sswayed from side to side and then descended onto the luckless tail with an angry swish Then without further ceremony he proceeded to swallow his late enemy in the most approved canabalistic manner. In a short time he had one half of the rattler inside of him and then coiled his body around the re the folds forced all but the head of the rattler into himself The rattfer's- head was too large to freely enter the kingsnake's mouth, but not to be de- prived of a vestige of his old foe, the snake moved over to a nearby rock and pressing the head against the rock in a short time had pressed it past the distended fragments or the mouth. The hard fought battle had been won and the victor having disposed of the spoil sluggishly and wearily dragged it's battered and bledIng 7rame into a nearby bush, there to digest the din ner 1t had so hardly won. Four hours had been consumed in the battle and degiution of the vanquished rattler"