100 
THE RATTLESNAKE. 
been bred in the same country with this dread 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 will eat a 
dead Rattlesnake, though almost any other animal will flee 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 poison 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 .— Crotalus dunssus. 
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 through the usual preliminaries. When about to inflict the fatal blow, the 
reptile seems to swell with anger, its throat dilating, and its whole body rising and sinking as 
if inflated by bellows. The tail is agitated with increasing vehemence, the rattle sounds its 
threatening war-note with sharper 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 place, 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 
