Rensselaer Semi-Weekly Republican, Volume 19, Number 92, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 26 July 1898 — THIS DOG IS A SNAKE KILLER. [ARTICLE]

THIS DOG IS A SNAKE KILLER.

Animal at Rahway, N. J., Averages One Every Day. Rahway, N. J., has a snake killer by the name of Topsy, and she neither wears skirts nor stars for an “Uncle Tom’s Cabin” combination. She is of the canine race, a cross between an Irish bulldog and a setter. She is three years old and belongs to John W. Brown, of Leesville avenue. The south branch of the Rahway river is infested with water pilots, ranging in length from one to five feet. They are afraid of man and swim hway at his approach. When cornered they will fight and bite severely, and they make a sore and painful wound. Topsy seems to have had a penchant for snakes since puphood. Before breakfast every morning she starts out and seldom returns without a snake. She keeps her master busy disposing of the dead reptiles. She usually kills them by catching them by the neck from the rear. As a rule she gets them along shore when they are basking in the sun, but at times, when they take to the water, she jumps in and kills them while swimming. She went home one day last week with a wound in her neck and no snake. Dr. Seth Lockwood, a veterinary surgeon, dressed the wound, which soon swelled greatly. A day later she got satisfaction by bringing in the largest snake she has ever caught. It was fully five feet long. It had an old wound on its neck and it was surmised that it was the same snake that had bitten the dog. Only once since she has been in the snake business has Topsy brought the wrong goods home. It was last summer. when she captured a large eel.