COLE. 



C. E. PLEAS. 



Not a big boa constrictor of the jungle 

 story, but a little one, the hero of which 

 is a beautiful red and dusky spotted fellow 

 about 2 feet long. Scientists will better 

 know him as Coluber guttatus, while his 

 common name varies in different localities. 

 Sometimes he is called spotted racer, and 

 again house snake and chicken snake ; but 

 if you want to know his greatest aim in 

 life, give him a mouse or a young rat. 



I started to call him our pet, but as he 

 never showed affection for anyone, nor 

 preference for one person more than an- 

 other, he is hardly entitled to that name. 



made a noticeable change in him, particu- 

 larly just after a big meal, and we could 

 almost see him grow. He drank about like 

 a cow in manner, and almost as often. 



We had a rat hunt in the barn one day, 

 and Cole played the part of executioner. 

 Among those caught were 9 young rats, 

 about a third larger than house mice. As 

 in the case of all other executions, a spe- 

 cial place was prepared for this one. A 

 shallow tray 16 x 18 inches, with a layer 

 of clean sand in the bottom, was put in a 

 public place, a few tufts of grass were 

 placed around the edge, a glass cover was 



AMATEUR PHOTO BY C. E, PLEAS. 



A FULL MEAL. 



Yet from the time he was taken captive 

 in 1900 until given his liberty last spring, 

 he was as quiet and gentle, when handled, 

 as if he had been raised in captivity. 



Our first meeting was down in the or- 

 chard one hot day in July. I was raking 

 hay; he was asleep underneath. I took 

 him in my hands and deposited him in a 

 cage prepared for such a purpose in the 

 barn. There he seemed fairly contented, 

 and greedily took his food and water when 

 offered. The old idea that snakes feed 

 only once in 3 months has long since gone 

 out of my mind. Possibly some do, but 

 my observations are different. The sup- 

 ply, I believe, governs the time of feeding 

 more than aught else. 



Cole was about 16 inches long when cap- 

 tured, but it seemed that every mouse 



provided and the next thing was the audi- 

 ence. 



_ A camera with its wide angle eye was 

 given the best view commanding the whole 

 arena, and was supplied with plates on 

 which to take notes. Cole was then placed 

 in the arena, a rat turned in, and the per- 

 formance began. The rat, of course fright- 

 ened, had forgotten the old fable about 

 snakes charming their prey, and was in too 

 great a hurry to investigate Cole's mes- 

 meric powers, running about as fast as it 

 could, to find a way out. 



From the way in which Cole gave pur- 

 suit one would judge that he had little in- 

 tention to charm, and he caught the rat 

 about as a bow legged man would catch a 

 pig in an alley. 



I can not describe the scene that fol- 



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