CREATURES OF MYSTERY 
19 
dog as he and his master began closing in on him, that he, 
probably without intending to do so, uttered the same identical 
note he had heard oq the other occasions. 
If any herpetologist has ever admitted that the rattler is 
capable of uttering a mating call of such volume as would 
prove readily audible at long distances, then it has never come 
to us through the medium of their writings or through other 
channels. The above evidence, it would appear, should thor¬ 
oughly establish our contention. No matter how reputable and 
sincere the student of this particular reptile may be, and no 
matter how conscientious those who write about them may be, 
their studies are conducted under such circumstances as would 
preclude them, definitely and forever, from acquiring more than 
a smattering of the many habits and secrets of this most inter¬ 
esting serpent. The rattler is a rather peculiar creature, prone 
to be a bit temperamental. He will not perform freely for 
the benefit of students who might run down from the great 
metropolitan centers for the day, armed with kodaks, news 
reel cameras, sound-recording devices, etc. You must live as 
neighbor with him in order to learn much of his secrets, and 
even then one may rate himself as lucky should be encounter 
him more than once in a lifetime engaged in the application of 
his magic arts. Take him captive and remove him to the city 
and he immediately desists from the practice of the arts he 
knew and applied regularly in the wild. For the reasons stated, 
members of scientific bodies chide laymen, often unmercifully, 
because of their foolish contentions, labeling them as laymen’s 
myths, and dismissing them from serious consideration for the 
reason ( they say) that laymen have not the trained eye of the 
scientific observer, and consequently are not sure of what they 
see, etc., etc., etc. 
Ignorance on their part of facts known to those who have 
learned about the rattler by actual daily contact with him for 
many years, does them no discredit whatever, when we stop to 
consider that their studies, of necessity, must be conducted un¬ 
der circumstances so utterly disadvantageous to them. It must 
not be forgotten that this fact was learned by Uncle Dave at 
the expense of a lifetime of study and observation. No scientist 
