Show y i 1 F i I r if COILED RATTLER now HOW FAR n CAN s A RATTLE RATTLE- RATTLESNAKE RATTLESNAKE SNAKE SAKI STRIKE BT Dy ARTHUR N X r CK nt The American Association A As a 0 field for or experimentation about the last thing most of at us would select would gould be trying to discover how far tar a rattlesnake can strike Even so 10 it Is good Information to have on hand it one comes comel upon the upon friend the he rattler suddenly My Joseph Dixon of ot the University of California enlightened me and Ill I'll pass it on to you ou to store Blore In the back of your head ead tor for your next meeting with one of ot these rattling reptiles Dr Dixon was In the hangs River canyon OI In California one September forenoon when he dis- dis discovered dis discovered covered o u Pacific rattlesnake crawling leisurely along a barren open sandy flit fist Upon being dJ- dJ disturbed dis disturbed the snake altered Its course and made directly for tor some patches of broken shadows under a black oak Here Dr Dixon said the up close to the base ot of the tree and sought to escape notice by ren reir perfectly tili Although coiled colled and prepared for battle the snake was wu seemingly so confident of escaping detec detection lion tion that It permitted me to tAke It its photograph at the close dIstance of nt 24 H Inches without once offer offer- offering otter inc in strike ing to i Upon being routed out from his hi piece of ot seclusion tho the snake tried to escape Into the open but was wu headed beaded aft A moment later when the snake was not coiled but crawling along at a a lively gait my shadow happened to taU tall on the ground directly in 10 front or of o the I now thoroughly angry reptile Without a a moments moment's hesitation and ond without stopping to coil coll the tho snake doubled quickly back and struck so violently at my shadow that he reached out for tor or nearly his length ct Cf slightly less than 30 inches From where I 1 was as standIng I rould see as did several other standers by-standers that not more than four inches of ot the snakes snake's body remained on the ground when It struck at my shadow An experiment to bo be conducted at Houston Tex rex soon ma may dem dem- dern- dern demonstrate just juet how far tar a rattler can strike A duel Is to be fought between a rattler rattier and a black blaek- blacksnake snake black snake If It the blacksnake wins It It Is hoped by Importing black black- blacksnakes snakes to free tree Texas of ot rattlers r |