Show ANTS AGAINST SNAKE number won la a long and battle while camping in alabama during the late war said col II 11 C crossman of dayton 0 according to the st louis globe democrat 1 I witnessed an attack of a band of black ants upon a striped snake one evening while I 1 was trying to go to sleep after a long days march I 1 felt something move under my head I 1 lifted one corner of the blanket and found a snake between three and four feet in length I 1 quickly hit it with a small stick but the reptile seemed hardly stunned by the blow so I 1 picked it up on the end of the stick and threw it about fifteen feet away the snake landed on a large ant hill almost instantly the ants poured forth from their nest which was underneath and began a vigorous attack upon the intruder who was soon covered by scores of his assailants biting him fearfully the battle raged with fury the snake writhing about in torture the contest at first seemed an unequal one for the snake was rapidly thinning out his persecutors but on the other hand the ants were numerous and quick in their aggressive movements the snake with one blow of his tail would kill or wound a long line of ants but the active little creatures were soon reinforced by fresh troops and fought with a desperation wonderful to behold I 1 was astonished beyond measure to see the tactics of the ants when they saw their numbers were being lessened they dispatched couriers for fresh relays of soldiers who appeared on the scene in due time to replace the killed or wounded the moon after a time lit up the scene but as there appeared no near termination of the struggle I 1 gave up watching it and bt retching myself again on my blanket went to sleep before striking tents the next morning I 1 went to look at the battle ground the slain insects were scattered in every direction but there were six or seven watchful ants upon the back of the snake which lay stretched out dead near the ant hill |