New-York tribune., 1912-04-14
,ru1ND THE SCENES WITH A SNAKE CHARMER
By DAY ALLEN WILEY

length on the boards "It is time these
were put into their box 50 they can 60 to
sleep" An attendant rolled over a wire
covered box, and the snakes were put into
it, the Others following as fast as they were
dried and rubbed.
How can ! tell when they are sick?
Well, there are different ways. They move
more slowly and their mouths are dis
COlOred. Sometimes the skin becomes
wrinkled and rough. If the skin is sleek
and shiny, a snake is usually in pretty fair
condition. and think that rubbing is good
exercise for it. | can tell by the way one
moves whether il is weak or not. OF course
rattleSnakcS are not nearly 50 strong in
their bodies as boas or pythonc. They
depend upon their bite. While the others
may bite YOU, il really does no harm: but
| have to look out when giving an act in
case put one round my body. rs he might
take ii into his head to tighten himself, and
he could crush in my ribs very easily. He is
strong enough to kill mule.
YES, know many people think that rat
tlcSnakcS and others we perform with
have their tdngS drawn: but il is only OC-
esSary to get drunk in case YOU are bitten
and most professional snake handlers know
OF an antidotc that will prevent any harm
| got mine from East India, and, while
have been bitten good many times. it has
never laid me up. In the first place, a rat
tier cannot strike at YOU until he is in
certain position. He must have his body
COicd SO that he can throw his head far
-, L..
not enough muscle in his head end neck
alone to DO much. The Indians in the
Southwest know that they can pick up 4
wild snake in a certain way and keep it
from hurting them. There is also a way OF
keeping ii from coiing. They take a
feather and stroke ii along the back. Il,
seems to affcc, the spine in such way tha,
it cannot coil. and the snake ShrinkS from
it. initiate this motion with my hand |
do not care To take any risks with new
snakes, and if have 10 handle them pick
them up as the Indians do.
Can they bc trained; In a sort OF way.
II is natural for a snake to twinc round "a
post or persons body, and this is the secret
of the way we can pose with two or three
of them; but | have their heads where | can
watch the movement and grab them il one
should strike. lou can take pedestal
with two or three cross arms and hang Il
snake upon il, and he will put himself nat
urally into some sort of pose, moving only
his head. BoaS and pythonS will pose bet
ter than the others as they have SO much
more strength, and ii is more natural for
them to coil round anything.
There is one difficult feat have tried.
II is to coil two OF them together in such a
way that the upper parts Of their bodies
and heads will stick up in the air The
only way to fix il is to twist them round
each other As YOU would two pieces Of rope.
If they are coed on each other, they can
support themselves straight up to a height
OF two or three feet; but they do not like il
and will Try to bite if they get a chance.
mo, snakes 10 not like the cold weather.
They are very delicate, and can stand little
change. One OF the best ways TO keep them
from getting cold is to pour warm water
over them Sometimes the water Is too hot
and the parts Of the skin that are badly
scaldcd peel of, leaving sore spots where they
have rubbed again~, the sides OF the box.