Barbour County index. [volume] (Medicine Lodge, Kan.) 1880-current, 1889-03-06
THE SNAKES OF TEXAS.
A Great Variety OF Reptiles In
the Lone Star State
Pecuiiarities OF the Thunder Snake-The
Elongated and Swift Coach Whip-Eat-
tlesnake Pilots and Their Com
panions, the True Rattlers.

Texas possesses, perhaps, as great Q
variety OF the serpent family as can be
found any where on the globe, writes COR
respondent of the New York Times. To mem
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 claps 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 q 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-
sive in high degree, which qualities are
remarkable in being possessed by a serpent
that is both fangless and innocuous.
The black snake II so well known to all
North America that it is hardly worth MOTTO
ing him from this point of the world. We
have two species in Texas; one which inhab-
Its 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 il not q
constructor and he rs not poisonous. Nearly
all striking serpents have fangs, usually
loaded with poison, while the constructors
seldom il ever strike, preferring to affec-
tionately squeeze their enemies to death
Green grass snakes, which are perfectly
beautiful In this latitude; bead snakes like
wise, Rik, corn, garter and runners are
RnfjFaiQ 70
Coach-whips are remarkable in this conn
try for their tremendous length and their
surprising speed. The form of the reptile
Is elegantly slender, his coloring IL 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, u very
long in proportion 70 his diameter, and his
scales are arranged in such q manner that
they closely resemble the plated leather Of
whip. The movements Of the coach whip
are like chain lightning. Not endowed with
| poison, Jet has he tremendous power Of
locomution and terrible strength in his
long, sleader 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 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 a rattiesnake, for friend Of has,
| after chasing one for some distance and Sec
| ing it dart into hole, seized the reptile by
the tail and dragged it forth. Like flash
the snake threw itself upon the man, en-
| veloping him in coil after coil, AMI would
hoxyo fha ont of hoz
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 a few hundred yards
from this post, saw a zigzag yellow streak
| darting across the ground, which proved to
be seven-foot coach whip. I followed him
at the top of my speed, but he led me q
lively chase before was able to overtake
| him. 1t was a neck-and-neck race for q
few minutes, but at last gave him q rar
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 al
his force. dropped the stick and let him
have few minutes fun, after which ]
smashed his head with a 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 kinsnen, and by some
people pilots are often mistaken for the
true breed. They are in reality ground
| rattlesnakes, with the same diamond-bacl
markings, are slightly poisonous, have 6
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-poisonou,
snakes are eternal enemies. The mos
| deadly serpent we have in America is the
| rattlesnake. The most harmless Of ophid
ians are the bull, black and king snakes, al
of whom will tackle and kill RATHER with
out the least hesitation. There is no more
deadly reptile in the world, not excepting
the cobra of Asia, the Hale of Africa, o.
the Fer-de-Lanoe of Martinique than the
terrible, bloated rattlesnake Of the stake(
plains of Texas.
A few miles north Of this point begin.
this famous desert, and here are to bt
found the largest, most active and mos
feet is an ordinary length and ten inches
moderate circumference. Recovery from
their venom is excessively rare. In Au
gust they become large, yellow, bloatet
things, and it is at this time Of the yeal
that the Apache Indians seek them out tx
obtain poison for their arrows. A deer,
liver, smoking hot, is torn out and laid be
fore the reptile. He is punched anc
angered so that he strikes it again ant
again, the morsel turning blue-blacl
from the poison, even before the snake ha
finished striking.
This delightful morsel is then placed higl
on pole to rot and decompose in the sun
after which it is brought down and the ar
rows stuck into it, they being afterwart
dried in the sun to retain the poison
most cruel, devilish, horrible custom
among the worst Indians on the continent
Il