Shepherdstown register. [volume] (Shepherdstown, Va. [W. Va.]) 1849-1955, 1892-06-03
About Snakes.

People have an inborn, low-down
opinion of snakes, y said man from
Pike county. "Everything that Is
bad or mean or loathsome they never
hesitate to associate with the name
of snake. This isn't the people fault.
1t is the result of ignorance. 1t Is
their misfortune not 10 know the
snake. If they could only come into
closer communion with snakes and
study them without prejudice they
would find that the popular estimate
of these interesting and intelligent
reptiles has done them ages of inJus-
tice. That unfortunate affair IN the
Garden of Eden ought to be sufficient
evidence that the snake is smart. y
little circumstance of more recent oc-
currence, which / want to tell you
about, will convince any one that
the snake is by no means bad.
''The water snake, although pretty
and harmless, is one OF the most un-
popular members of the opidian race.
This is probably because he has rare
tooth for fish, and especially for trout,
of which he take. Il great many away
from the angler every year And,
when you come to think OF it, why
hasn't he as good right to them as
the angler? Anyhow, whether he has
or not. he shows that he has a deli
cate sense of what is good by his par
tiality for trout.
"One day l was fishing for trout up
IN Pike county, and | saw water
snake drop down into tho creek from
an alder only few yards ahead OF
me, and presently come out on the
other side Of the stream with tlout
in its mouth. at that time shared
the popular dislike for snakes, ana
as saw this one with the trout l be
came so enraged that | picked up
stone and threw it at the snake. The
stone struck the snake a foot or so
above its tail and disabled 1t. 1t
dropped the fish, which was still alive,
and the trout Topped back into the
water. The snake lay writhing on
the ground, and | was cruel enough
to pass on, leaving it to die, as l be-
lieved, in agony, because Of my ad-
horrence of its kind.
The next day, fishing the same
stream again, as | approached the
spot where | had stoned the water
snake | saw kingfisher sitting on
dead limb above pool in the brook.
| knew it was watching for a fish. and
stopped to see whether the bird would
catch one. | had to wait but very
short time. The kingfsher pumped
like a shot down into the water, dis
appearing for moment, and came
up with a good-sized club in its bill.
| expected, of course, TO see the bird
fly away home with its catch, but IN
stead of that it flew to the side OF the
creek, and to my surprise laid the
club on the ground in front ola snake
that hadn't noticed before. 1t was
the water snake l had hit with the
stone the day before. 1t was not
dead, but had been unable to move
away from the spot where the stone
had crippled it. As the kingiisher
laid the fish in front of the snake the
latter seized it and proceeded to gorge
it. The kingfsher flew back to its
limb, went TO fishing again, soon
caught another fish, and flew away
with it to its nest.
Now a half-witted man couldn't
have helped but understand what
this all meant at glance. The
wounded snake, unable to move, and
consequently unable to get anything
to eat. had been discovered in its sad
plight by the kingtisher, and the king
fisher. being u tender-hearted bird.
had taken pity on it, and was feeding
it to keep it alive until its wound
healed and it was able to do
for itself again. This touched me.
and resolved TO let the snake alone
and see what the outcome OF the in
cident would be. | didn't get back
on the creek again for three or four
days after that, and when | got down
TO where the snake had lain it was
gone. OF course had no means Of
knowing what had become Of it, but
naturally concluded that it had re-
covered and had gone away.
while stood there the kinghsher
alightsd on the dead limb again, and
sat there as motionless as knot,
watching for a chance TO catch a flsh.
A kingfsher fishing is always an IN
teresting sight to me, and so waited
TO see the result of this vigil. L had
to wait a good while this time for the
bird was evidently intent on biz game.
While he sat there watching, a fish
hawk appeared, high up, circling
around over the creek, looking for
a dinner himself. BY and by the
kingfsher's opportunity came. He
shot into the water, came out with q
nice trout, and started for home. l
don't know whether the fishhawk had
his microscopic eye on that trout or
not. but If he had, he didn't intend
TO be done out of it by the kingfsher.