MY DIAMOND-BACK NEIGHBOR 
It does not add to one’s comfort, but in the infested terri¬ 
tory it may happen to anyone, any time. Sometimes such rela¬ 
tionship may be known to the human party to such an associa¬ 
tion but ofttimes the latter is wholly unaware that he has a 
large diamond-back for a next-door neighbor. I first became 
aware that I had such a neighbor when I was awakened one 
morning at dawn by his wailing mating call. 
During the forenoon of the day on which such terrifying 
call was first heard I distinctly observed his trail across a set¬ 
tlement road near my little cabin where there was a deep de¬ 
posit of drift sand. It led into a dense growth of briars, wild 
grapevines and gall shrubs within one hundred feet of my 
little cabin, and adjacent to a regular jungle fringing a small 
creek. Hunting him during the summer months being entirely 
too hazardous an undertaking, we were conscious of no wrong 
in permitting him to remain there for a brief season. At the 
proper time he would come forth of his own accord to find a 
comfortable gopher hole for his winter home. Then, with 
some help, I planned bagging both him and his mate. Maybe, 
during his residence just on the other side of my back yard 
fence, in such a wild locality, I would have opportunity to learn 
more of his arts in the wild state. 
It was not a bad bet. The first thing I noticed out of him 
was that he desisted from his loud wailing no sooner than he 
learned that he had a close human neighbor. What place would 
he choose along this wild creek to make his headquarters, we 
wondered? It did not take long to acquire this useful bit of 
information. Now there were some pecan trees up on the hill¬ 
side, long abandoned but still producing. There was a bulge 
in the creek which brought it and the orchard very close to¬ 
gether, and on the hillside between the two was a spring place 
which never went dry. Cat squirrels had the habit of entering 
the orchard and returning to the swamp at this point. All 
factors seemed to combine to make this a spot highly suited to 
his needs. It seemed that he did not lose any time making the 
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