Herald and news. [volume] (West Randolph, Vt.) 1878-1943, 1895-04-11
QUEER SNAKES IN TEXAS.
Fun That the Yellow Racer and tho Hoop
snake Have Together

ssThere IS a species OF whipsnake III
the Lone Star state, the male OF which
is let black and the female pea green,
/ saws a resident of Texas, according tn
the New York Sun. "They are long,
slim reptiles, and they climb trees and
], rob birds'nests with wonderful CELEBRITY.
"Ihe yellow racer of Texas is an
other interesting snake. When he
crawls his movements are from side to
side, but when he races he undulates,
with his head several inches in the air,
and he can get over the ground almost
as fast as jack rabbit. You will often
see yellow racer chasing a red-bellied
hoopsnake, and vice versa. Sometimes
you will see them racing side by side,
neither seeming to try to outspeed the
other, and both getting over the ground
for the fun of the thing. The most
amusing snake race ever saw out there
was between q hoopsnake and a racer.
There was big bulge in the hoop
snakes body, evidently caused by a
large toad in his stomach, and he
wabbled SO that every little while he
would lose his balance and tumble side
ways The racer also had a large lump
in his body, but it didn't bother him
much In travelling, and he stopped and
waited whenever the hoopsnake tipped
over. The hoopsnake would look up
and start in again, and he and the racer
covered more than two miles in that
way, going ahead of the horse | was
riding.
while trying to net pigeons one sea-
son | saw yellow racer crawling
toward the stool pigeon. For the mo-
ment was more concerned about
hawk that had been circling overhead
for some time, and didn't pay much
attention to the snake. At length the
hawk dived at the stool pigeon and
knocked the breath out of it. Without
waiting for the hawk to snatch the
stool pigeon the racer wound himself
around the hawks neck and breast.
Suddenly a hoopsnake rolled past me
at top speed and brought up near the
stool pigeon, as if he was going to help
the racer strangle the hawk. The
hawk arose before the hoopsnake got
chance to tackle. 1t hadn't assembled
more than two hundred feet when the
racer tied its wings to its body and the
hawk dropped like wad OF mud,
thirty feet or SO from the stool pigeon.
The hoopsnake had been glaring at the
hawk as If he was disappointed, but the
instant it landed it rolled right at it
and commenced to thump it on the
head with his horn. The hawk
screamed and struggled violently and
the racer frightened his coils around its
wings and prevented it from rising. 1t
couldn't fight with its claws, and the
hoopsnake continued to hammer it on
the head and the racer to squeeze it, as
If it had been put-up job between
the snakes beforehand to tackle the
hawk in that way. The hoopsnalse
pounded until he had battered its head
all ont of shape with his sharp horn.
In little while the hawk ceased to
stir, and the racer unwound himself,
and the hoopsnake stopped hammer
ing. Both reptiles gazed at the dead
bird for moment, and then the hoop
snake hooked his tail into his lip and
the two went away together.
THE opossum snake of Texas
feigns death if you tap 1t on the back
with switch, and sometimes when
you make quick stroke at it and don't |
touch it. The natives assert that a
badly scared opossum snake will re-
main quiescent until sunset, no matter |
how early in the day you scare it, and |
then it will glide off at great speed. | |
once frightened an opossum snake by |
switching the ground near it. The
snake made believe it was lifeless, and |
l hid in clump of bushes and watched |
it. 1t couldn't possibly have seen me.
and for an hour and forty minutes it
perfectly motionless. 1t
lacked two hours and twenty minutes
OF shutdown, but l had concluded to |
stay there and see whether the snake
would clear out. | lost the schance,
however, for within a few minutes a
pair OF turkey buzzards lit on the snake
together. 1t began to squirm and flop
md beat the grass, but it had waited a
little too long, for the buzzards pulled
t in two speedily, each sailing away
with writhing half.
AT another time watched an opos-
sum snake for two hours, and was paid
for it little after sunset by seeing a
owl pounce upon it, tie in into
Knots, and sail off with itn