Show BATTLE OF SNAKES KINO SNAKE AND RATTLER IN DEADLY ENCOUNTER V battler rattler doe does nig his best dest bat but furnishes a breakfast to tl e king ring snake berben tine set to witnessed by mike mcder meder mo inott it whose veracity la Is not questioned while scouting the banks ot of east lake georgia in search of a break fast one morning a big k ng snake ran plump into a rattle rattlesnake nake four fet fe t long whose dimensions should have forced a retreat accord ng to all rec g nihed rules of warfare but rhosa fat proportions promptly suggested sug geed a gor ageous feast to the hunsey ruler of reptiles mike mcdermott a farmer farmers s lad from a clump of berry bushes near by saw the chance meeting P of the two snakes and observed the fierce prize fight which followed he had been picking berries on the banks of the lake and looked up just as the scaly fellows raised their heads to make the customary polite bow preliminary to the engagement they were in a fart rate prize ring formed by a sandy bandy clear spot among the bushes mike says the king snake looked surprised when he saw the rattler pre pro paring for defense slowly and with extreme caution the rattler raised h s bead head until halt its body was in the air then it stood rigid as if expect ing an attack but determined to ward it off the king three feet long cir clr cled around the r atler several times time drawing nearer with each round when the king had narrowed the circle to a diameter of a foot h too suddenly raised his head and body in the air and stood facing his adversary adver ary for several seconds they glared at each other in this attitude then the rattler poked hi his tongue out at the king an indignity beyond the limits of princely endurance the king very promptly resented the in suit by darting forward like a flash and hooking his neck around the neck of the impudent rattler then the bat tie tle was on in earnest the er was fighting tor for his life the king for breakfast they fell from their lofty attitude an and ro rolled ed in the sand they made no sound as they twisted and writhed and whirled and squeezed now the rat tier was malting fierce pecks at the king with his tangs fangs then the king had the rattler by the back of the neck but lost the strangle hold as the stoat diamond back heaved and squirmed all the while the lower parts of both bodies are twined like strands of van vari colored rone sand flew up in little clouds as they fought mike mcdermott says at times the snakes were lot loot to v ew they battled in the hollows made by their contortions once the rattler got rattled and attempted to run away the folds of the king snake were wound too tightly about him how ever and he v as held to the batt e ground after that the king had the fighting all his way and made the go ing according to his own ideas finally the rattler gave up he lay stretched out with his head flat on the ground the king twined about him with uplifted head directly over the head of the vanquished mike saw the coils of 0 the king tighten about the body of the other there was a con shudder in the rattler rattlers s frame as the bones in the diamond back bent and snapped the feht which lasted half an hour was over the bov in the bushes saw the king snake len lenn forward and touch the tid ti of the rattier rattlers s nose with his nose then the red mouth of the king open ed wide in exult exultation atlon and sat d anticipation of the feast perhaps in another minute the uns king was engaged in eating his last adversary in kee ing with a time honored habit of hia his race ace when the rattler had halt half di dl appear ed ad into the face of the king mike me BIC dermott sprang out of the bushes and captured the v actor with a forked stick chucking him with his partly ewal lowed breakfast in a bucket mike alike carried the snake home |