94 
CREATURES OF MYSTERY 
down a large tree, barking and appearing distressed and nerv¬ 
ous. He would retreat to the top of the tree, then pause while 
he looked back upon something briefly. Immediately he would 
descend. Running out upon a low hanging limb he would stop, 
look intently upon something while he continued his barking, 
then go racing away to the top of the tree again. The old 
gentleman possessed too keen an understanding of wild crea¬ 
tures not to appreciate his predicament, and soon discovered 
the cause of all his distress. He recalled the incident having 
to do with the blue jays in the pine tree. Though he held his 
gun in hand, he elected to permit the drama to continue. Being 
intellectually thirsty, and possessed of a feeling that something 
worth observing was about to transpire—well, he would just 
wait and see. So he stood quietly by and observed. Soon the 
squirrel’s fear began to wane, and he came up within six inches 
of the nose of the serpent, standing motionless and noiseless. 
The snake simply opened wide his mouth, reached out with no 
show of haste whatever, and took the head of the squirrel into 
his mouth. As in the case of the blue jay, he was saved by a 
well-placed load of bird shot. It cannot be contended that 
there was no way of escape for the squirrel, since the limbs of 
this large tree interlocked with other trees, and he could have 
left the scene had he so willed. Perhaps it would be more ac¬ 
curately stated if we should say that he might easily have es¬ 
caped from the danger had he not already lost his power of 
resolve or will to run. All who have ever witnessed such an 
occurrence testify that the serpent shows no sign of concern 
whatever when his intended prey retreats from him—he knows 
all too well that he will return. Why? 
All laymen who have observed such occurrences out in the 
wild show genuine amazement when told that the scientific 
world does not admit the truth of it all. Many do not know 
that the enlightened world would seek to deny such an obvious 
fact. Some deplore the fact that otherwise good men are taken 
off to college and educated into a denial of the simplest things 
of life. 
This same old gentleman once had an experience which 
serves well to illustrate the rattler’s power of concentration. 
