046
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Title
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046
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Transcription
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Rattlesnakes congregate in the fall of the year in river banks or rocky outcrops. It was an annual affair for ranchers in Western Nebraska, to go to the rocky banks of the Niobrara river and kill as many as two or three hundred at a time. The snakes could be found sunning themselves on the rocks. Some times they could be dug out in bunches of rolled up snakes.
We had a neighbor who lived in a sod house, and kept a bull snake around the house during the summer. He said he could be sure that the rattlers would not come near, the bull snake would chase them off. He never had any trouble with mice and rats while the bull snake was around. He had a cat, but during the summer there were never small kittens I guess the snake liked them also.
I know of only one animal on the plains that liked rattlesnakes. A badger will dig them out of the ground, and eat them, thick fur on the badger would keep the poison fangs from doing any damage. The only domesticated animal that seemed to survive the rattlers bite was a hog. I have seen a hog kill a snake and eat it.
We had a dog on the ranch that hated snakes, and would occasionally kill one by grabbing it and shaking it until it was dead. Dogs have been bitten by rattlesnakes and have been killed by them.
I have known of two homesteaders who were bitten. They both recovered, but the cure for a snake bite can be a bit drastic. If a rattler bit you, take a pocket knife and make a deep cut over the bite, if possible place a tourniquet above the wound, then suck the blood and poison out as fast as you can.
The most drastic attempt to get rid of the poison, that I have ever heard of, is told by Marie Sandoz of her father. In her book, OLD JULES, chapter XVII, SNAKE BITE. Jules reached under a building to pull out a hammer, and a snake bit him on the back of his hand. He called for Marie to get his knife, she couldn't find it fast enough to suit him, so he reached for his shot gun and shot off the back o his hand. It took more than 6 hours to get to the Doctor, who told him it was all that saved his life.
At one time I had a pint jar filled with rattles that the family had collected. Now I have only two small ones left.
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Metzger Memories
