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Diamond-back Rattlesnake — Part 3
There are many in the human family, who preach strongly against alleged cruelty, yet think nothing of taking a pack of vicious dogs to assist them in running a helpless deer to within range of a charge of buckshot. Many an animal has staggered into a thicket with broken leg or shoulder to bleed and die slowly for the sake of "sport." Is this a provision of Nature? Yet the writer remembers an instance when a gentleman, very fond of a much-used collection of rifles and shotguns, once remarked upon witnessing a rattlesnake being fed, that the snake exhibited the most demoniacal cruelty he had ever seen displayed and the creature should be fed raw meat or nothing.
But to return to the rattlesnake and the dead rabbit: The snake waits patiently until it is satisfied that the last spark of life has departed, when it uncoils and begins an examination of the prey. This is a careful and quite extraordinary performance. Gliding about the rabbit it places its snout close to the animal's body and probes with the tongue tips into the fur. The examination leads finally to the dead creature's head and here the snake makes a more detailed investigation. The slightest move on the part of the observer would probably conclude the whole affair, the snake rattling sharply for a few seconds, then leaving the prey, coils up again and refuses to eat. But in the event of not being disturbed, touches the head lightly with the tongue tips, a dozen times or more. At last opening its mouth, the snake seizes its prey by the nose, when the engulfing process begins, the long fang lending valuable assistance in hooking the animal into the reptile's mouth and throat.
The Diamond-back Rattlesnake gives birth to from seven to twelve young. These feed readily upon mice at the start, and grow rapidly, fully maturing within two years. Captive-bred specimens are quiet, good-natured and feed voraciously. They are hence more satisfactory than specimens captured wild.