Americus times-recorder. [volume] (Americus, Ga.) 1891-current, 1913-07-31
LOUISIANA HORN SNAKES
Held in Evil Reput Among Negroes
But Are Declared Harmless
New Orleans Dispatch to the New
York SunD

Louisiana, and Averys Island il
particular, produces the largest water
snakes found on the American con-
tinent, and is the home of the noted
horn snake, the dread of the planta-
ton darby and the theme of his mo- I
wonderful tales.
AS result Of te find" by scien-
lists, the New York Geological Gard
ems have sent to E. A. McIlhenney for
a number of the water snakes for ex-
hibition in their snake department,
and Mr.. McIlhenny is going to send
them as lagniappe, good samples Of
the horn snake, which he caught
while projecting" around for the
water snakes.
Just why the water snakes shoul1
grow to the immense size they do in
this particular locality is a mystery,
but grow they do, as specimens 4 feet
and over in length and from to Z
inches in diameter have been captur-
ed for the New York zoo. They are
nonvenomous, and subsist mostly on
fish and the young birds which hav
fallen out of nests nd into or near
the water. Great sluggish things they
appear while lying asleep in the sun
on the mud banks near the waters
edge, but let them get into the water
and after the minnows and small fish
which comprise their food and their
sluggishness disappears Immediately
and their speed and agility are Won
derful.
The horn snake has for years been
the subject of legends galore among
the members of the negro race, espec-
tally in the South, and by these pee
pie it is invested with an amount OF
wonderful and terrible qualities that
make it feared above all other variet-
les. Imagination is necessary to furn
ish even the slightest foundation for
many of these stories.
Growing to immense size, according
tc the folk lore, the horn snake car
ries destruction to man, beast, or veg
citation that it strikes with the horn it
carries at the end of it's tail, and ac-
cording ID the negroes will sometimes
kill even grown trees when it be-
comes angered by singing them. The
tree stung is said to wither and die
Immediately fter the deadly weapon
has entered it's bark.
1t is presumed also that the horn
snake has had a great deal to do with
the fantastic tales of the hoop snake"
of the darkies, which is said to take
it's tail in its mouth and roll downhi.l
or along the ground toward the object
of its attack, nd upon reching it to
unwind suddenly and strike with the
sting at the end of its tail
In reality the horn snake is a very
ordinary looking reptile, the average
being from to 2 1-2 feet in length, Of
a dark brown or bronze color on tile
back, and with the underside stripped
with red. like that of the red-bandc1
water snake. The head is rounded
and lacks, entirely the arrowhead
shape possessed by nearly all OF the
venomous snakes. The body is rather
slender, and it's tail terminates in a
sharply pointed sting or horn of dark
color and very hard 1t is this horn
which has given rise to all of the sto'-
les concerning the species.
That the horn snake is harmlens
like the water snakes was proved ty
Mr.. McIlhenny, who reached into the
tank in which the horn snake and per :
haps a dozen of the big water snakes
were confined and lifted them out I'M
tremendously. Little care was takeh
to prevent bite, though the big wrig-
Cling fellow twisted in his hands,
while several negroes standing nearly