Page:Popular Science Monthly Volume 77.djvu/371

Rh

T has twice been my privilege to visit the wilds of Florida under the auspices of scientific societies, the first trip being to the Everglades, while the second expedition, under the auspices of the Smithsonian Institution, took me to the flat-wood and prairie regions in the center of the state, far from railroads and other signs of civilization.

From the pleasant little town of Orlando, with its orange groves and numerous small lakes, we plunged almost immediately into the "piney-woods," where the road is scarcely more than a trail, and is strewn with numberless huge pine cones that produce constant and nerve-racking jolting to passing vehicles.

For about thirty miles we drove, slowly on account of heavy loads, through the pines, where but few and widely separated houses, and no villages, worthy of the name, were to be seen. The monotony and loneliness of these almost perfectly level forests, broken only by an occasional cypress swamp, sluggish stream, or tiny cabin, becomes, to one accustomed to a thickly-settled, rolling country, quite oppressive; and we were glad to come suddenly to the edge of the forest where we could look out for miles upon the open prairie. The prairie proved to be much more interesting, though no less lonely, than the pine woods. The ground is here covered with either grass, upon which large herds of cattle feed, or with the "scrub palmetto" which is, apparently, gradually spreading its useless foliage over the entire prairie.

These scrub palmettoes, especially where they grow in taller, denser groups, are the home of numerous diamond rattle-snakes, the most deadly of American reptiles. As we drove past the palmettoes we frequently saw, and always captured alive if possible, these deadly rattlers, my guide being very expert and perfectly fearless in handling them. If they were coiled when found, he would simply reach out his hand slowly and pick them up by the back of the neck, sometimes attracting their attention by dangling a handkerchief in front of their eyes with one hand while he seized them with the other. If they attempted to escape, he would tap them with a carriage whip until he made them crawl where he could get at them easily. It is remarkable the amount of teasing and rough handling to which a rattler will submit without attempting to bite. His rattle may whirr violently and