SNAPPED IN THE ACT.

Northland Age, Volume IV, Issue 49, 27 July 1908, Page 7

SNAPPED IN THE ACT.

“My most unique photograph is that of a large rattlesnake in the very act of striking at me," relates a naturalist photographer. “I escaped death by a miracle. I had previously captured the reptile, and was anxious to illustrate the feat. It was placed on the top of a mass of rock, while I posed as if I had just caught sight of it, and was motioning to the snake-charmer who was climbing up the face of the rock. In my anxiety to get a good pose I failed to notice that the rattlesnake had worked its way to the edge of the rock. As I put my left hand over the edge to steady myself, tho reptile struck savagely at my fingers.

“Its teeth grazed the ball of my thumb, cut the skin, but did not draw blood. The venom, which was thrown by the force of the blow over my thumb, was washed off with the contents of a bottle of ammonia, and did not do any damage. I was so startled by the rattlesnake's action that I convulsively squeezed the bulb connected with the sbuttor of camera, and so secured a photograph for which I nearly paid a heavy price—that of my life."