924 16. CROTALIDA 



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!" 



