BTOGRAPnY OF A RATTLESNAKE 177 



When six and a lialf niontlis old Rattles shed his third 

 skill, one having been shed shortly after birth, and 

 the other some three months hence, as described, 

 lie now possessed "two rings and a button," which 

 buzzed (juite noisily. The snake at this time meas- 

 ured thirty-eight inches, and easily swallowed, entire, 

 half-grow^n rats. 



During all his observations of this snake, as well 

 as the others of the brood, the writer noted, without 

 exception, that the shedding of the skin, which took 

 place on an average of every three months, was at- 

 tended with the uncovering of a new joint of the rat- 

 tle. At nine months after its birth the snake's rattle 

 consisted of three joints and the original button. 



When Rattles celebrated his first birthday he meas- 

 ured four and a half feet, an increase of about three 

 and a half feet during the year. He now fed vora- 

 ciously upon full-grown rats, which died within a few 

 seconds of a stroke by his fangs ; his rattle had at- 

 tained the dignity of four joints and a button. 



After two years from his first birthday, let us again 

 examine Rattles. In a large, glass-fronted cage lies 

 a magnificent rattlesnake, its head nearly as broad as 

 a man's hand, its colors a combination of olive, yel- 

 low, and black, forming a chain of diamond markings 

 down its back. From the center of the coil protrudes 

 a rattle consisting of twelve rings and a tiny button; 

 each ring, from the tip of this appendage toward the 

 tail, is seen to be a little larger than the preceding 

 one, illustrating the growth of the snake ; the rattle 

 is seldom used, for the snake is very tame, but when 



