The Hawaiian star. [volume] (Honolulu [Oahu]) 1893-1912, 1895-05-06
TEXAS HOOPSNAKES.
THEY HAVE HOOKS AND HOLES IN
THEIR LIPS AND LIKE FUN.

pliers and BuIlsnales Create Lively stu
ations For the Iioopers.
1.-THE hoopsnake of Texas is as inter.
esting reptile as you can find any
where" said former resident of the
Lone Star State. at is unlike any hoop
snake | ever saw in the east and good
deal livelier. Under its lower jaw there
is a lip, with a hole in it, and on the
end of its tail there is a hornlike hook
that curves upward. Whenever the
snake takes q notion to ROLL it throws
its tail over its snout, hooks into the
lip, and goes spinning away over the
grass as merrily as you please.
1.-The snake can get over the ground
pretty fast by crawling, but it seems to
take great pleasure in rolling. The I'M
der part of its body is bright red, and
you can see the snake quite distance
when it's rolling. Some say the horn is
hollow and capable of ejecting poison,
but don't know how true that is. Peo-
pie who are ignorant of how the Texas
hoopsnake is built are simply amazed
when they happen to see one change
from crawl to roll They can't make
out how it is possible for the snake to
put its ends together and roll away at
such speed unless it sticks its tail into
its mouth. You will often run across a
hoopsnake that is crawling along lei
surely, when all at once it will throw
its tail forward and 60 tipping off at IA
speed you imagine, that makes its head
swim. But its head is always level, no
matter how fast it rolls or how far.
"I've seen many man and boy
amusingly taken in by hoopsnakes out
there. Every newcomer desires to possess
specimen, and they get it into their
heads that it is as easy as lying to catch
one. The tenderfoot thinks he can cap
ture hoopsnake by poking a pole or
stick through the circle made by its
| body. He gets fooled, however, for the
cunning snake instantly unhooks its tail,
thus Kidding itself of the stick or pole,
runs along ON its belly for short dis
lance and then hooks into the lip again
and resumes its frolic with perfect free
dom. The hoopsnake has fine sense of
humor, l reckon, for it takes delight in
soaring women and tenderfeet by roll
ing right up to them and lodging away
when they scream or jump. They tell a
story out there of q man who ran the
handle of rake through hoopsnake's
circle and unlocked it. The snake got
mad, struck at the man and hit the
trunk of mesquite bush with its horn.
1t sped away then, and the man found
the print of its horn in the bark. He ex-
tI,,N bn &c
oath that it died in less than 90 days.
Il once saw hoopsnake hanging to
one of the hind feet of gopher. The
gopher kicked and squeaed and pulled,
and the snake kept tapping it on the
head and back with its horn. The snake
couldn't have swallowed the gopher,
and it tormented the little thing out of
pure deviltry. Its aim with the hook
was unerring and it acted as if it was
tickled all over every time the gopher
squealed. The hoopsnake's fun came to
an end very suddenly the moment an
other gopher appeared. The second
gopher took in the situation at a glance,
and it Immediately hoped upon the
snake and bit it in the back of the neck.
The snake let go of the foot mighty
quick, and all the lively writings i'm
aginable that snake performed in the
next eight or ten minutes. 1t thrashed
the grass fiat in a space five feet i'll di
ameter, and | never saw creature hate
to die as that snake did 1t finally
stretched out motionless, and l cut off
its horn, which had no hollow in it.
The wounded gopher was squealiDg in
some brush, and its rescuer was trying
hard to coax it into a hole, but it had
been done for by the snake, and it died
in little while
How it does make toad's eyes hang
out when hoopsnake gets after it'll
The toad knows that it's goner, and it
begins to hop and peep and squeal with
terror before the snake has touched it.
The snake is in no hurry, for it knows
very we'll that the toad can't get out of
its sight, and it takes downright COM
fort in hearing the toad wall. 1t crawls
behind the toad, and when it gets good
and ready it throws its tail forward
and gives the toad smart thump be-
tween the eyes with the point Of the
horn. The toad backs up few inches,
and the snake seizes it by hind foot.
Then the toad kicks with its free hind
foot and claws the grass with its front
feet. keeping up piteous squealing all
the time The snake lets it kick and
claw for a spell, but by and by knocks
the toad on the head till it stops kick
ing and swallows it.
while hoopsnake was handling a
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