The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1895-10-20

inundated lands. Their diminutive size
prevents them being formidable, and
as, in addition to this, they are only
found in the extreme south, we may
miss them. in order to turn our atten-
ton more completely to the other great
class-tne Bothrophera, whose range
extends over the whole country from
the Atlantic to the Pacific, and from
the Great Lakes to the Gulf OF Mex
leo. There Bothrophera are the really
dangerous snakes of the country, and
should be recognized by every one at
sight.
The Bothrophera, or pit vipers, in
clude the rattle snakes. copper heads,
and moccasins. and under these three
names are included all the venomous
snakes of the United States, excepting.
of course. the diminutive Elapidae of
the extreme south, mentioned above.
Of rattle-snakes there are many
species: of moccasin and cOpper-head,
but one Of each. These all agree in
certain points of character, shape and
structure. One popularity they have
In common. which no other American
snake possesses, and that is the pit
Bothros). from which their family
takes its name. This pit may be seen
In the side of the muzZle between the
nostril and the eye, but a little lower
down than either. 1t is larger and
more easily seen than the nostril,
which is nearer to the tip of the nose.
Hence, to an ordinary observer, these
snakes appear to have four nostrils,
and no harmless snake has this pit 1t
Is an unfailing sigma trademark of
venom, which is never counterfeited.
What Snakes Are VenOmous.
There are other characteristics also,
by each enc of which the snake may
be suspected to belong to this danger
Gus family; but not one of these is of
itself conclusive.
Now let us suppose we are out in the
woods and suddenly see before US
snake. We are ten feet away from
him. He appears to be an inch and
half in diameter and about three feet
long. He is coiled up. Let us ap-
DrOach nearer to examine him. for we
can stand within five feet of his coil
without danger. Has he clear Htripes
dawn his back from head to tail? If
he has he is harmless. But he has not.
Are his scales smooth or rough-i. e..
each one with little ridge or keel in
the middle of it? Yes, they are rough
-saspy-ikeeled. as it is called. If his
scales were perfectly fat and smooth
he would be harmless Is his head
broadened out behind and much bigger
than his neck? Yes. his head is very
broad This shows that he may be
venomous Is he marked transVersely
with irregular bands, whole or broken?
Yes. he is rather banded Well, this is
also a partial sign of venom. If he
were clear black, or bright yellow. or
bright green all over, with smooth
scales, he would almost certainly
be harmless. But he is a dull,
subdued color, and his scales are
rough. They do not seem polished,
but have a velvety appearance. All
this simply says that he may be ven
omous. Let us stoop down to see his
eyes clearly Are they cat-like, with
vertical slit instead of round pupil?
Yes Then he is almost surely venom
Gus. Does he get ready in his coil to
strike, put out his tongue and keep a
little turn of his neck just behind the
head? He does. Well, venomous
snakes generally act SO. Let us take
a long stick and poke him. There is
no danger in doing SO, for he cannot
jump out of where he is; the most
he can do is to throw out one-half or
two-thirds of his length in an effort to