Wheeling register. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1878-1935, 1892-05-19
TIE HABITS OF SEAKES
49, Erroneous Beliefs They Cannot
wake Long Sprinss-They MIX Cows.
vrr I0rt Inns

srqkes are regarded rs prOOaOly the Stlli
r'-rsring superstition which led 70 the
,srief that the devil the representative
oSau.bat was evil and abhorrent, took
,t, f,r-n of serpent. And thus from
t,-,s immemOrial the snakes have been
-s-,srded with autipathy by the human
-,ce But the lower animals have also
,b, same instructive aversion and dread
ft5ess creatures. This is no doubt
s,,s EN- rbe numerous instances In which
..,y have been attacked but have eS-
.s0ed FROM their enemy. lhlS co mmon
4-sa3 nj snakes has led 90 many errone-
ans beliefs regarding their haoitS.
D0a spch error Is that snake can
...-,r into the air and seize a bird on
,rs wing Another is that 10 can charm
.,s Drev and by the terror evoked by It's
,.,sra aDuerrgEce cause It's victim 70 lily
into It's mouth.
Ear few years pas. have had good
...-c-.rnftips for observing the habits
~ fbs rattlesuake AID the black snake.
40 HE former I have In my collection
f,,r skins of different varieties, which
nave taken from snakes whith have
Interviewed and Investigated. one Is
tts yellow d.aW0ud-5acked Kind, an
-.Ea- is tbe black diamond back, aud
.,r-rs- is the black-barred variety.
vra fourth is one of solid color,
4.s,. black. which captured In my
Fsbr,rs in North Carolina as lt was en-
'-,gs4 I'm sws.I0wiug some young ducks.
,rs+rb.d this snake for some time as II
Nam from the bank 90 the brood u
4.r.ssrd drew one under water, car
....,r., h. Pm the shore. where 10 gOrged
i-s Drev and came for another. When
g., look the third one i landed quietly
and captured l,. When 10 was cornered
h. roiled. as f, popularity supposed, for a
.,r.rg and ,e4sed Ia with a stick In
a. ,trempt t1 make 70 spring. 10 was
,s-gs One. about three feet long, aud
.o.'ed half lbs eugtb on the ground and
,.-rcl, an the stick. but made no fur
,ba- advance than the .ength OF ITS
..,rsr half which was held erect be-
tween the strikes.
worried DO boz this way for several
minutes. when / killed 90 ana skinned
In. cutting It's head OF before / began,
t0 make sure of safety, having previous
fy sxnerfenced the difficulty of killing
one perfect.y dead When the snake
was half skinned and was holding 10
hv the middle ol che body, stripping
the skin. it struck 8t my arm repeatedly
with It's head.ess neck with consider
able force, and the naked body after
ward co.Ied itself as " alive.
This experience was repeated three
times afterward, but jn no instance did
the snake jump, 10 only struck the
length OF the mcoiled part of it's body
And I'm each instance did the head.eSS
snake strike back as 10 was being skin
ned This is undoubtedly reflex ac-
ton OF the nerves of motion due 20 con
rnued use. and is not uncommon in
other reptiles.
one of th&e snakes ! captured as 10
was robbiug Quai'S nest. The nest
was In one ~ my meadows, and as l
passed, the quail was futtering violent
Isl aud dart.ug back and forth az some
thing i'm the grass. This was "a RATHER,
whose skin, now among my collection
OF curiosities is over four feet long, and
had thirteen ratt.es and a button. IL
was partly coiled, and was striking at
the bird as 10 darted close by the snakes
head When I came quite close 10 threw
itself into a larger coil and ratified Wig
orously and struck 40 my stick. bat did
not Jump nor throw itself further than
It's erected part, which was but little
more than foot iu length.
Another one I captured on the road
side as ] was riding by. My horse sud
denly SHE'D and snorted and shook with
terror. then saw the snake cOiled on
the bank asleep. When 1 alighted aud
attacked it. it behaved I'M precisely the
same manner, without jumping In the
least, but striking violently at the stick.
Ny workmeu have killed seyera. of
them. and in every instance, al my re-
qlosc nave noted their behavior. and IA
none did the snake make any attempt O.
Jump.
once saw q large black snake re-
t-esb.ug itself with draughJ ot sweet
mills from one of my COWS. The COW
was wing c0uteutedIy Eliminating, and
the snake lay stretched nc length suck
ing one of the teats. ] killed the snake
and fG'Iya quart OF milk ran from it
when 10 was cut open. As the cow had
often been found short of her full meas
u-e. T concluded that this snake had
benin the habit of milking Der.
think there can be- no doubt that
tla rattle Oi the CrOlaluS hOrriduS is
used as means of defense 90 ward oil
am attack 1y causing fear, just as other
snakes hiss when disturbed. The sound
is uo- unlike o. coarse hiss, approach
ing a soft whir. 10 Is not q rattle, by
any means Only one animal / know OF
is free from fear of this snake. Cows
and horses both dread 10 and evince
great terror even when the smell OF it
rs perce.ved The pig, on the other
hand. makes satisfactory meal
o., t. and in the mountain
woods where thousands of hogs have
run 40 large FOR years, and In
some places have run wild, as IN the
European forests, and have acquired
equa. isr1r.ty, the RATHER is so scarce
tlat some persons have never seen the,
although Iu Che prohibition localities
Tai, ANNA. seems to be much more
abundant Judging from the numerous
applications 90 the drug stores for a
quart of whisky, which is said 20 be an
-niau.ug remedy for the bite
The iaugs of the ratt,er usually lie
backward until stroke is made, when
they are erected and present sharp
hooks. bending backward so as 90 hold
NE prey securely.
BELLAIRE.