Wichita eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1886-1890, 1889-01-26
THE SNAKES OF TEXAS.
"A Great Variety Of Reptiles In
the Lone Star State.

PeculiarIties OF the Thunder Snaike-Ths
Elongated and Swift Coach Whip-Rat-
uesnake Pilots and Their Com.
panious. tho True Rattlers.
Texas possesses, perhaps, as great a
variety Of tho serpent family as can be
found any where on the globe, writes cor
respondent of the New York Times. To men
ton few that have come under my own
personal observation would be to name not
one-tenth OF the varieties Indigenous to this
blessed country.
Thunder snakes are by no means COM
mon in Texas, and yet they are often en-
countered by prairie, travellers, especially be-
fore and after thunderstorms Flashes Of
lightning and ciaps Of thunder, which are
so terrifying to bipeds and quadrupeds,
seem to have the greatest charm and de-
light for these members of the ophidian FAM
lily. Whenever a thunderstorm comes up
these snakes have regular picnic. They
come crawling out of holes, from behind
rocks and rotten STUN ps and enjoy the fun
while it lasts. Their nature is quarrelsome,
their character fierce, and they are aggres-
slve In high degree, which qualities are
that IS both fangless and innocuous.
The black snake is SO well known to all
North America that it is hardly worth notlc-
ing him from this point Of the world. We
have two species in Texas; one which inhab-
ats marshy places, ponds, creek bottoms and
shady spots, and another that lives in the
mountains, among the rocks, and in the
woods where dead, dry leaves are plentiful
and young birds numerous. He is net
constructor and he rs not poisonous. Nearly
all striking serpents have fangs, usually
loaded with poison, while the constructors
seldom if ever strike, preferring to affec.
tionately squeeze their enemies to death.
Green grass snakes, which are perfectly
beautiful ia this latitude; bead snakes like
wise, milk, corn, garter and runners are
entirely too common to discuss
Coach whips are remarkable in this coun-
try for their tremendous length and their
surprising speed The form of the reptile
is elegantly slender, his coloring is of the
most delicate beauty, and his constructing
powers are scarcely even surpassed by
boas, anacondas or pythons. He is cream
or clay-coiored, very much like the hard
baked prairie over which he glides, is very
long in proportion to his diameter, and his
scales are arranged in such a manner that
they closely resemble the plated leather Of
whip. The movements Of the coach. whip
are like chain lightning. Not endowed with
poison, yet has he tremendous power Of
locoClotion and terrible strength in his
long, slender coils, which he wraps about
and entangleS the limbs in such fashion,
binding them to the body, and rendering
his victim perfectly helpless. He forms his
coils into a living lasso, which are capable Of
crushing almost any thing within the deadly
rings.
A Mexican warned me upon my arrival in
this country to beware of the coach whip as
would of rattlesnake, for friend of his,
after chasing one for some distance and see-'
ing it dart into a hole, seized the reptile by
the tail and dragged it forth. Like a flash
the snake threw itself upon the man, en-
veloping him in coil after coil, and would
have squeezed the life out of him had not
my informer, who CHANGED to be near,
caught it by the tail and unwrapped the
coils. This is very easy matter to do, for
while his constructing powers are great, yet
a child catching him by the tail could easily
unwind his bands.
Only recently, while going through a
prairie-dog village few hundred yards
from this post, l saw zigzag yellow streak
darting across the ground, which proved to
be a seven-foot coach whip followed him
at the top Of my speed, but he led me a
lively chase before was able to overtake
him. It was neck-and-neck race for a
few minutes, but at lastI gave him rap
with long stick held in my hand, which
produced an instantaneous crisis. He
leaped upon that stick like shot, and in
less than second was squeezing it with all
his force. l dropped the stick and let him
have few minutes fun, after which /
smashed his head with stone and skinned
him.
Rattlesnake pilots are sure indication
that the true RATHER is somewhere IN the
vicinity. They seem to desire the company
of their dangerous kinsmen, and by some
people pilots are often mistaken for the
true breed. They are in reality ground
with the same diamond-back
markings, are slightly poisonous, have a
short, thick, chunky body. but no sign Of
rattle about them. There is another snake
in Texas known as the pilot. He is also
slightly poisonous, boasts large, yellow
stripes along his body, and is covered with
beautiful yellow zigzag lines on both sides.
AS rule, poisonous and non-poisonous
snakes are eternal enemies. The most
deadly serpent we have in America is the
The most harmless of ophid-
ans are the bull, black and king snakes, all
Of whom will tackle and kill a RATHER with
out the least hesitation. There is no more
deadly reptile in the world, not excepting
The cobra Of Asia, the HAZE of Africa, or
5he Fer-de-Lance of Martinique than the
errible, bloated rattlesnake Of the staked /
plains of Texas.
A few miles north Of this point begins |
his famous desert, and here are to be
found the largest, most active and most 1
dangerous rattlesnakes in the world Six
eet is an = 4lnary length and ten inches /
moderate circumference. Recovery from /
heir venom is excessively rare In Au-
gust they become large, yellow, bloated
hings, and it is at this time Of the year
hat the Apache Indians seek them out to
,btain poison for their arrows deer's
lver, smoking hot, IS torn out and laid be-
ore the reptile. He is punched and
fingered so that he strikes it again and
gain, the morsel turning a blue-black
rom the poison, even before the snake has
inished striking.
This delightful morsei is then placed high
n pole to rot and decompose in the sun,
fter which it is brought down and the ar
ows stuck into it, they being afterward
r1ed in the sun to retain the poson-a
most cruel, devilish, horrible custom
among the worst Indians on the continent
The Women OF Corsica.