The Republican. [volume] (Oakland, Md.) 1877-current, 1892-07-22
HABITS OF SNAKES.
Erroneous Beliefs Regarding Their Meth.
DDS of Attack.


The common aversion with which
snakes are regarded is probably the still
| lingering superstition which led to the
| belief that the devil, the representative
of all that was evil and abhorrent. took
the form of a serpent. And thus from
| time immemorial the snakes have been
| regarded with antipathy by the human
| race. But the lower animals have also
the same instructive aversion and dread
of these creatures This is no doubt due
| to the numerous instances in which
! they have been attacked, but have es-
capped from their enemy. Their common
dread of snakes has led to many errone-
Gus beliefs regarding their habits.
One such error is that snake can
| jump into the air and seize bird on the
| wing. Another is that it can charm it's
prey and by the terror evoked by its
mere appearance cause its victim to fly
| into its mouth.
For a few years past have had good
| opportunities of observing the habits of
the rattlesnake and the black snake.
| of the former ! have in my collection
four skins of different varieties, which
! have taken from snakes which have
interviewed and investigated One is tho
yellow diamond backed kind, another is
| the black diamond back, and another is
\ thS black barred variety.
| The fourth is one of solid color. n
| deep black. which captured in 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 it to the shore, where it gorgcd
its prey and came for another. When
it took the third one | landed quietly
and captured it. When it was cornered
it coiled, as is popularity supposed, for a
| spring, and teased it with stick in an
attempt to make it spring. 1t was a
a large one. about three feet long, and
coiled half its length on the ground and
struck at the stick. but made no further
advance than the length of its upper
half, which was held erect between its
strikes.
| worried it in this way for several
minutes, when | killed it and skinned
it,cutting its head off before began, to
make sure of safety, having previously
| experienced the difficulty of killing one
! perfectly dead When the snake was
| half skinned and | was holding it by
the middle of the body stripping the
skin it struck at my arm repeatedly
| ly with its headless neck with consid
cradle force. and the naked body after
ward colled itself as if alive.
This experience was repeated three
| times afterwards but in no instance did
the snake jump: it only struck the
| length of the uncoiled part of its body.
| And in each instance did the headless
snake strike back as it was being
skinned. This is undoubtedly the re-
fleX action of the nerves of motion due
to continued use, and is not uncommon
in other reptiles.
One of these snakes | captured as it
was robbing a quails nest. The nest
was in one of my meadows aid as
| passed the quail was fiuttering violent
| ly and darting back and forth at some
| thing in the grass. This was RATHER,
whose skin, now among my collection
| VI thi us, IL oNCl Ioui lCCl lOIlR. anu ildu
thirteen rattles and a button
| 1t was partly coiled and was striking
at the bird as it darted close by the
! snakes head. Between times it was
swallowing the eggs. When | came
! quite close it threw itself into large
coil and ratified vigorously and struck
at my stick, but it did not JUMP or throw
itself further than its 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 SHE'D and snorted and shook with
| terror. | then saw the snake coilcd on
the bank asleep. When | alighted
and attacked it, it behaved in precisely
the same manner, without jumping in
the least, but striking violently at the
stick tIy worllmen have killed several
of them. and in every instance, at my
request, have noted their behavior. and
in none did the snake make any attempt
| to jump.
! once saw 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 it
when it 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 rs a means of defense TO ward off
an attack by causing fear, just as other
snakes hiss when disturbed. The sound
is not unlike course hiss approaching
a soft whir. 1t is not rattle by any
means. Only one animal ! know of
is free from fear of this snake Cows
aud horses both dread il and evince
great terror even when the smell of it
is perceived. The pig, on the other
hand. makes a satisfactory meal of il,
| and in the mountain woods. where
thousands of hogs have run at large for
years. and in some places have run
wild, as in the European forests, and
have acquired equal ferocity. the rat
tier is 50 scarce that some persons have