open mike, we've had a few references to it before:

Giac once said, Rattlesnake rattles sound best inside a fiddle. They'll really "sing" then. I once had some with 13 rattles in my long-ago-stolen Gibson. I hope the SOB got bitten by the snake spirit.

And, Les said they make a fiddle sound sweeter in this thread.

I am sure we've talked about the tales concerning this practice, but I cannot find the reference at the moment. Sorry:-<

kat