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The Swift Motions of Small Animals. 
BY W. H. H. BARKER, M. D„ HARVEY, IOWA. 
Swiftness of motion is an essential 
requisite of many wild animals of the 
smaller kind. It is one of their most 
important means of defense. Perhaps 
no known animal possesses this in a 
higher degree than the weasel. He is 
the “lightning flash” among all animal 
life. A single instance will illustrate 
this. The writer was once standing on 
a board sidewalk. At his feet, almost 
at his toes, was a two-inch auger hole 
in a plank. Through this was suddenly 
thrust the head of an audacious, full- 
grown weasel with a whistling call and 
a challenge for a fight. A swift kick 
sent him chattering out of sight, only 
instantly to reappear, with head and 
shoulders through the hole. Half a 
dozen times were the kicks and the 
swift dodges repeated. Then occurred 
a change of program. Calculating time 
closely a kick was given before the 
head was seen, and it caught the little 
animal unawares, and of course ended 
the performance on both sides. But the 
kick had caught only the tip of the little 
animal’s nose as he came up and not as 
he went down. 
Not often does the little fox squirrel 
give man a chance to attest his quick- 
ness. The writer has had one oppor- 
tunity to make such a test. As I was 
standing close beside a large forest 
tree, a young but full-grown squirrel 
suddenly thrust its head almost in my 
face. Short of rations, out on a tramp 
in the woods and hungry, here it 
seemed was a chance for a meal. 
Hatchet in hand, a lightninglike stroke 
was made at the little imp. but when it 
struck the tree the squirrel was on the 
other side. The weapon was scarcely 
recovered when the squirrel was back 
ready for another trial of skill. The 
blow and the dodging were repeated 
again and again but to no purpose. 
Finding all efforts to capture the little 
scamp were useless we let him sit and 
chatter at us in pure squirrel delight at 
our discomfiture. We went our way, 
having learned another lesson as to na- 
ture’s ways of shielding her little people 
in times of danger, and inwardly ad- 
miring the agility of my would-be cap- 
ture. 
An Unusual Rattlesnake. 
BY F. H. SIDNEY, WAKEFIELD, MASS. 
Mr. R. M. Smith and his son, Robert, 
of Sheffield, Massachusetts, with a 
forked stick captured alive at Black 
Rock. Mount Washington, Massa- 
chusetts. a white rattlesnake which has 
been shipped to Mr. Raymond L. Dit- 
mars, Curator of the New York Zoo- 
logical Park. Mr. Ditmars saw this 
snake last year when rattlesnake hunt- 
ing on the mountain but it got away 
from him. The rattler is two feet long 
and has two rattles and a button. Its 
eyes are pink and its white skin is 
dotted with pink spots. The specimen 
is said to be the only one of its kind in 
existence. 
Black Snake Warnings. 
BY C. D. ROMIG, AUDENRIED, PENNSYLVANIA. 
While viewing from some rocks dur- 
ing cool weather I nearly trod on a 
large black snake coiled there and 
which gave warning by rattling the dry 
leaves with its tail in a way similar to 
that of a rattlesnake. The tail seemed 
to vibrate rapidly on the leaves. 
This I have observed before and, as 
I recall, in cool weather. It may be a 
sign of fear or of helplessness. In warm 
weather the black snake usually runs 
away as fast as possible when attacked. 
