Photographing Reptiles, etc. 231 



snakes, and carried it home with me, where I 

 allowed it the free run of my room for several 

 weeks. It would not eat, however, and finally 

 died, much to my sorrow; and it was not until 

 some months afterward that I discovered this 

 species to be extremely venomous. It is true 

 that the little knowledge which I had of the 

 snakes was a dangerous thing and not sufficient 

 to warn me against this one. Had it not been 

 that this particular species is hard to anger and 

 will not bite except under great provocation, I 

 might not now be here to tell the tale. 



Of the rattlesnakes, of course, there are many 

 different varieties. They are all easily told by 

 their unvarying habit of signalling the fact of 

 their presence to any one whom they may consider 

 a trespasser upon their domain. I am free to 

 confess that I have never had any great desire to 

 hunt these creatures with a camera, although, 

 should the opportunity offer, I should unhesitat- 

 ingly do so. Many excellent photographs have 

 been made, however, by those who have no 

 particular fear of them. 



Mr. Sumner W. Matteson, in the Cosmopolitan 

 for April, 1898, describes a visit which he made to 

 a rattler's den, for the purpose of securing speci- 

 mens and pictures, that for cool daring I think 

 deserves a reward. He says that " Having had 

 some experience with rattlers in Montana, Iowa, 



