Mountain Home bulletin. (Mountain Home, Idaho) 1888-1889, 1889-03-23
ALPINE REPTILES.


venOmOus Snakes to he Found I'm the
Southern Part Of Switzerland.
The cOmmonest and worst form OF |
venomous snakes in the southern Alps |
is one Of two forms Of the viper. Both
are frequent in many districts, but
generally one predominates. The vi
per is not u pleasant companion.
though he does not seem to be inten-
tionally vicious. He is fond OF lying
on banks Of sand and shingle that face
the south. There he suns himself
luxuriously. and, II You do not disturb
him. he will not disturb you. Now
and then, however, he wanders into
the woods and over the meadows, in
search OF lizards, feld-m1ce, and ''such
small deer" 1t is then that he be-
comes dangerous, not out Of pure
wickedness, but because the worm
that is trodden upon will turn. Cows
and sheep browsing on the grass will
put one Of their feet, quite uncon-
sciously, on q viper, or disturb him
with their muzzles when he is only GO
ing about his regular and lawful busi-
ness. and as they have no language In
which to beg his pardon. q sharp bite
follows either on the legs or the lips.
which involves long and painful ILL
ness, sometimes death. The country
people, who go about barefooted or in
low wooden shoes, are sometimes the
victims OF a similar accident.
The other snakes VIII ch are common,
particularly the long black adder, are
perfectly harmless and pleasing in
their movements. both on the earth
and In the water, II you are content to
watch instead Of numbering them.
A lizard Is not snake; but. in
spite OF the naturalists. popu-
lar fancy confounds them with
each other. A herder will tell you that
four-footed serpents are to be found
there or there and he keeps his cattle
as far as possible from such places
The large green lizard which abounds
in certain places. though it is not gen.
orally distributed. has the worst char
acter-why, it is hard to say. 1t
would be difficult to imagine more
lovely creature. and it has neither the
will nor the power to hurt any large
animal. When basking on the stones
or darting over them it seems living
jewel. Yet it is pitilessly slain by the
peasants whenever an opportunity
offers.
As certain compensation for the
bad character they generally bear, and
the ill-treatment to which they are ex-
tv,,o oor;,1a hua
ed snakes with number Of supernatu-
raj qualities. Some OF these are mere
errors in natural history, which in the
last century were common even among
the learned. Thus almost all game
keepers believe that the viper, II sud
denly disturbed, will swallow Its own
young in order to protect them. and
some will even declare that they have
seen this done. and describe the whole
process with tho utmost detail. The
viper utters a sharp sound. between
hiss and a whistle, and then
open her jaws to the widest extent. the
children creep in, head foremost, aud
then she glides rapidly away. Such
vipers, OF course. belong to the same
mythical region rs tho sw wallows which
wind themselves by swift flying into a
ball, and then sink to the bottom of a
lake. in the way described by DIR.
johnson in "Boswells Life" This
error Is easily explained. Several
snakes are viviparous. and rough
dissection OF a female by an unpractised
hand might easily lead to the belief
that the young had sought refuge in
their mothers stomach. On the other
hand. though serpents are not gener-
ally affectionate parents, 1t may very
well be that for the first few days the
mother may take her brood to sun
themselves on the shingle. In such a
case she would not venture far from a
safe refuge. Her cry may really be
one of warning. and her open jaws Q
threat to her enemy. Her offspring
would under such circumstances find
It easy to conceal themselves among
the stones. This is a mere theory
but Dr. johnson did not condescend te
explain how his swallows managed tt
wind themselves into ball. and it IL
difiicult to imagine any means BY
which they could have done it.-Lon
don Saturday Review.