Marshall Raychard, ago 11, Gorham, Maine.,

How do they take poison from snakes?

An expert can milk the poison from a snake in three minutes or less., but he must bc skilled and well trained and even then b.is job is dangerous. Records show that one out of fifteen poisonous bites happen to people who are expert at handling snakes,

The poisonous venom is made in two glands buried in beds of gristle deep inside the snake’s head, one behind each eye, The fangs are long curved and hollow' like hypodermic needles set quite close together in the front of the upper jaw. when not in uses they are folded backwards and covered with sheaths, This is why a rattlesnake normally looks as though he were toothless. The deadly fangs are unsheathed and lowered into position in a flash ‑ only when he strikes,

In order to milk, the venom the expert must first know how to hold the wriggly snakes. Some snakes wriggle this my some that way. He must know how to hold the writhing body so that the snake cannot get into a position to strike: and he must do all. this without hurting the snake.  When all is ready, the expert has a firm but gentle grip on the snake's head, He maneuvers the jaws apart with the fangs down over the rim of a container.

Here again the expert must be careful not to hurt the snakes for if the critter Gets his mouth damaged he will die before milking time comes around again. Sometimes a cloth is stretched tightly and tied over the top of the container and the; fangs pushed through it. This tends to avoid spilling should the container tip over during the snaky struggle,

 When the fangs are extended, the poison from the glands runs down the hollow centers and out of the tip. Once in a while, a snake will give up all. his poison in a single spurt. As a rule he lets it out a drop at a time. There is usually a little venom left in the glands after the snake thinks he has given his last drop. The expert then presses gently on the head just where he knows the poison making glands to be and a few more drops trickle into the container.

A large rattlesnake will yield about a half teaspoonful of venom and the best milking snake in the world cannot yield much more than one teaspoonful at a time. In twenty days or so, a snake will build up enough venom for another milking job,

The venom is a thick liquid, clear or yellowish in color. It is strained, purified and dried into crystal form. Then follows a series of injections and tests involving horses, rabbits and perhaps guinea pigs. Finally, the deadly snake venom becomes a precious medicine used, of all things, to treat snake bites,