L. M. Klauber. 
ALBINO AND NORMAL PRAIRIE RATTLESNAKES COMPARED 
are caught before the great festival in summer, and stored in earthenware 
jars. Attendants wash and dry them, passing them easily through their 
hands in the process. During the dance, the priests even put the snakes in 
their mouths. The fangs are not withdrawn, yet for some unknown reason, 
the dangerous creatures seem to fall in with the spirit of the festival and 
inflict no injuries on their handlers. 
The rattlesnake was so familiar in early American settlements that it 
was used as a revolutionary emblem on a colonial flag with the warning: 
“Don’t tread on me.” 
159 
