The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1916-1920, 1919-06-29

So Gladys went out by herself and
had look, because she has seen so
many snakes they have no ,terrors
FOR her at all. She knows lot about
them. She knows just how far a
RATHER can strike. for instance, which
Is about half It's length. and she
knows how to escape the bite of q
snake and what to do IL the reptiles
fangs do happen TO sink into a per-
sons flesh. She really thought George
Washington Jackson had seen a garter
snake or at most harmless black
snake, so she was very much sur
prised when she saw, coiled up like
q watch spring beneath a bush, the
biggest diamond back RATHER she had
ever seen-and she had seen some
big ones at the zoo.
Now the diamond back rattler is the
most venomous snake and the most
dangerous on the North American
continent. 1t ranks among the great
snakes OF the world so far as down
right meanness Is concerned. Many
authorities contend that the diamond
back, next TO the hooded cobra Of In
dia, is the most dangerous snake in
the world. 1t is not rarity in ZOOS
by any means, yet the zoo that has a
fine specimen OF a diamond back rat
tier can count itself fortunate. And
to get a snake like the one the pic
caninny found not fifteen feet from
the cabin was one of the principal
aim Of Mr.. Ditmars's expedition.
-
This snake that flashed its baleful
eyes at Gladys Ditmars was one OF the
finest specimens she had ever seer,
more than six feet long and clearly
and beautifully marked with the
brown diamonds on it's mottled back
and sides. She knew that her father
would give great deal to capture the
snake, but her father was away, and
so was Mr.. Snyder. So she deter
mined to undertake the dangerous
task Of capturing the snake herself.
although her mother and her sister
were not very keen about the idea.
But Gladys knocked the lid Off a
box OF condensed milk and took the
box. To 1t she fastened a pole about
six feet long. Then she went - the
huckleberry patch. BY this time the
snake, let alone, had uncoiled, and
lay at full length under a bush. He
had to coil before he could be cap
tured. because the box was not large
enough to cover him as he lay. So
Gladys threw handful Of sand at
him, and walked TO within ten or
twelve feet OF the dangerous fangs.
The snake reared himself into the
form OF the letter s, darted his forked
tongue In and out, swayed his flat,
diamond shaped head back and forth,
and coiled ready to strike. At the in
slant he coiied Gladys rushed toward
him, and before he could luuge at her
she dropped the box neatly over him.
The next instant there was a thud as
the fangs OF the reptile struck the In
side OF the box, but he did no damage,
although later when the box was re-
moved two strips Of rattlesnake
venom were streaming down the
wood-enough poison to have killed a
dozen men.
Once the snake was safely under
the box Gladys Ditmars calmly
stamped on 1t, driving the sides OF the
box into the soft sand ana effectually
preventing the escape of the snake.
Then she went back into the cabin
and resumed her sweeping. which
George Washington Jackson had in
When her father came back
to the cabin with Mr.. Snyder she told
him OF her capture. He laughed.
- diamond back RATHER" he said,
shas
here for. That you should catch one