CREATURES OF MYSTERY 
61 
of wild land, consisting of eleven thousand (11,000) acres, 
near the swamp. As a part of my duty as caretaker I am eter¬ 
nally vigilant in exterminating the diamond-back, and due to 
this fact have had opportunity to make some rather interesting 
observations, some of which are made mention of below: 
Once I came upon a rattler at the opening of a gopher hole. 
She immediately sought refuge in the gopher’s abandoned 
home, which necessitated some digging. When I came upon 
her, both the mother and the male were present in the bottom 
of the hole, together with eighteen little ones running loose in 
the “dug-out,” all of them about seven inches in length. When 
all of the twenty had been slain, I was amazed to take note 
of two more little ones crawling out of the mouth of the 
mother. 
On another occasion, while in pursuit of my daily duties as 
caretaker of the above-described property, I was attracted to 
a noise I was not accustomed to hearing. It very closely resem¬ 
bled the blowing, or hissing, of a goose. It was finally located 
and proved to be a large diamond-back rattler blowing in this 
manner to attract the attention of her young, who were re¬ 
sponding beautifully. She was lying straight along by the side 
of a pine log with lower jaw resting upon the ground, her 
mouth wide open, and throat greatly distended, while the little 
ones went slithering along through her open throat into an 
inner receptable. I witnessed six of the young crawl through 
her open throat, all of them about seven inches in length. 
When she had been killed, I opened the carcass with my knife 
and found eighteen of the young inside her. 
(Signed) Bruce Thompson. 
Sworn to and subscribed before me this, the eleventh day of 
December, 1940. (Signed) L. N. Norman, J.P. Justice of the 
Peace, 59th District, Charlton County. 
Mr. Thompson is highly respected and would be believed 
by anyone who ever knew him even though he made the state¬ 
ment merely on his honor as a gentleman. 
If the above affidavit does not convince the reader, then 
careful attention should be given the one below. The affiant 
