The Hood River glacier. (Hood River, Or.) 1889-1933, 1912-03-28
SNAKE SKINS WILL
PAY EXPENSES
From the Portland JournaD


BY killing rattlesnakes and dressing
the skins, A. +. and A. j. Gronewald,
of The Dalles high school. are planning
to defray the expenses Of attending
the Panama exposition in San Fran
cisco in 1915. These young men have
become experts in this unique line Of
work and have killed from 100 to $50
snakes each summer for four years
during lulls in their harvest work be
tween Pasco and Spokane. Wash.
To 20 at piece of work like kill
ing snakes" has usually meant the
utmost haste and strenuous efforts,
but the Gr0newald brothers are ex-
eeedingly deliberate IN snake killing,
vet they kill as high as a dozen in one
hour. Here is the manner IN which
Alvin Gronewald describes the opera
tion:
''To kill a snake without harming
the skin one needs a jacknife and
broomhandle. the latter taperlng
slightly at the end. Two persons each
with stick, can hold down the snake
and put il in any position they wish.
The head Of the snake is turned with
the lower jaw up and the upper part
of the head below. Then, by prying
back the lower jaw, the backbone of
the snake. just at the neck can be
sene. This can be cut and the snake
will be harmless, since its head VIII
hang limp, being separated from the
spinal column.
'If this is too much trouble and
somewhat too tame for the venture
some. one can simply hold the snake s
head down with the stick with one
hand and sieze the tail with the other.
AT the instant one wishes to snap the
snake. let loose of its head and swing
its body briskly around and end with a
sharp Jerk. The serpent's neck Will
be broken at the same place 10 which
it would have been disjointed, by the
first method. "
Young Gronewald declares there is a
peculiar "charm" in hunting rattle
snakes. but maintains that the stories
of snakes charming" birds. rabbits,
etc. are largely mythical He says
the rattlers in Oregon and Washington
are not as large as those which abound
in Mexico. In Oregon and Washington
they are found most thickly along the
Washtucna Coulee, the scab rock skirt
ing the foothills of the Blue mountains,
along the breaks of the Kiickitat and
along the Columbia river. They like
rim rocks with crevice formations
where pedestals are found on which
they may sun themselves. In such
places, Gronewald says, they are fire.
duently found nesting together Ike
kittens.
Zone of the most interesting opera
tions to watch, said Gronewald, the
rattlesnake slipping out OF the skin,
which he regularly dscards in the
spring. We keep them until after
they shed before killing them when we
get q nest of young ones.
"When shedding time comes the
snake begins TO scratch his head and If
he can find a nail or sharp corner he
works until he gets the loose skin
started. Then by gradual creeping he
slips out, sometimes consuming an
entire day in undressing. If he
breaks or tears the old skin he goes to
work again to get the remainder OF
the waste pulled off. .
The Gronewald brothers plan to pick
up at least 500 "ratters during their
vacations. After dressing them for
curios, hat bands or belts, they will
take the skins to San Francisco and
sell them to curio seekers.
Another snake theory which the
Gronewald brothers refute is that
which says snakes strike from coiled
position and strike tull length Of their
bodies. On the other hand, the Grone
walds declare rattlers strike from a
tight rs" shape and seldom strike
more than half the length of their
bodies.