924 16. CROTALID# 
upon a few years before. On the earlier occasion the snake 
was almost in the path I was traveling, and I became aware 
of his presence only by seeing him where he was within 
easy kicking or striking distance from me. Furthermore, 
I had an iron bar in my hand at this time, one blow with 
which, had I chosen to deal it, would have finished the life 
of the snake. (I was wholly unarmed during my tete-a-tete 
with rattler No. 2). But in spite of a variety of pokings 
with my iron bar, I failed to elicit from this individual, rattle 
or any real effort to strike, or other evidence of fear or 
solicitude about safety. Indeed, it almost seemed as though 
this creature was abnormal in some way, though I saw no 
evidence of this beyond what has just been indicated. 
“After I had spent as much time with the snake as I 
thought profitable I went on my way and he did the same, 
in seemingly normal fashion. 
“Wherefore the difference in behavior of these two in- 
dividual rattlesnakes? Any answer I might give to the 
question would be almost wholly speculative. The indubi- 
table facts deserving special attention are these: Snake No. 1 
made not the slightest effort toward self-preservation, though 
under the provocation of great danger. On the other hand, 
snake No. 2, while not in the least danger, set up a noise 
which, so far as the act itself was concerned, was an invita- 
tion to certain death. 
“Since writing the above I have mentioned the case to my 
colleague, Dr. F. B. Sumner, whose work leads him a good 
deal over the mesas in this region. He remarks, “I can 
duplicate your observation several times over.” Surely there 
is much yet to be learned about the ways of rattlesnakes!” 
