BATTLESNAKES AND THEIR HABITS.

New Zealand Tablet, Volume II, Issue 86, 19 December 1874, Page 8

BATTLESNAKES AND THEIR HABITS.

-HOkdinapily, the rattlesnake is extremely sluggish, and unless disturbed there is little to fear from it during the greater portion of the year. Just before, and just after its winter sleep, however, it is more active, and often assumes the offensive. In order to strike it must lie in a close coil, with its head and neck erect. In this position it throws itself forward three-fourths of its length, supporting its weight entirely upon the remaining fourth. • When molested or alarmed, or when about to attack, the rattle is violently shaken ; but practically this serves little piirposes as a warning, since when excited the creature strikes at the intruder with the quickness of lightning, and almost simultaneously with the sound of the rattle. The statement that the noise of the rattle is peculiar, and once heard will never 'afterwards be mistaken, is emphatically denied, the writer averring tbat he has known the opinions of those who had frequently heard the sound, " divided as to whether a certain ominous clicking arose from the grasshoppers which were there in great numbers, or a rattlesnake-." Contrary to the commonbelief, the reptile also often leaves its hole and moves about after sundown, not seldom crawling into tents, and even into beds, during the night. The notion that venomous snakes do not bite twice in immediate succession is also pronounced erroneous, the writer mentioning a case where he saw the rattlesnake strike three times with electric quickness, each time leaving the marks of its fangs on the trousers of the person attacked. But with its quickness and irritability, the snake frequently refuses to bite, even when crowded to the closest quarters. It is related that often when trod on it fails to retaliate ; and one remarkable instance is given where a gentleman on coming' out of the River Platte after a bath, and entirely naked, sat down upon a rattlesnake, and discovering his mistake suddenly resumed Ms legs, without suffering any harm beyond a severe fright. The peculiar odor of the rattlesnake is vouched for, and we are told that when one is irritated and made to bite the rake or hoe with which it is intended to kill him, the implement will retain the same impleasant smell for months. Once known, the odor is always recognizable. The bite of the rantlesnake, according to this observer's experience, is neither so rapidly fatal nor so incurable as most people suppose. Of thirty persona bitten by the rattlesnake, he states that all recovered but one, and he lived twelve days after the accident. Of the whole thirty this was the only case which received surgical

advice ; but whether it was the bite or tho advice that killed the patient we are not informed.

"Whiskey the writer regards as a specific for the bite of tho rattle* snake, and relates numerous instances which illustrate the wonderful power of this agent •when administered in sufficient; quantitj. It is will known to physicians that persons suffering diseases attendant with severe pain will often tolerate much larger doses of opium or other narcotic than could otherwise he borne. Persons poisoned by the bite of a rattlesnake manifest a similar tolerance for immense doses of whiskey, quantities sufficient to make a well person stupidly drunk, or even to destroy life, often producing no visible effect upon the sufferer from snake bite. Yet, to be of any service to the patient, it is asserted that he must be made thoroughly drunk before it is safe to suspend the administration of the remedy. A quart or more of raw whiskey is frequently required to bring about this condition ; but when once it is attained, no further danger need be apprehended. While the rattlesnake is found spread over a large portion of North America, it is much more abundant in some localities than in others. Texas probably holds an infinitely larger proportion of these reptiles that any other State in the Union. The district lying between the Rio G-rande and. the Nueces, two streams which flow in the same direction and some sixty or seventy miles apart, is a desert region, literally swarming with poisonous serpents. "In summer," says one writer, " one cannot go fifty yards in this locality without seeing a rattlesnake. In other parts of the States the moccasin is the prevalent snake, while centipedes, scorpions, tarantulas, and alligators infest various localities, and are each a terrible scourge."

All writers have hitherto concurred in saying that rattlesnakes are never mot with at an elevation of more than 6,000 feefc above the sea level. The surveying parly of Mr Morley killed numbers of them last year at an elovation of about 8,000 feet ; it is added, however, that they were never found so high before. The mountain snakes possess more vivid colors than their brethren of the prairies, and of the two are more dreaded on account of their supposed ferocity. — ' Scientific Miscellany from April Galaxy.'