RATTLE-SNAKE. 
75 
consternation by erecting their bristles and feathers; 
they surrounded him, and expressed their wrath 
and indignation, but carefully kept their distance, 
while he, regardless of their threats, glided slowly 
along. 
Notwithstanding the venomous nature of these 
snakes, and the abhorrence in which they are held 
by other animals, it is said that the hogs in America 
will feed greedily upon the dead ones, and even at- 
tack the living, seizing them by the neck so as to 
prevent their biting, and then devouring them. 
When they are either irritated or alarmed, they coil 
themselves into a circle with the head erect in the 
centre, and their eyes flaming in a most terrific 
manner : but they are never the aggressors, says 
Catesby, except in what they prey upon ; for they 
have no inclination to bite unless they are disturbed, 
and then the notice they give by shaking their rat- 
tles, and their want of agility, make it easy for the 
traveller to avoid them : however, in wet weather, 
when their rattles give but little sound, they are 
more to be feared ; and on this account the Indians 
decline travelling in the woods in the rainy season, 
lest they should be bitten before they are aware of 
their danger. The following instance will serve to 
show that their poison, though very terrible in its 
effects, is not always certain death. A gentleman 
in Virginia accidentally trod upon a rattle-snake, 
which so enraged the animal that it bit him in his 
hand. The gentleman, though aware of his danger 
and the necessity of immediate assistance, stopped 
