Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1911-06-13
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SNAKES IN SOUTH CAROLINA.
Something About Habits Of Despised
Reptiles.

| a fact that the state of South Carolina |
had the enviable CD distinction of
harboring more different species OF
snakes within her borders than any |
/ other state in the Union. We are not
prepared to pass on the truth Of this
statement, but those who spend much j
of their time within the woods and
! swamps can readily believe the asser- |
ton. Snakes there are everywhere, In
all localities, from the coast to the
| higher mountains of the state. Snakes
within the house and down in the
thickest and most remote swamps. 1t
Is not startling thing to kill snakes
| in the streets of our larger cities and |
| towns.
But even so, for all their great num-
Der and variety, there is woful ig-
norance on the part of the average
person in regard to snakes. A snake
is SNAKE" and that is the end OF
the matter-likewise of the snake, as
rule. Comparatively few persons
know that there are really and truly
/ good" snakes All snakes look alike
to most persons And in this very ig-
norance there lies a danger, and not
an imaginary one, but real one, as
any expert in these matters will test1-
fy. The public should be educated In
regard to snakes, for surely 1t Is mani
festly wrong to put the useful black
snake in the same class and category
with a horrid rattlesnake. They are
as ill-assorted in every respect as Is
| lion and a lamb. 1t is the misfortune
of the blacksnake to belong to the
same tribe" as the rattlesnake, and
consequently he suffers from the ig-
norant prejudice rightfully engender-
ed by such species as the rattlesnake.
However, 1t is a great misfortune that
there Is such Ignorance. for not only
does the black-snake tribe suffer
therefrom, but men do also.
Good Snakes and Bad Snakes.
Unreasoning prejudice is undoubt-
edly the hardest thing in the world to
overcome in a campaign Of education.
The writer on snakes knows from the
outset that he is face to face with an
antipathy and prejudice deep rooted In
/
the snakes. But one or two converts
even would be compensation enough
for the ordinary reformer, for the
converts in turn would become enthu-
siasts and help to bring over others to
their point Of view.
There are good snakes and there are
bad snakes, just as there are good
birds as we'll as bad birds. And by the
terms good" and bad" we are to be
harmless snakes, as opposed to useless
and harmful snakes. And while IT is
not true to say that all poisonous
snakes, called innocuous snakes, are
good" snakes, 1t is true to say that
they are within themselves harmless
to mankind. On the other hand, all
venomous snakes, or poisonous snakes
are bad" snakes, and 1t Is an excel
lent scheme to kill them without COM
Function. Among the commoner
snakes in South Carolina belonging to
the innocuous or harmless class are
the king-snake, the black-snake, the
rat-snake, the chicken-snake and the
little green snakes that we turn up
from under bricks on our lawns. In
the poisonous class are found the rat
tlesnake, the water moccasin, the
snake. All the latter class should be
killed. Rattlesnakes because Of the
fact that they are found sometimes
about ones house, are perhaps de-
serving of a warning to vacate. Grass
snakes are wholly harmless.
Some Snakes Mems Friends.
On a recent trip through the coun-
try in Clarendon county the writer
was grieved to encounter along the
roadway two king-snakes and one
black-snake-dead. The killing of
those snakes was small crime against
mankind, for those two species of
snakes are among the very best friends
and benefactors that man has in ma
ture about him. Their function and
delight is to destroy other snakes. A
nice, juicy rattler is pie" to black
snake, and a rattlesnake never gets by
one of them If the black-snake can
devise a way to prevent it-and he
generally does Likewise, the king
snake. He is never so happy as when
engaged in chewing the tail end Of a
live water moccasin. 1t is alleged by
some that the black-snake spends part
of his time in trailing or stalking other
snakes. II any reader Of this has seen
an encounter between either Of the
two above species and another sort
of snake they may well understand
why 1t is highly desirable to protect
them against destruction. They are
sure anu SWllt uedtl W oil olhei
snakes.
The rattlesnake, the copper head
and the water moccasin all belong to
class of snakes that carry about
ready for instant use a deadly poison.
AS a rule they are of a crabid DISPOSE
ton, and it takes little to arouse the
desire TO use their poisonous fangs.
The fangs lay folded back, like the
blade of knife, along the upper part
of the mouth. Because of this fact,
and the additional one that just by
these fangs are located the poisonous
sack" the sides of the snakes head
have the appearance of bulging out.
AS matter of fact, the heads OF all
three of these species are very much
wider and fiatter than the heads OF
| nom poisonous snakes. Each Of their
| heads is in the shape Of diamond,
while the heads of non-poisonous
snakes are long and narrow as a rule.
| 1t is never amiss to kill all large, dia-
| mond-headed snakes. They are usu-
| ally just as anxious to get in killing
thrust at you as you are at them.
The Haunts of Snakes.
Generally speaking, in order TO see
| a snake one has to hunt him up. 1t is
not frequent that snakes leave their
native haunts and invade the premises
4 OI men. SHAKES are VI
| men than men are of snakes and If
| snakes are found about ones place i'm
any numbers it is probably due to a
| shortage of water or food where the
snake naturally belongs. The poison
| Gus snakes are as a class the least
| afraid of men, but even they, If given
/ half a chance, will not dispute your
| passage. By far the greater number
of persons who are bitten by snakes
owe it to the fact that they either step
on the snake or they arouse it sudden
| ly from its beloved slumbers, and by
instinct it strikes out in self-defense.
| AS its name indicates, the common
est of our poisonous snakes, the water
moccasin lives somewhere near a
stream of water. 1t is safe to say that
ninety-nine out Of every hundred of
them will stick to their homes unless
the water supply gives out as it fire.
quently does by reason of the drying
up of the small streams in the hot |