60 
CREATURES OF MYSTERY 
theories being diametrically opposed to many reputable wit¬ 
nesses personally known to the writer. 
From early youth we felt disposed to believe the laymen’s 
contentions due to the fact that they all followed the same 
general trend. Many to whom we are indebted for these 
stories had spent their lives in territory heavily infested by 
these reptiles, and surely they had every reason to know. As 
we viewed it, there were too many reports to admit of this 
being mere creations of their own imagination. We had read 
all that scientific men had to say on the subject and finally 
reached the conclusion that if anyone should know the whole 
truth it should be the layman who had spent his life among 
these creatures. But to find a person who had been actual wit¬ 
ness to such an occurrence proved a task requiring great pa¬ 
tience—it proved as elusive and difficult to lay hold upon as 
the proverbial pot of gold at the end of the rainbow. During 
the time we were in search of convincing testimony we pursued 
many a will-o’-the-wisp. But it proved to Be one of those myths 
which appeared destined never to be crushed to earth to rise 
no more. Many investigations were abandoned for the reason 
that we were unable to contact parties actually making the 
observation. We did not want any hearsay evidence. By 
chance we came upon two highly reputable persons who had 
actually witnessed this unusual feat. Though the whole scien¬ 
tific world holds to contrary views, we are willing to present 
this to the reading world permitting them to render final judg¬ 
ment. We reproduce herewith two affidavits made by eye¬ 
witnesses exactly as they were given to us: 
Saint George, Georgia 
November 24, 1941 
To Whom It May Concern: 
This will inform anyone interested that I was born and 
reared in Charlton County, Georgia, and have spent my entire 
lifetime in close proximity to the Okefenokee Swamp, in a 
region heavily infested with diamond-back rattlesnakes. I am 
now thirty-three (33) years of age, and for a considerable 
portion of this time I have acted as caretaker for a large tract 
