of his prey, and observing him otherwise about his native 
haunts, and his places of hibernation. If it were but possible to 
pool their lives and observations into that of a single individ¬ 
ual, and had such person been born one thousand years before 
the Pharaohs came to power in ancient Egypt, then such indi¬ 
vidual would still be beating the sand ridges and shrub-oak 
hummocks throughout the wiregrass region of the coastal 
plains of Georgia, and with his observations still incomplete. 
It dawned upon the writer, even during his early boyhood, 
that he had fallen heir to a natural craving for a better ac¬ 
quaintance with this particular creature. Our elders were 
heard to speak of his mysterious ways, but never explained 
them to our satisfaction, if in fact they offered any explanation 
at all. When we grew up no opportunity was passed by to 
gather in and read all that the “experts” had written on the 
subject. Frequently we would write the most eminent living 
authorities on the subject, inquiring of this and that, but always 
their answers were unsatisfactory, and wholly at variance with 
what appeared to be the true facts. It finally dawned upon us 
that there were not any experts in this particular field. It 
became increasingly evident that this was a field which had 
never been fully explored. Consequently, we tied our fortunes 
and our endeavors in with Uncle Dave and his “Suicide Squad” 
with a firm resolve to wrest every single secret from the dia¬ 
mond-back, if possible, and lay the groundwork for his com¬ 
plete extermination. 
Friends have chided the author, asking, “Why do you spend 
so much time, and exhaust your energies writing about such a 
frightful creature?” Anyone living between Southern North 
Carolina and the Mississippi River, whether urban or rural 
resident, must live as neighbor with these creatures—yes, 
closer neighbor ofttimes than you think. It would, therefore, 
appear better policy to become acquainted. Those afflicted with 
surface cancer, eating its way slowly, but surely, into their 
vital organs, would not be so indiscreet as to draw their cloak 
closer about them, denying that anything was wrong. From 
the author’s point of view it would be almost tragic to permit 
so much vital data to come to nothing with the final passing of 
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