"I wonder if that is what they are for," said Grant thoughtfully. "I don't see why nature should have provided a snake with a means of scaring off the animals he wants to get for his breakfast."
"That's what it is," said Zeke. "It can't be for nothin' else."
"I've heard it said that shaking the rattles had a strange effect on certain animals. A canary bird sings and a rattler rattles. Perhaps they both think they are improving the music of the spheres."
"Fine music!" snorted Zeke.
"I have heard it said that the snakes and owls and prairie dogs are great friends," suggested Grant. "They all live together in the same hole."
"I don't know nothin' about their being friends," retorted Zeke. "I'm thinkin' the prairie dog does most of the work any way you fix it. He's the one that digs the hole, then along comes the snake and makes his home in it, and then the owl creeps in and there you have it."
"I should think they would eat one another," laughed George.
"Maybe they do for all I know," said Zeke. "Now if you've had enough to satisfy you with this rattler we'll start ahead again."
"But I don't see," persisted Grant, "why he didn't bite you."
"Huh!" snapped Zeke. "He didn't get a chance to coil himself. They are just like a hair-spring. They have to get a little purchase before they can do anything, then they do a good deal too, if they try real hard. I don't like them, but I never do what a good many guides out here do."