The farmer and mechanic. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 18??-19??, 1913-07-01
SNAKE FARM IN TEXAS PRODUCES
10000 ANNUALLY FOR MARKET
W. A. King and Wife Sell Rattlers at Good Price After
Extracting Venom for Sale to Chemists Reptiles
Have White Meat, Which Tastes Like Vea1-Wornen
Like Industry.

oa,t a snake when discovered another
right behind me q male. The fena1e
was ia the den. Mr.. Snake reared nap,
and l jumped into q prickly pear
patch, and none too quick. In n
end | got both snakes. Sometimes
YOU find IS or 100 in one little patch.
.Mn. King and her sister. when
they caught the biggest r~attlesnAke l
ever saw. had smaA boxes The two
went out by themselves n were car
rying a gunnysaCk with or two
snakes they had caught earlier in the
day. Mrs. King l4ssOed h big snake
and tethered him to a tree and then
set the box over him- Fhis snake was
3 feet s 1-2 inches long and a nine
teen rattleS. He was captured on the
other side Of the river below Mata
mOraS.
1T is all nonsense to say snakes
hypHotize people. / nev>r heard OF
an authentic ase
When a snake is located the next
process is to pick it up. But you must
not make a false move; it woul be
fatal Circle it quietly. Here is where
what they cam snake charming
cOmes in. l don't believe there is
such a thing, although they "a that
certain men a move and make a
a man moves around h snake its
head does follow. When you have the
snake quiet reach under the body and
pick it up. 1t remain in it's coli. You
must know the exact portion of the
body in order to lift it Up: otherwise
down. causing him to raise his head
The body then is in the correct posi-
ton for handling. If it is a mean
snake you should work long enough te
get the strike out Of it by firing it. II
you come on it suddenly it might &C
to rafting. but the popular belief that
before a snake bites it ratties is q mis-
take. I nave approached hundreds
and hundreds OF snakes that did MOI
rattle. The big fellows haul off ane
bite and rattle after~ard. Also there
is no foundation to the story that ths
rattlesnake gets a new rattle every
year. When it sheds it's skin a new
: rattle comes. But l have knew
snakes to shed three and foul times
year in damp years"
Poison Is Extracted.
F. B. Armstrong was the pionee
3 snake farmer in the Brownsville sec
. ton. he made q business Of extract
ing poison from rattlesnakes and max
ing them harmless by cutting out thei
, fangs and poison sac.
A specially constructed box is use
n to hold the snake while the work @
relieving it Of it's liQuod poison an
making it harmless is performed. O
a WI Va lAC y Il d SAIOAnS ALL, 6IlO !
one end Of the lid is a small apertur,
just large enough to fit over the nee
d of the snake. The head is drawn OF
through the hole by means OF q lass
and the lid frightened against the neci
rendering h snake powerless fe
harm. A glass is placed in the ope
mouth Of the reptile, and it Instant
brings down its jaws. throwing out
s anger all h poison that the So
le enthusiastically from one to tx
l. tablesp0onfuls.
The poison having bee elected. tt
Operator cuts out the fangs. while
lie down close to the jaws in the baC
part Of the mouth. resembling hypt
te dermic needles. Having removed IL
fangs. slit is mad ia the poison sa
I'd and thereafter the snake can do 1
Il. harm. The poison is of a greenish We
~ low tinse. While the process is goil
to on h snake ratt}es continuously.
to The business Of capturing and ma
IN keting snakes is carried on extensiv
il " in some parts Of Mexico also.