136 
CREATURES OF MYSTERY 
tice of pursuing separate courses. They divide up the territory, 
as it were. 
Prior to the time we cultivated an intimate acquaintance 
with Uncle Dave and many of his fellow snake hunters we had 
been pursuing “lone wolf” tactics in our endeavor to com¬ 
pletely unmask this old wizard of the wiregrass region. Many 
of the mysterious habits of the rattler literally fascinated us. 
As a mere child we listened to older people speak of their 
visits to the scene of the slaying of their mate. None of the 
older people knew the why of the mystery, which served to 
whet our mental appetite for a better knowledge of this par¬ 
ticular secret. As we grew up, the mystery seemed to deepen 
rather than lend itself to more ready solution. Such was during 
a period in our life when we felt that men who write books, 
magazine and newspaper articles knew ALL things, so we 
never passed up an opportunity to read such articles by her¬ 
petologists, or so-called snake experts, in the hope that some 
day this mystery, as well as other uncanny powers attributed 
to this most interesting reptile, would be made clear to us. 
Such hope was in vain. Finally, having despaired of ever learn¬ 
ing anything worthwhile from those considered in position to 
know, we shunted all experts aside and cultivated the acquaint¬ 
ance and intimacy of laymen who had spent their entire lives 
observing and annihilating these fellows. Such policy was not 
adopted, however, until we had communicated with the most 
noted living experts, read all that their pens had produced on 
the subject, and had concluded definitely and for all time that 
they knew little or nothing about the wild life of the reptile. 
In this connection it is not amiss, we feel, to give the reader 
the benefit of some advice an old teacher gave us when the 
time was at hand to go forth and complete our education in the 
great world which lay before us. In substance, if not in so 
many words, he advised: “When you go forth into the world, 
by all means continue your quest after knowledge. Get away 
from the idea that you have learned everything worth know¬ 
ing in school. The greatest college in all the world is the great 
outdoors. Learn to properly evaluate the things you hear and 
see in life, and if you would acquire the most in the way of 
