The Universalist. [volume] (Chicago [Ill.]) 1884-1897, 1897-03-06
THE WINTER TENANTS OF AN
OLD WELL.

| Not far from my home is field Dor
dering the highway. which contains
something quite entertaining to me, and
which may not be wholly without inter.
est to the readers of THE Granite
Monthly"
The field, on the side opposite the
road. is joined by large meadow, from
which it is separated by fringe of al
ders and white birches. This meadow
is a favorite haunt of the bittern. and
in the morning and evening hours his
loud booming cries awake the echoes.
Here among the wild meadow grass and
sedge the lovely begonia blooms in pro-
fusion through the summer months, and
the red winged blackbird scolds from the
tops of the alder thickets. On the other
edge of the field, near the road, is row
of large sugar naples, throwing in sum-
mer cool, delightful shade for the dusty
traveller, and one giant elm, reaching
out his proud branches eighty feet or
more above the earth, and seeming to
draw haughtily aloof from the more
humble trees at his side.
But it is not the naples and their
neighbor, the elm. that propose to talk
about in this sketch, neither is it the
meadow, but den of snakes. Years
ago there was an old farmhouse with its
accompanying barn in this field; but
long ago they were moved away, and the
cellar was filled up with rocks and dirt.
Beneath the elm is the old well; but this,
like the cellar, is filled up with rocks
and covered with dirt. This we'll is my
snake den. Here they stay through the
winter. Black snakes. striped snakes,
green snakes, wood snakes and adders;
snakes, long, short. big and little, live
together among the rocks in the old
well for nearly six months in the year.
They do not come out until the latter
part of April for the heat cannot reach
them very early in their underground
home. After the ground has been thor
oughly warmed and the sun is shining
bright, some warm day near the close of
April or the first of May, l have seen
three black heads sticking out of the
ground from one hole. Go near them
and all disappear:
More commonly. one will appear at a
time. First with his nose just in sight
he may lie all day. if not disturbed. not
rising above the level of the ground.
Next day he is holder and stays for
hours, rising about six inches from the
mouth of the hole, looking like dried
stick from the tree above him.
Approach nearer, and the head sways
slightly and he backs out of sight. But
you cannot keep him long in the den
after the warm days of summer have
actually begun. He will sneak out when
you are not looking. and escape.
The adder does not come out in the
manner of the black snake. He may lie
for day or two with his nose just visi.
BILE, in order to get warmed up. but when
he gets ready to come out he does so
without any accommodating. l have new
er seen an adder's head raised above the
ground when he is ready to come out.
In this den the black snakes predomin-
ate, there probably being half a dozen
OF these to one of any other kind. Ad-
ders come next on the list, and last,
few striped green and wood snakes.
These are smaller than their neigh
bors and quicker darting back in
to the hole very suddenly when you ap-
proach. l have seldom been able to
capture any of these. but nearly every
spring | get some black ones and few
ladders. The longest snake captured
from this den was black one, five feet
four inches long. They will probably
average about four feet.
| have never seen as many snakes
here since as there were the first spring
the den was discovered. Perhaps it is
because do not watch them as closely
as l did then. but l do not think as
many winter here now. l was quite
young when we found these snake holes
one day by accident, and not having
much else to do watched the place
very closely, and killed large number
before they were warm and nimble
enough to escape, for at first they are
numb and stupid. Sometimes, impa-
tient at the slow motions of some old
fellow who did not seem inclined to
show more thanIa few inches of his head
and neck, would creep as near as pos.
sible. unobserved by keeping behind the
old elm, then, by making quick rush,
l would be ableto seize him by the neck
before he could back into the ground.
Even then they would resist so firmly as
sometimes to allow themselves to be
pulled in two pieces. rather than let go
their hold from the rocks below. | have
never seen a snake lingering around here
in the fall. but they know some way to
find the den, for since the first spring
the number has not seemed to diminish,
and each spring after the snow has all
disappeared and the surface of the