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Show A RATTLESNAKE FIGHT A man living near the city was the witness of a terrible contest between two rattlesnakes one morning recently. re-cently. The snakes were wrapped around each other from the tail to within six or eight inches of tho head, and never for a moment did they take their eyes of! each other. Now and then they would slowly unwind un-wind to within one or two coils of the tail, when, with an instantaneous movement, they would again become be-come involved to the neck, and with jaws distended and with fangs exposed, ex-posed, one would strike at tlie other, his antagonist invariably dodging the blow, when in turn he would be foiled. After repeating their rnaneeu-vers rnaneeu-vers for a time they would lie panting in each ether's coils, and then slowly and cautiously unwind, only to repeat re-peat the involvment and striking again. So fiercely did t.hey embrace each other that one would think surely the life would be crushed out. Blow after blow was siruck un both sides, but never once was au adversary adver-sary so far caught oil his guard as to receive a blow. They bad been fighting fight-ing over a distance of fifteen or twenty paces, as evinced by their track in the dust. To all appearances they had been fighting all night, every inch of ground bearing the marks of the conflict. After looking at them for some time, the man cut a pole some eight or ten feet long and just then another man came along. He took the pole, and approaching the snakes, they simultaneously discovered discov-ered him, when, loosening their hold of each other ith marvellous rapidity, ra-pidity, the larger one rushed at him, perfectly furious; it required the second blow to stop him. In a moment after, the other oth-er started after the other witness of the fight as his now dead antagonist had done, when he, too, ; wasslaiu by a well-directed blow.1 One had six and the other fifteen rattles. Santa Hosa Tinas. |