The Cambria freeman. [volume] (Ebensburg, Pa.) 1867-1938, 1888-10-26
The Water Snake.

One Of The greatest enemies Of the
fishes OF our inland waters, il the COM
| mon Water Snake. Tropidono.us sipeolon
Not only will it capture and swallow
our native fishes, but il is also desiruc-
tive to cultivated spscie', such as
young carp, bass, and even gold fish.
The water snake is not particular as to
he situation Of its dwelling place, for /
have found them in and about the small
est brooks and ponds, 10 the largest
rivers. The places where they are
found 10 be The most numerous. how
ever, are about partly submerged piles
of broken rocks, or stone walls full of
crevices. Ii is in such places that they
pass the winter in great numbers, some
times In clusters of hundreds together
They appear to coEgregate from all
parts OF the nnighborhood. II i. is pos
sible TO find them in their winter quar-
tiers, IL is the best Way To destroy them
there, for they are tEen in a semi-torpid
state, huddled together in a mass, and
can be easily killed. In the early
spring, after their winter nap, they may
sometimes be seen summing themseles in
clusters upon loG bushes overhanging
the water, but if approached, are apt to
drop into the water and escape.
L was at one time with some friends
fishing for ''gudgeons" at the Relay,
near Baltimore. We had caught quite
a string of fish, and had them submerged
in shady spot between the rocks. A
shower suddenly coming up, we took
shelter under the bridge, where we res
manned for about half an hour. / no
ticed that this shower brought out from
their hiding places, great numbers of
water snakes ana we also perceived that
they were at our string of fish, and
seemed argry at our approach. Two
snakes darted cut into The deep water
when we drew up the string. We
found that several of the gudgeons had
been pulled apart by the snakes, and in
two instances the head only remained
attached to the string. / have a note
of water snake killed in the SchuyIkill
River. which had a seven-inch catfish
IN its stomach. Prof. Allen says he
saw one killed near Cambridge, Mass.
that had in its mouth pickeral foot
in length. In a creek near Baltimore,
L once saw water snake in pursuit OF
an eel, nearly as large as himself, but
whether tie snake proved The victor L
am unable to state. as they disappeared
in deep water
Although l am opposed to the indis-
criminste slaughter of snakes, some of
which are really beneficial TO the sgri-
culturist, have no sympathy for the
water snake. Kill every one you can,
and thereby receive thanks from every
one who delights in the sport of fishing.
Unfortunately. the water snake is very
prolific, the female producig from ff-
teen 10 thirty, and over at birth. TIE
young are born alive generally, in Penn
sylvania, during the month of August.
The specimen from which l made my
drawing, was distictlY marked indi-
yidual. Sometimes The dark spots or
bands are wanting, the color being al
most uniform brown. In the New Eug-
land States, it is found almost black in
color, and this form has been wrongly
considered distinct species. The
water snake grows from three to five
feet in length. It is a robust snake,
and bold and graceful swimmer. It's
bite is perfectly harmless, amounting to
merely few slight scratches.