390 



A^rP.RICAN I'ORESTRY 



Few of them can be coaxed to eat in captivity and they 

 are always alert and ready to figlit. 



On September 29, i8y8, about 10 A. M., Bourgenon 

 ojjened the cage door and in spite of all warnings as to 

 the temper of the big fellow insisted on taking the snake 

 from the cage by means of an affair which we used for 

 such purposes. 



With the snake out of the cage Bourgenon undertook 

 to try out his theory that the rattler was easily handled 

 if one only went about it in the proper manner. He had 

 seen the Hopi snake dancers pick them up over and over 

 again and noticed that they never attempted to touch 

 them when coiled but teased them until they struck 

 and then before they could recoil caught them deftly 

 behind their triangular shaped heads and the snakes 

 were harmless. 



Accordingly 

 Bourgenon laid 

 the big snake 

 on the ground 

 near the cage 

 and teased it 

 until it struck 

 savagely throw- 

 ing itself as far 

 as any snake 

 can which is 

 never more 

 than one half 

 its length, gen- 

 erally less. He 

 was successful 

 in his first at- 

 tempt and 

 caught the 

 snake just as 

 he had planned 

 close to its 

 huge head. 



Holding i t 

 firmly in his 

 right hand he 

 began to stroke 

 the snake with 



A POWERFUL DIAMOND BACK- 



This big fellow is a terrible enemy at all times, with a terrific temper and extremely dan- 

 gerous when aroused. His bite carries the most deadly venom which, strangely enough, 

 is quite harmless when swallowed. 



his left. "See," he proudly exclaimed, "I stroke zee belly 

 of zee snake and make him gentle." 



Meantime the now thoroughly enraged snake writhed 

 and twisted his rattles making a racket that was fairly 

 blood curdling even to us accustomed to the sound. In 

 its threshings the snake managed to get a coil or two 

 about the man's arm which undoubtedly gave it a most 

 powerful leverage for suddenly we saw his body begin to 

 slip through Bourgenon's right hand until the head was 

 fully eight inches from the hand. Just how it happened 

 no one could say positively but as he was endeavoring to 

 grasp the reptile closer up to the head with the other 

 hand, the snake sank its fangs deep into the man's right 

 hand between the thumb and forefinger, the huge mouth 

 spreading so wide that when closed on the hand the lower 



jaw was under and the upper, with the deadly fangs, on 

 the upper side of the hand, the fangs driven deep into the 

 flesh directly over the large veins that lie between the 

 thumb and forefinger. 



With a shriek of terror the Frenchman tore the snake 

 loose with his other hand, leaving one of the fangs buried 

 in the flesh of the stricken hand. 



While one man caught the snake and returned him to 

 the cage another grabbed the arm of the now thoroughly 

 terrified Frenchman and with a knotted cord quickly 

 ])laced a tourniquet about the wrist, twisting it with a 

 lead pencil until it sank deep into the flesh. The lance- 

 like fang was worked from the flesh with the blade of a 

 knife after whicii the flesh all about the tiny wound was 

 slashed a dozen times in order to make it bleed freely. 



Meant imc 

 the Frenchman 

 sucked the 

 wound vigor- 

 ously, his lips 

 being free 

 from any sores 

 or cracks, rat- 

 tlesnake poison 

 being absolute- 

 ly harmless if 

 swallowed. 



The m a n , 

 however, had 

 lost his air of 

 bravado and 

 was completely 

 terrorized. In 

 those days we 

 knew nothing 

 o f permanga- 

 nate of potash 

 and whiskey 

 was the only 

 known remedy. 

 The effect of. 

 the tourniquet 

 caused the man 

 50 much pain 



Photograph by J. F. Street. 



-FACE TO FACE 



that we placed another higher up on the arm and took off 

 the one at the wrist. 



By this time he was a pitiable sight, and although two 

 doctors did what they could to counteract the effect of 

 the poison the man was dead at 2 P. M. the following 

 day, September 30th, 1898. 



His arm began to turn a purplish blue inside of an 

 hour and this condition spread rapidly to every part of 

 his body until, when he died, there was hardly a white 

 spot on him. He died in great pain and although he 

 drank great quantities of whiskey was not by any means 

 "dead drunk." 



This sad incident led to the placing of a lock on the 

 "snake den" in order that no more would-be "snake 

 charmers" might attempt to emulate the Hopi Indians. 



