TEXAS NATURE OBSERVATIONS AND REMINISCENCES. 161 



a stick thatj-its. bead was nearly, 

 torn off, at- the same time making 

 a large i*ent in the snake's lower 

 neck parts and exposing the tip 

 end of a rat's tail. The photo 

 shows this snake with its de- 

 voured victim in nearly normal 

 size, and it exposes the outlines 

 of both the snake and the rat 

 nicely, the photo as seen being 

 prepared with near-focasing lens 

 of my own use. The smashed-up 

 bead, on examination, bad shown 

 two very large poison fangs, 

 partly covered by the whole cover 

 membrane, and a large amount of 

 venom was expelled through the 

 fangs by pressing the poison 



. depicted in some other pages bad 

 been prepared by this method; 

 and some exposed only one-sixth 

 of a second. Live animals, in- 

 cluding birds and reptiles in their 

 haunts in the woods can be re- 

 produced in all their natural 

 beauty by this procedure; but it 

 usually takes lots of time and ex^ 

 perience and patience to accom- 

 plish a good exposure, as we 

 know, wild animals are always 

 suspicous and on the lookout for 

 depredators around their secluded 

 "sanctums;" and therefore, one 

 has to hide the camera, or cover 

 it with green vegetation, etc., and 

 the operator himself must seek a 



Young Moccasin with Swallowed Water-Rat in Stomach 



bladders with a stick — ^under care- 

 ful handling, of course. 



Before closing, may I call atten- 

 tion to the manner some of the 

 views in other pages and both of- 

 fice views herein had been se- 

 cured; First, a long string is at- 

 tached to the trigger of the shut- 

 ter mechanism, and then the ca- 

 mera is placed in focus distance 

 of the objects to be reproduced. 



The first pull of the string 

 opens the closed shutter and 

 exposes the^ plate, and the 

 second pull closes it again. 

 Any length of time exposure or 

 an instantaneous view can- thus 

 be taken^depending on light con- 

 ditions and mobility of the ob- 

 jects to be reproduced. Some of 

 the hunting scenes described and 



hidden place from whence he can 

 observe the objects in front of the 

 "loaded" camera — and pull the 

 trigger at the right moment, when 

 the camera victim or victims 

 emerge from their haunts. Birds 

 on their nest or feeding their 

 young offspring or rodents in 

 and outside their subterranean 

 haunts ; and all sorts of other ani- 

 mals of the woods can thus be 

 photo-produced — after the se- 

 cluded camera had been set in 

 focusing distance. 



It is an interesting study, and 

 one not familiar to even many ob- 

 servant naturalists, that the crota- 

 lus family, as well as the moccasin 

 snake, swallow their offspring 

 during threatening danger, and 



