By John Cofield

 

I have written about Angelo Mistilis more than once, and I plan to continue doing so for as long as I live. He is one of Oxford’s most popular citizens ever. Town, county, and campus have him in a special place in their hearts. 

He fed us for generations, he was there the night Bobby Holcomb died, he’s been pictured with celebrities in town visiting, he was a master hunter and fisherman, and he met a big rattlesnake. 

I knew there was a story about Angelo and a snake and so approaching the counter after a great family dinner, Dad said, ask Angelo about the story, he’ll tell you. And I did, and he did. 

“An Ole Miss friend, Bob Bailey, asked me to take him bow hunting. It was early fall and we planned it right away. In the early 60s, few people bow-hunted and it was all with longbows — no high-tech stuff yet. I took Bob to a spot in the Holly Springs National Forest called Riverside.

The Tallahatchie here is bound on the south side by a long ridge that sloped down to the river bottom. We separated and started hunting. Not long after we split, I saw a few deer in front of me, moving west along the ridge. A short distance ahead was an old logging road that dropped off into the bottom. I knew this old road bed ran parallel to a ditch about 5- feet deep but not very wide.

Expecting, and hoping, the deer would come down the road, I quietly slid into the ditch to hide. The ditch was only about two feet wide at the bottom. I stood very still as I looked over the top of the ditch for the deer. 

Suddenly I had a bad, sinking feeling. I looked down and saw a huge timber rattler lying between my feet! I drew and snapped off a shot, pinning the snake down about eight inches from its head. 

Then, I realized I was standing on top of the ditch bank, looking down into the ditch. I don’t remember getting there! What probably saved me from rattlesnake venom that day was a rabbit.

Inside the snake, we found a whole rabbit. The rattler measured 61 inches and had 12 rattles and a button.”