Disney World does not have the corner on characters in Florida. When you start reading about past events in our area you can find some pretty interesting stories.
The years of the real estate bubble bursting in recent years is not a new occurrence. There was a notable on in the 1930's. Seems there was a gentleman by the name of Acrefoot Johnson who lived in the area and carried a rifle during his mail runs to "dispatch" wild animals, including rattlesnakes. His son, Guy, one of eight children, helped support the family by catching rattlesnakes and selling them to zoos and medical colleges.
Well, it seems during the bust a northern journalist by the name of George End was down on his luck and mighty hungry. Guy made him an offer to buy all the rattlesnakes George could catch. Before he could catch one George skinned one one of Guy's and noticed the meant was white. He'd heard that Texas cowboys ate rattlesnake, and being hungry fried some.
He took some snake meat that his wife had canned to an American Legion convention in Tampa. It got a lot of notice and orders for rattlesnake steaks came flooding in. He ended up opening a canning plant in Tampa and buying all the snakes Guy could catch.
As fate would have it one day an old rattler Mr. End kept for show wasn't as docile as he thought. The snake bit him. He refused to go to the hospital for treatment choosing one of his own homemade remedies. Didn't work. He died a few hours later, giving a whole new meaning to the saying about biting the hand that feeds you.
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