Evening Republican, Volume 17, Number 262, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 3 November 1913 — RATTLERS ARE LOVING PETS [ARTICLE]

RATTLERS ARE LOVING PETS

So Say* "Lonesome Jack** Allman* Who Has Caught 18,000 In California. • . ] • Loa Angeles —Ever since Lonesome Jack, Allman was seven years old ho has been “foolin’ ’round” snakes. Ho has captured his 1 8,000 th snake. “The rattlesnake is the most intelligent of all reptiles and the most affectionate,” Jack declared. “After they have been fanged they are the most desirable of snake pets. They can be made to come to you Just like a pet dog or cat.” Jack and his brother Sherley made a journey through the mountains the past week in quest of snakes and brought back several large rattlers. . “I found out that rattlers were thick- • er in the mountains this summer than they have been for years,” he said. “The season seems to have been just right to bring them out. A forest ranger told me that be had killed more this Summer than in the last five years put together. “I have been bitten by rattlers seven times in my life, but always had permanganate of potash with me and saved myself from serious harm. I promptly split the wound with my knife and apply the antidote before the poison has' had time to get into my system.” When Jack returned with the reptiles he entertained his friends with an exhibition of snake dentistry, in which he extracted the fangs from several rattlers. “It isn’t generally known that a rattlesnake has seven spts of fangs.” Jack continues. “There is ope pair of main fangs, one pair of reserve fangs and five pairs of fangs which float in the poison sac. If the main fangs are removed and one of the other pairs left in the mouth they will very shortly grow into position to be used. When I am traveling in the mountains and see a snake track in the dust I can examine it and tell what kind of a snake made it, which way it was traveling and about how long it has been since it passed by. I have a call that will attract rattlesnakes to me if they are near. I discovered the sound accidentally and keep it a secret.”