The Chesterfield advertiser. [volume] (Chesterfield C.H., S.C.) 1884-1978, 1918-07-11
THE CAT AND THE
RATTLESNAKE

Not every living thing is afraid of
the ratlesnake. One creature that
never hesitates to attack it is the king
sr IKE. a ,.mong domesticated ami
n';'s I. re is at least one that on oc-
cas- on tands its ground against the
ag' Of the diamond-back.
NEcl the San Antonio, Uvalde &
Cuf Railway was building into Cor
't, Texas, writes contribu-
tor, had occasion to go down to the
10" er .'ueces country to view our
land titles. The line at that time
tppeu the cac,I rs and mesquite
above Odem. l finished my journey
Or horsebacl: and arrived at the ha-
c,enda of Eliseo Quavez in the hottest
part of the day.
Senior Quavez had been out since
e2rly dawn looking for cattle, but
vas expected home for his siesta.
Would l wait? When my horse had
feen ta,:en care Of accepted drink
from the large vessel that hung in
the shade near the house. The sides
were porous, and the moisture that
ESCAPED carried away the heat as it
evaporatcd, SO that the water in the
vessel was remarkably cool and re-
fceshing.
AS l lounged in the thick shade of
the chinaberry trees, | noticed that
the yard was swept clean. For a
space of thirty feet or more, entire
ly round the -buildin.,, there was a
sort of neutral zone, in which no
leaf, grass, chip or stone--nothing
that could harbor insects or any other
of the country's pests-was allowed
to accumulate.
Gazing lazily into the bright sun
light, l was suddenly startled by the
appearance Of a large rattler. Per.
haps the bare ground enhanced its
size, Just as | was about to look for
weapon big, gray house cat crawl.
ell from under the little porch and,
sitting up, stretched for a yawn, not
seeing the snake. But the reptile
had seen the cat, and, gathering il
se.f into 4 coil, It swayed It's head
o!u IiSIHpiSu ilS Ialllc Vi
he cat looked round, and | saw
that she was mother, evidently Just
come from sucking her young. In
deed, she glanced from the snake
back to the hole under the porch and
twitched her tail nervously. Then
she rose, stalked over toward the
rattler and began to circle round it.
taking pains to be at some distance
from it. The snake, however, turned
its head steadily so that It always
faced the circ! ling cat. After the
cat had made number of rounds,
noticed that the circles were getting
smaller and that the snake, in rccov-
ering it's balance when following with
Could it be getting dizzy? The cat
never took her eyes from the darting
fangs, but kept on going round and
round. Only the waving tip of her
tail betrayed that she was making
ready for n spring.
Then the cat leaped. In! Out!
Slashing so fiercely with her claws
that she almost completely severed
the snakes head. Watching her
chance, she jumped in again and
again, until the headless body of the
sna,:e was thrashing about convul-
sively on the bare sand. Then the
cat went under the porch.
l had known deer to kill rat Ter
by jumping on it with all four hoofs
punched TO chop the venomous foe
and by springing off again SO quick
ly as to avoid being hit by the fangs,
but this was the first time | ever saw
a house cat kill snake. Senor
Quavez told me that he had heard of
a similar instance. He thought that
the presence of her kittens made the
old one willing to fight.-Youth'