Show T By the Aid AM of Birds This Snake-Hunting Snake Priest Hopes to Exterminate th the Poisonous Reptiles of the Southwest To emulate St. St Patrick and do for fo his as did the traditional Irish saint is the life work work of of f Father Pedro Rodriguez guez To go even further and not only to rid the Southwest of Its pest of rattlesnakes but to destroy the insect life on the arid lands is the hope of Father guez Fifty years ago he came to Arizona and began his labors for the church through New Mexico Arizona and Mex Mex- ico A short time later he brought West his sister and brother and established them on a small but profitable ranch in inthe Inthe inthe the upper valley of the Yaqui river He himself was stationed at Guaymas and his duties frequently called him called him to the Pueblos In the Yaqui TaquI valley thus giving him the opportunity of or sometimes meeting meetIng meet meet- meeting ing his relatives One day a message came telling him of the death of his brother and sister The latter had gone to a a. spring for a bucket of water and andas andas as she stooped a warning rattler under her hand preceded the venomous stroke as the fangs fastened in her cheek She tore the reptile loose and hurrying to the house fell faint Her brother came home to find her dying and going to the sprinG killed the venomous snake The following day at the spring he too was bitten by a a. rattler doubtless the mate of the one he had killed Father Rodriguez buried burled the bodies side by side and for nearly twenty years remained in ill the solitude of the monastery Ten years ago he gave up the priesthood priesthood priest priest- hood failing health forcing him to a alife alife alife life In the open open air Most l of the time he has devoted to a scientific and persistent slaughter of snakes and the walls of his country home are covered throughout with skins and rattles No It Is not nota not a feeling of revenge that urges me on my war on the reptiles says Father Rodriguez but I must in some manner manner Improve my time timeout out of doors and I know of no better way than to kill snakes Then too It Is not an unprofitable business and from my and oil oU I am enabled each year to give quite a snug sum to the church Father Pedro has killed nearly 1800 rattlesnakes during the past ten years with a value of 3 each on tanned skins and half as much more for the oil oil which the Mexicans l deem an Infallible cure for rheumatism In all that time the venerable hunter has never felt the fangs of the rattler nearly all of his victims being secured f I by his tamed and trained run road nurs those remarkable birds of the desert desert about about which so much is said and so little Is known The runner road or chaparral bird is the hereditary enemy enemy en en- enemy emy of the rattler and his most dangerous dangerous danger danger- ous foe and It Is by the use of oC these birds that Father Pedro hopes to force the rattlers to extinction Never before has the long long-l long legged runner road the fighting-cock fighting of or the desert deserf been domesticated although Arizona and New Mexico laws make it Jt ita ita a a. crime to kill him Father Pedro however has succeeded In bringing the bird to its highest point of usefulness and with a flock of over overa a a. score he has achieved wonderful suc suc- cess The birds hunt bunt in pairs pairs' and it is thus that the they harvest their masters master's strange crop one pair sometimes bringing in half a dozen snakes in a days day's time They get their reward in the snake meat and thrive upon it All through northern Mexico and the Territories Father Pedro has hunted with his birds and It is in the hope of oi securing securing- the general taming and us use of the chaparral birds that he hopes to tc rid the Southwest of ot snakes tarantulas Scorpions and centipedes As far back as go the traditions of ot th the Indians the chaparral bird has been beer looked upon as a benefactor of ot mankind while pictographs have been found fount which indicate that in prehistoric times he was was a familiar object many rudE rud pictures carved in stone showing thE thi long-legged long birds in the act of devouring snakes The name runner road the bird earned by his habit of or frequenting th the roadways perhaps to better discern lithe Inthe li In the dust the trails of his reptilian victims vic vic- victims tims and his propensity for remarkable speed He is is indeed possessed of ot abUIt ability abU abU- It ity to keep pace with a a. horse for a short shor distance He is poorly equipped with wings In fact the short flippers which take their place are only valuable ii in accelerating running powers Plainsmen who have seen the bird a at work tell remarkable stories of ot hi his fighting qualifications and his Immunity ty from poison n. n When hen the man marvelous quickness of the bird does not save him from the stroke lightning of ot the rattler he resorts to a remedy which he gathers gather from the stem of the smaller cactus actus Si So careful though is the assault of oC the thi bird that rarely does the snake nake escape or injure his assailant Coining Coming upon a victim the birds attack from opposite sides and so fierce is the assault that i it is usually but a a. matter of a few moments moments moments mo mo- ments until one of the birds has hi his beak around the neck of the snake am and the rest is easy the head held of oC the snake being quickly crushed to a pulp by rapid rapid rap rap- Id hammering from the birds At times time an especially alert snake is found am and then the plan of attack is changed On Oi opposite sides and running rapidly the thi birds circle their victim until he is worried worried worried wor wor- ried Into a a. frenzy of or rage Then an opportunity opportunity op op- op- op offers and like a flash th the birds are on him |