The Dawson news. (Dawson, Ga.) 1889-current, 1910-08-10
BIGGEST SNAKE STORY YET
CAPTURE OF A STRANGE MON
sTER REPORTED IN MONTANA.
Indians Fled and Sheepmen BattIed
With 1t Nearly an Hour. Rep
tile Taken Alive.

GII0 1aken alive.
| BUTTE, Mont.-The story of an
extraordinary battle between two
sheepmen and a mammoth snake,
coming from Laurel, a remote sec
ton of Montana, in the Little Pryor
mountains, has caused great excite
ment among naturalists and others.
The huge reptile, declared to be
larger than any ever before located
In this region and of d species as
yet entirely unidentified, was taken
alive after thrilling hunt in wild
mountain ravine whittier L. n. O'Del
and j. w. Vaught had been guided by
number of terror-stricken Indians
| whose superstitious fright sent them
! heeing from the neighborhood long
| before the actual capture of the
/ snake was accomplished. The rep
tile is 8 feet in length and weighs
zoo pounds Around the body it
| measures more than Is inches.
At different times in recent years
O'Dell had heard from the Indians
| OF the strange monster that made it's
| home in a wild canyon a few miles
from Laurel, but until three braves
returned terror-stricken recently
| from the vicinity he took it for grant
ed that the story had it's birth in the
superstitious imagination of the red
skins. He then became impressed
with the remarkable tale, and, after
enlisting the aid of Vaught, started
forth with a party of Indians as
guides.
Guides Desert at Canyon.
At the entrance to the CANYON tbe
swarthy guides deserted precipitately
and the two men ventured into the
narrow ravine, where a large hole
entering near the top of ledge COW
cred with slippery shale rock and in
Vulnerable trails leading in all di-
| rections from its mouth gave unmis-
taxable evidence that the opening
was lair. Cutting a square hole
| several feet back from the entrance
to this wild abode they discovered
the coils of monster even larger
than they had been led to expect.
Stirred to wrath by the disturb
ance the snake began to make a
F., great noise, and the few remaining
redskins who had retired 80 or 40
rods scampered off on their fleet
footed ponies at a gallop AS the
monster started to leave the entrance
O'Dell threw a gunny sack over it's
head and clasped his arms about the
| throat. Then one of the wierdest
strugglest ever recorded in Montana
| history was on. Back and forth over
the narrow ledge the huge snake
writhed and twisted, finally tighten
ing itself about O'Dells hips until
he was lifted from the ground
Catches 1t by the Tail.
Vaught seized the snake by the
tail and forced it to release its hold
upon O'Dell. The strange contest
| continued upon the yielding floor of
the little ravine for almost three
quarters of an hour before the two
men succeeded in firing the snake,
when they bundled it into a sack and
took 1T alive and struggling to Laurel
as living proof of their strange story.
The reptile is marked with large,
dark mahogany spots, outlined with
lighter color and extending across its
back. It's sides have a mingling of
brilliant brown and white and it's
belly is white. It's method of kill
ing prey is apparently by constric-
ton, but the spots are not the shape
and color of boa, nor is it an ana
conda, as its body is much too large.
O'Dell, who has had vast expe-
rience with snakes of all varieties,
does not believe the snake is a ma
tive of Montana, but thinks that it
has drifted here from the Sierra Ne
vada mountains. The Indians claim
the snake has been seen in the Little
Pryor mountains for more than TWEEN
ty years, and have associated it's do
ings with the actions of the evil
one" O'Dell does not believe an
other snake of this size could be
found in the state, and will present
the huge reptile to the Society for
the Preservation of Natural History
Of Montana.