Vilas County news. [volume] (Eagle River, Vilas County, Wis.) 1896-1927, 1909-06-09

1
turned to the pond
The hunters listened and looked
with interest while Doc Monroe told
how patiently he had trained his wa.
ter snakes to sink into deep water
tail downward and to remain sus.
pended thus until the snake feels
bite upon the bit of red flannel tied
to its TAIL
After long training the snake real
ICES that as soon as a fish bites the
bit of flannel it is expected of the
snake to swim for the shore at a
speed in opposite ratio to the swal-
lowing capacity of the fish, By nice
calculation the snake determines how
fast it must swim ashore and still
leave the impression with the fish that
the latter is swallowing the snake.
This shows how much can be &C
complished by kindness.
Another novelty of this years
snake hunt greeted the hunters when,
after the fishing exhibitions by Doc
Monroes water snakes had come to
an end, the hunters sought places in
the many vehicles assembled back of
the railroad station. Among the
rapid transit stock was the simmer
ing red automobile belonging to two
of the charter members of the club,
the Messrs. Musante, well known
fruit dealers of Bridgeport-M Pete
and Mr.. Looie.
Living Auto Tire.
By crossing the hoopsnake and the
gutta percha snake fhe latter i'm
ported accidentally on a bunch of ba-
nanas from Central America by the
Musante fruit firm Mr.. Pete and Mr..
Looie have developed a living auto
mobile tire that perhaps received its
first trial in any country yesterday.
Mr.. Looie, long a student of snakes,
has been casting about for some time
for plan to make snakes more val
liable to commerce and more practical
than they have been.
The idea of using hoop snakes for
automobile tires really belongs to Mr..
Pete Musante, but the hoop snake,
as we see it in the wild state, was
found to be unable to stand the strain
except On very light runabout cars.
The arrival of a rair of gutta percha
snakes among the bananas, however,
set the more mature brain of Mr..
Looie working to the point of exer-
ton. The crossing of the common,
or hillside variety of the hoop snake
with the absolutely harmless gutta
percha snake resulted.
The advantage of the living hoop
old-fashioned tire of rubber, from
which life was extinct, was proved In
the trial trip from South Kent to the
reservation, yesterday forenoon. The
Messrs. Pete and Looie have named
the new hybrid the nonskid snake. 1t
is perfectly harmless and by feeding
the live tires dried apples and water
once year they remain in state of
initiation indefinitely. They are cas-
lily taught, after one or two revolu-
tions of the wheel, to keep their heads
near the inner rim of the wheel, or
away from the ground, and they can
be taken off automatically at each
roadhouse stop to rest,
Turn Tire Out to Pasture.
One of the greatest advantages of
the new tire is that when it becomes
worn a bit it can be turned out to Il
ture for a week or two and regain w
strength, and there is the further T
a brand new skin each year. But
greatest advantage of all is that q
hoop snake strain in the hybrid G. III
pels the tire automatically to cio az
forward, and thus the necessity & OF
high-horse engine is lessened "a
siderably. =,
They got twenty-four snakes ind !
yesterday, ranging from very lse AZ
Connecticut rattlers down to CUE
little adolescent rattlers just over the
legal minimum length for catching
them in season Shang Wheeler, who
picks 'em up after you nail 'em and
puts your snake into his bag, is bit
ten every other year, and he expected
to return with a swollen arm pumped
full of pizen and permanganate of
potash last night. Somehow he lost
his hoodoo of yesterday and escaped.
The club as a body brought back
thirteen snakes, and there was some
trepidation caused thereby, as it is
considered unlucky to have even thir-
teen rattlesnakes. But along came
Chief Jim Pan as the first key was
tanned. The mighty chief had been
hunting alone, and under his arm
was crate of eleven rattlers-twenty-
four in ALL