Evening star., 1902-08-23
BACK TO saw AGERY
A SNAKE THAT BUSHES AND
TREES FRIGHTENED.
Strange Study in ophidian Tempera-
ment and Memory That Proves
an Old Problem.

Written tor The Evening Star by G. r. OReilly
Twenty-Five years of special study of the
life and history of snakes leaves me with
very imperfect ideas OF the extent and the
operation of their intelligence
How could 1t be easy to understand ami
mails which do not hear al all; do not see
rs we do; probably do not scent things as
We do, and which, in addition, use sense
of which We are not at all possessed. con-
tained in that sensitive, two-pointed tongue,
whose functions are like those of the an
tennae of an insecto
For several years I have had in NV NOS
session common blacksnake Bascan!on
Constrictor). He has become perfectly
tame as far as it is possible for snake to
be SO, and from him l have perhaps learned
more Of the. intelligence of snakes than
from the thousands of others that | have
seen in nature and observed in captivity.
Wildness of Black Snakes.
OF all the snakes of North America the
black snake probably is the widest and
most difficult to domest;cate My tame black
snake was no exception to the rule. The
record of his wildness and tameness would
not be necessary to mention here were it not
that 1t may help to give some insight into
his ways of knowing and thinking and be a
step toward explaining an extraordinary
trait which he has manifested recentlv-a
trait which find exists in all the other
snakes 1 have experimental with. and
which is, l believe, common to the whole
race namely, that of resuming their Wild
ness and fierceness almost instantly, no
matter how tame, when placed for a mo-
ment amid their natural surroundings
My black snake was caught with difficulty
after an exciting hunt, but was not grasped
securely by the neck until he had bitten
me several times drawing blood in many
places. When brought home and placed in
a glass-fronted cage he was so exceeding
wild that l thought he would smash his
head from the ferocity with which he
dashed against the glass trying to get at
me- For the first three months he was so
sulky that he refused to take food. AT the
end of that time he realized that the glass
was protection. At the end of nine
months he ceased to bite my hand if | nut
1t in his cage At the end of eleven months
he permitted me to take him in my hands
without biting. After twelve months he
would come forward, expecting food, when
opened the cage. After twenty months he
would snatch the food out of my hands
while in his cage, but would not do so out
sile. At the end of two years he would take
the food outside of his cage and even fol-
low me to get it. He ceased entirely to bite
or to vbrate his tail, which is the supreme
evidence of excitement in black snakes.
Tamest Snake Known.
OF all the snakes I have ever seen or
read of he undoubtedly is the tamest He
evinces not the slightest fear in human
presence. All my visitors handle him now,
put him around their necks, stroke him on
the back. rub him on the head and under
the chin, and this treatment he gives every
evidence of enjoying.
The minister of a neighborinR church
once called with his Sunday school class TO
see my collection of snakes. The children
all had the black snake around their necks
putting him from hand to hand, each one de.
string to keep him longer from the Others.
Apparently the animal was pleased with
the treatment, while all the little ones as
sured me that they would very much like
to have such an amiable snake to take home
for pet. Finally, the minister himself al
lowed me to wind the snake around his
neck-an honor which I verify believe he
would rather have foregone, but as he was
of a militant type do think that he donned
that necklace of black snake so that he
should not be called a coward by the chill
dren.
There scarcely is child in the neighbor-
hood from two years old and upward that
has not had the black snake around its
neck, and every child that sees him covets