Rensselaer Journal, Volume 11, Number 3, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 27 June 1901 — Indlana's Snake Mine. [ARTICLE]

Indlana's Snake Mine.

A strip of abandoned land east of Jeffersonville, Ind., is alive with snakes, some of the reptiles measuring five feet in length. The field belongs to Mr. Frank Kaelin. Mr. W. W. Lyon, a civil engineer, was running the boundaries a few days ago, that the land might be fenced, and he encountered the snakes and abandoned his work. Mr. Kaelin went to the field to build the fence. The sun was warm, and the ground seemed to be covered with the crawling reptiles. Men who were with Mr. Kaelin charged on the snakes with clubs and killed 75, while many escaped. The fence was finally built, but the workmen frequently stopped to wage a war of extermination on the snakes. Then Mr. Kaelin’s son started to plough up the ground, and the first furrow turned up snakes of all sizes. A large one took refuge under one of the horses, colling around the animal’s leg. The boy killed 18 snakes.