Ceredo advance. [volume] (Ceredo, W. Va.) 1885-1939, 1892-07-20
HABITS OF SNAKES.
Erroneous neit-s. Regarding Their Metr
osfs OF Attack.

The common aversion with which
snakes arc regarded Is probably the stii
lingering superstition which led To- tho
belief that the devil. the representative
of all that was evil and abhorrcn,, took
the form OF a serpent And thus from
time iinmcmcrial the snakes have been
regarded with antipathy by tho human
race. But the lower animals have also
the same instructive aversion and dread
of these creatures This IL no doubt due
Ia the numerous instances I'm which
they have been attacked but have cs-
capped from their enemy. Their common
dread OF snakes has led 20 many CHROME
GUS beliefs regarding their habits.
One such error II that n snake can
jump into the air and seize u bird ON tho
wing. Another is that II can charm it's
prey aud by the terror evoked by its
mere appearance cause It's victim 10 iiy
into It's mouth.
For few years past have had good
opportunities of observing the habits II
the rattlcsn0lSc and the black snake.
or the former have In my collection
four skins of different varieties. which
have taken from snakes which have
interviewed aud investigated one Is tho
yellow diamond backed kind. another h
the black diamond back. and another Is
the blnolS-barrcd vs,s ,ety.
The fourth Is one OF solid color. n
deep black. which captured i'm my fish,
pond In North Carolina as IL was en-
gagged In swallowing some young ducks.
watched this snake for some time
as II swan from the bank To the brood
OF ducks and drew one under water.
carrying IL To the shore, where Il gorged
it's prey and camc for another. When
n took the third one I landed quietly
and captured 10. When IL WINS cornercd
II coilcd. as Is popularity supposed, for n
spring, and | tcascd Il with "A stick I'm an
attempt 90 make Il spring. IL was "a
large one. about three feet long. and
coilcd half it's length ON the ground and
struck at the stick. but made no further
advance than the length % it's upper
half, which was held erect between &c
strikes.
worried IL In this way for several
minutes. when killed IL and skinned
it,cutting its mead on before began. Ia
make sure 81 safety, having previously
experienced the difficulty of killing one
perfectly dead. When the snake was
half skinned and was holding IL by
the middle OF the body stripping the
skin 1t struck at my arm repeatedly
~ with its hcadlcss neck with consid-
cradle force and the naked body after
ward collcd itself AS II alive.
This experience was repeated three
times afterwards, but in NO instance did
the snake jump. II only struck the
length uf the uncoilcd part OF It's body.
And In each instance did the hcadiess
snake strike back as II was being
skinned. This IL undoubtedly The re-
ficN action OF the nerves of motion due
10 continued use, and is not uncommon
in other reptiles.
One of these snakes I captured as Il
was robbinR n quails nest The nest
was in one of my meadows, nnd as I
passed the quail was fiuttcring violent
ly and darting back and forth at som,
thing in the grass This was RATHER.
whose skin, now among my collection
OF curios. is over four feet long. and had
thirteen rattlcs and button.
IL was partly coilcd and was striking
at the bird IA IL dartcd close by the
snakes head. Between times il was
swallowing the eggs When came
quite close IL threw itself into "a largo
coil and ratified vigorously and struck
ut my stick, but itdid not jump or throw
itself further than It's erected part.
which was but little more than "A foot
in length.
Another one / captured on the road
side as was riding by. My horse sud
denly shied and snortcd and shock with
terror. / then saw the snake coilcd on
the bank asleep. When / alighted
and attacked it, IL behaved ia precisely
the same manner, without jumping ia
the least, but striking violently at the
stick My worIsmen nave killed several
Of them, and in every instance, at nv
request, have noted their behavior. aud
In none did the snake make any attempt
TO jump
once saw a large black snake re-
freshing itself with draught Of sweet
milk from one OF my cows. The COW
was lying contcntedly Illuminating. and
the snake lay stretched at length suck
ing one Of the teats. killed the snake
and fully quart OF milk ran from IL
when IL was cut open. As the COW had
often been found short Of her full
measure ! concluded that this snake
had been in the habit Of milking her.
think there can be no doubt that
the rattle OF the CrOtalus horridus Is
used as a means Of defense 90 ward off
AN attack by causing fear, just as other
snakes hiss when disturbed. The sound
Is not unlike a course hiss. approaching
q soft whir. 1t Is not rattle by any
means. only one animal ! know Of
Is free from fear Of this snake Cows
and horses both dread IL and evince
great terror even when the smell 81 IL
is perceived. The pig, on the other
hand, makes a satisfactory meal Of II.
and in the mountain woods. where
Thousands 81 hogs have run at large for
years and in some places have run
wild as ia the European forests. and
have acquired equal ferocity. the rat
tier is 30 scarce that some persons nave
never seen one. although in Che pro-
hibitiOn localities this animal seems 20
be much more abundant judging from
the numerous applications ~ the drug
stores Tor quart ~ whisky which ia
said ~ DC an unfailinQ remedy for the
bite
The fangs 81 the RATHER usually lie
q fTsIN HH.f m. aF q.