Camping and woodcraft - Scoutmastercg.com

440 CAMPING AND WOODCRAFTIt thinks itself concealed. It seldom strikes unlessprovoked. If alarmed when it is wide-awake, itnearly always springs its rattle before striking, thesound being very similar to that made by our common"locust" or cicada. If the reptile Is trodden onwhen asleep, it strikes like lightning, and does itsrattling afterward. Unfortunately for us, the poisonoussnakes do their sleeping in the day time andhunt at night. They are prone to seek the warmthof bed-clothes, and sometimes will coil up alongsideof a sleeping man. Mosquito netting is an effectivebar against snakes. Snakes despise musk, tobacco,and turpentine.A snake is not obliged to coil before striking, butcan strike from any position ; it will coil first, however,unless attacked very suddenly or taken at adisadvantage. A snake does not intentionallythrow its venom ; but, if it misses its mark, the actof hissing may throw the poison several feet. Theblow is delivered with lightning rapidity, and thefangs are instantly sunk into the victim. No snakecan leap entirely from the ground, nor can it strikemore than two-thirds Its own length, unless it bartheadvantage of striking downhill or from somtpurchase on a rock or bush. A snake does not expendall its venom at one blow. It is not renderedpermanently harmless by extracting its fangs, forauxiliary ones,in a sac inin various stages of development, liethe roof of the mouth, and the foremostof these soon will emerge and be ready for business.The venoms of different species of snakes differ incomposition and in action. That of the cobra, forexample, attacks the nerve centers of the cerebrospinalsj'stem, causing paralysis that extends to thelungs and finally to the heart, but the local symptomsare not very severe. In marked contrast arethe effects of rattlesnake bite, which spread veryrapidly through the sj^stem, making the blood thin^nd destroying its power to clot. The wound ic