Rattle of the diamondbacks
By Julie Carter
Not
much is more detestable to talk about, see or even think about than
snakes. Not your average little garden variety green snake, but the big
Boone and Crocket-record book diamondbacks we have in these parts of New
Mexico.
If you are still with me, you are like the many that are
warily ready to hear the stories told through the ages about these
creatures that grow bigger in the minds of men each time the story is
told.
The fact that these cold-blooded creatures stir the
imagination and conjure up the worst fears known to man makes them an
interesting part of our past, present, and future. Stories through the
ages are rife with tales of using snake dens to hide gold and treasures.
Petroglyph drawings all over the southwest attest to the fascination of
snakes for the rock writers of that day.
The role of snakes in
everyday life to the dramatics of television and movies assures forever
to set the stage for a wide range of emotions. Few people are truly
neutral when it comes to snakes.
These critters have slithered
into bedrolls, traveled up a catch rope to meet the cowboy trying to
whip him to death and fallen out of trees on unsuspecting cowboys.
They've made themselves at home under pickup seats, on the engine, or on
the spare tire.
I even heard about a couple of cowboys staying
in an old ranch house -- one went to town and one went to the couch for a
little R&R only to have the couch start rattling. Seems not one but
two BIG diamond backs had made prior claim an old couch that came with
the house.
I realize some religious sects have a fascination for
snakes but I don't understand it. A recent media story told about a girl
in India who married a snake -- no, really, not the two-legged kind,
but a real King cobra. She married the reptile at a traditional Hindu
wedding celebrated by 2,000 guests. She says they love each other. As
someone pointed out, don't you just wonder how the family reunions will
turn out? Meanwhile, back at the ranch, there are snakes. Big
swallow-a-rabbit-whole kind of diamondbacks, that when they are coiled
up and doing their rattling thing, the sound is similar to a propane
tank that has sprung a leak.
These ominous reptiles have broad
flatheads the size of your wallet and bodies as big around as a man's
arm. Big doesn't always mean long, but it's more average than not to
find them 5-6 feet long.
There are folks who hunt them for the
rattlesnake round-ups and other assorted destinations for a still-live
snake. Most of us just shoot and ask questions later, or not.
The weapon of choice is a shot-gun but it is my .22 rifle and pistol that have the most "I got'em" notches in it.
The
tall boy-child in my house likes to collect the rattles off each one
that meets its demise. They are stashed in drawers, boxes, pickup
dashboards and an occasional shirt pocket. Nothing starts your morning
like sorting laundry and hearing a snake rattle from the pile of laundry
you just picked up.
This week it happened to be an
extraordinarily large set of rattles 3 1/2- inches long. I was just
thankful they weren't still attached to their owner.
Snake
stories are like hunting and fishing tales. Everybody's got one and
usually it is a bigger and better one than the last one just told.
I like my snake stories to be memorials. May they rest in peace.
Copyright Julie Carter 2006
Issues of concern to people who live in the west: property rights, water rights, endangered species, livestock grazing, energy production, wilderness and western agriculture. Plus a few items on western history, western literature and the sport of rodeo... Frank DuBois served as the NM Secretary of Agriculture from 1988 to 2003. DuBois is a former legislative assistant to a U.S. Senator, a Deputy Assistant Secretary of Interior, and is the founder of the DuBois Rodeo Scholarship.
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