(This story was originally written and recorded for  Retrocast 35, released on July 9, 2025.)

On Tuesday, July 12, 1927, news broke of an unusual invention by Cliff Stewart, a rancher from Bowman, California. Stewart claimed he had devised a clever new way to catch rattlesnakes—and it was so original that he planned to file for a patent.

The concept was surprisingly simple. Stewart set a wooden board vertically into the ground, cutting a hole just slightly larger than the diameter of a typical snake. The hole sat about two inches (roughly 5 cm) above the ground. Then he placed an egg on either side of the hole.

The trap relied on a snake’s appetite. Lured by the scent, a snake would slither up and swallow the first egg, creating a noticeable bulge in its body. Still hungry, it would poke its head through the hole to reach the second egg and swallow that one too. Now with two bulges—one on each side of the board—the snake found itself stuck, unable to slither forward or backward.

Local department store clerk Ned Zaniboni was skeptical. Curious to see the contraption in action, he visited Stewart’s ranch the following Saturday. What he saw was both impressive and unintentionally hilarious.

Yes, the trap worked—but only on one snake. As that unlucky reptile lay wedged in place, the rest of the rattlesnakes simply helped themselves to the rest of the eggs scattered nearby. Each snake swallowed up to a dozen eggs, which left them bloated and barely able to move.

But nature had one final surprise in store.

The engorged snakes slithered over to a nearby oak tree, coiled their bodies tightly around the trunk, and squeezed. After wrapping themselves three or four times, they managed to crack all the eggs inside their bellies—essentially scrambling their breakfast with nothing more than brute force.

Stewart’s invention may not have caught many snakes, but it sure caught everyone’s attention.