CREATURES OF MYSTERY 
153 
well are “bullied” out of the very best of the feeding ground. 
Small ones do not dare bed down for winter in gopher holes 
for fear that some overgrown bully will come along and, laying 
claim to his quarters, drive him out into the cold. He will 
choose for himself some small hollow log or a cavity in some 
hollow stump. 
It has not escaped notice that these mammoth rattlers are 
found in small colonies, not infrequently three or four bedding 
down upon a single acre of territory. When medium ones are 
found they are never encountered in the immediate proximity 
of the large ones. The giants appear to have a way of survey¬ 
ing the territory, locating the very best hunting and hiber¬ 
nating grounds, staking out their claims, and then warning 
these babies and young bucks off the premises under penalty of 
suffering a severe drubbing. When such conditions are en¬ 
countered by experienced hunters then the missing link in the 
chain of evidence can very easily be supplied—he knows that 
these great reptiles compel the younger generation to respect 
their property rights—and their women. 
But why stand in a trance-like condition longer, musing over 
these things, to the neglect of his mission. He must find this 
old Jezebel—it’s pay-off time. Advancing cautiously toward 
the hole she was the first thing to meet his stare. She had 
remained in the mouth of the hole, feeling that she had no 
other foes to face, having driven the meddlesome little dog 
from the scene with a fatal injection of her venom. She had 
formed no coil, but was partly in and partly out of the hole, 
forming an elongated letter “S” with her body, facing her 
new-found enemy. A heavy load of birdshot caught her amid- 
ship, and, to his surprise, when her side walls were torn open, 
a large pile of little ones was exposed to view—five dead ones 
and seven still uninjured, crawling about freely. 
Now, the writer happened to be more or less familiar with 
the contention of snake experts and took it upon himself to 
review such differences with Uncle Dave. Some insist that 
when little ones are found under such circumstances that they 
are still in the embryo stage. All insist that they do not swallow 
their young, but that the lay observer is simply deceived by 
