The Birmingham age-herald., 1915-05-19
From the Pittsburg Post.

KYO branch of natural history is so M surrounded with weird and falla- | clous narrative. deplorable ignor- the serpents, says the Philadelphia Rec ord, the result being inherent fear and relentless crusade of club and heel against a group of creatures of great eco- pomic value. and. with few exceptions. absolutely harmless
 One hundred and eleven distinct spe- cies of snakes occur in the United States, of which only 17 are dangerous to man. Thirteen of the latter are rattlesnakes, genus Crotalus, with an unmistakab mark of Identification, the tail ending in a rattle. The four remaining dangerous species comprise the copperhead and water moccasin, genus ansictrodon, and two small, brilliantly colored coral snakes, genus elaps. The range of the water moccasin and coral snakes does not extend farther north than the Caro- iinas, leaving locally only the banded or timber rattler (crotains horridus) and the copperhead tancistrodon contortrix) to be considered in the light of dangerous rep tiles.
 The economic value to the farmer of most of our snakes is of great impor- tance, and an examination of the stom- ach contents of few wantonly Killed specimens would soon convince an intelh- gent person of the force of this plea TOT the protection of our snake friends. The presence of large numbers of snakes In fields of growing crops or about barns containing grain at once indicates an abundance of destroying rodents. upon which the snakes feed voraciously, put ting to shame the feeble efforts of the family cat.
 At conservative estimate, an adult rep tile will kill four rats a week for 40 weeks in the year, or 160 rats. If these rats were allowed to live and propagate their kind the result at the lowest calcula- ton would be as follows: If 80 of the l60 rats survived and bred they would raise three filters of six young each, totalilng TAO Granting that one-half or these young reach maturity and raise one litter of six their first year, it would mean an increase of 1920. making grand total of over 5000 injurious rodents accounted for by one snake in a single year.
 The poisonous rattler and copperhead are never found close to the habitation Of man, and their appearance easily d1stin- guishes them from their harmless allies.
 The shape of a reptiles head is no sure indication of it's character. as is the com mon belief. The pit vipers. crotalne snakes (so named on account of the pres ence of an orifice between the eye and nostril, embrace all the rattlesnakes. to- gether with the copperhead and water moccasin. They all have heads distinct from the body, but deadly coral snakes have all the outward appearance of be- ing harmless.
 To strip the snake subject of It's erron- eous ideas. and to lay aside foolish ana unwarranted prejudice, requires but httie investigation, and once this Is oone fascinating and interesting field of study is unfolded before the student Of nature and keen observer.
 Remember that snakes are never siimy. and that even the poisonous never pite' except in self-defense. Bites by rattie- snakes or copperheads. even where these reptiles are numerous. are 8 great rarity' a nd in the northern and middle. states, If nronerlv treated, of no great danger, the large. dangerous snakes being confined to the far southern region of the United States.
 Raymond L. Ditmars, curator of reptiles of the New York Geological society. to whose most comprehensive book l refer all interested in the subject, recently told the writer that there are quantities of ra ratflesnakes on his own place which he does not allow killed. considered their TO- dent destroying value greater than their danger.
 rattler's age cannot be told by the number of buttons on it's rattle. as they get an additional segment with each she'd ding of the skin. occurring from three to five times annually, and the rattle is con- tinually subject to loss of all or part. They also shed the functional fangs at short intervals. new fangs taking their place. It. therefore. does not render the animal inocuous to remove the fangs, as, unless the bone 10 injured, the snake is soon as dangerous as before. There are many so-called antidotes for snake venom. but none of them has any merit.
 If an accident occurs with either . rat- tlesnake or coppsrhsad, immediate and ] heroic treatment must be resorted to to prevent serious coassQusnees. \ ueatuFe