100 



THE RATTLESNAKE. 



been bred in the same country with this di-ead Serpent, and at the sound of the rattle will 

 prance, plunge, and snort in deadly fear, and cannot be induced to pass within striking 

 distance of the angry Snake. 



It has already been mentioned that swine are comparatively indifferent to the Rattle- 

 snake, and will trample it to death and eat it afterwards. It is certain that they wiU eat a 

 dead Eattlesnake, though almost any other animal will llee from the lifeless carcase nearly as 

 swiftly as from the living reptile. Perhaps the thick coating of fat that clothes the body of 

 the well-fed swine may neutralize the j)oison of the venomed teeth, and so enable the hog to 

 receive the stroke with comparative impunity. The peccary is also said to kill and devour 

 the Rattlesnake without injury, and deer are reported to jump upon it and kick its life out 

 with their sharp hoofs. 



Fortunately for the human inhabitants of the same land, the Rattlesnake is slow and 

 torpid in its movements, and seldom attempts to bite unless it is provoked, even suffering 

 itself to be handled without avenging itself. Mr. Waterton tells me in connection with these 



^^^-.'.^^^ 



RATTLESNAKE.— Cro^ato dutisms. 



reptiles : "I never feared the bite of a Snake, relying entirely on my own movements. Thus, 

 in presence of several professional gentlemen, I once transferred twenty seven Rattlesnakes 

 from one apartment to another, with my hand alone. They hissed and rattled when I meddled 

 with them, but they did not offer to bite me." The fer-de-lance Snake is, as has already been 

 mentioned, most fierce and irritable in character, taking the initiative, and attacking without 

 reason. But the Rattlesnake always gives notice of its deadly intentions, and never strikes 

 without going througli the usual i)reliminaries. When about to inflict the fatal blow, the 

 reptile seems to swell vdth anger, its throat dilating, and its whole body rising and sinking as 

 if inflated by bellows. The tail is agitated Avitli increasing vehemence, the rattle sounds its 

 threatening war-note with sharj)er ruffle, the head becomes flattened as it is drawn back ready 

 for the stroke, and the whole creature seems a very incarnation of deadly rage. Yet, even in 

 such moments, if the intruder withdraw, the reptile will gradually lay aside its angry aspect, 

 the coils settle down in their i)lace, the flashing eyes lose their lustre, the rattle becomes 

 stationary, and the Serpent sinks back into its previous state of lethargy. 



It is rather curious that the Rattlesnake varies much in its powers of venom and its 

 irritability of temper, according to the season of the year. During the months of spring it 



