Brownsville herald. [volume] (Brownsville, Tex.) 1910-current, 1928-07-22
RY EDWARD MOTT MoOLLEY

Stepping from an automobile into
the brush alongside the road, a man
was bitten instantly by a poisonous
snake, probably a water moccasin
that CHANGED to be hiding there.
IN another region, during this same
general period, a girl Of six, playing
in the great free outdoors, heard
what she thought was the buzzing of
4 locust. She hunted for il. and a
ra%ttlesnake struck her with its dead
" fangs.
"A ten-year-old boy, romping nea n
dead tree. was bitten without warn
ing by a stealthy copperhead.
These episodes, reported quite re-
Gently 10 the Antivenin Institute Of
America in Philadelphia. might be
duplicated over and over. While
fishing, a man was bitten five times
on the leg by 4 moceasin. A hunter
sat on a log 10 watch for squirrels,
when a rather, striking with the
rapidity Of a machine-gun, sank its
hypodermic teeth in his shoulder.
Running out into a field TO pick
flowers, a girl Of seven encountered
n ra~ttlesnake. which coiled and
struck her. Coming in from a swim,
another girl. IS. was bitten on the
heel By this same species Of deadly
viper. A woman, sleeping on an I'M
protected porch in a region where
poison snakes abound. was bitten on
the head by n RATHER.
Where II Might BE
just where these particular acct
dents occurred Is not so vital TO this
narrative as where they might have
happened. or in what section Of the
United States these accidents may be
duplicated.
In these outdoor days of motoring,
boating. hiking, and especially Of ju-
vcnile camping. the lack Of informa-
tion on snakes seems staggering. Ac-
cording 70 the most recent estimate,
at least a thousand people are bitten
IN the United States annually.
One comforting thing seems 10 be
that all snake bites are not necessar-
lily fatal. the outcome depending on
the quantity and quality Of venom
injected by the serpent, and on the
resisting power Of the victim.
Some species are more poisonous
than Others, but even a deadly snake
may have exhausted its venom on
other objects just before striking its
human victim. Fatal bites, from diff
ferent species, range from ten 70
~thirty-five per cent, in cases not
treated with the serum. The mortal
ity rate with children is very high. IL
is said that reptiles kill a million dol
lars worth Of cattle every year IN the
United States.
Poison Snakes Marked
Yet hordes Of people continue 10
"alk and sit every day within reach
Of these stealthy vipers, and only the
disposition of most North American
snakes, not 70 attack unless actually
mOlested, saves a very large number
of persons from being bitten.
Whether the bite proves fatal or
not. the symptoms unless checked are
CHASTITY, the poison striking at the
blood, tissues and nerves.
There is one outstanding mark that
distinguishes the poisonous snakes
from other reptiles in the United
States, and this is the pit or hole on
each side OF the Snott, between the
eye and nostril. IL Is never found in
other snakes. Hence the designation,
pit vipers."
The most brightly c0lored or the
pit vipers' is the copperhead, which
belongs 20 the moccasin group. IL
InhabIts the eastern states. from Mas
%sachusetts and southern New Hamp-
shire 60 northern Florida; west to
central Illinois, Kansas, Arkansas
and Texas. Al lives on nilly, rocky
places, sometimes near streams. OF
the bites reported IN eastern states,
the co%pperhead is responsible for
about two-thIrds, especially IN Penn
s~ylvania, Maryland, Virginia and
west Virginia. The copperhead has
nO rattle; gives no signal Of its pres
ence nor warning Of its strike.
The water moccasin, called also the
cotton-mouth moccasin, occupies the
IowIands from southeastern Virginia
to Florida and the Keys. and ranges
north through the mississippi VAL
lcy TO southeastern Missouri and
southern Illinois; also westward
though Texas to the Rio Grande.
This reptile Is very vicious and at
tacks everything that moves about II.
and u bears no rattle. IL is usually
encountered IN swampy places or
even IN water. and II seems 10 be re-
" sponsIble for a large number Of bites
m the southeast, and in the Gulf
states excepting Texas.
Diamond Back Largest
The timber or banded Rattlesnske
is we'll distributed over the north
eastern states and down to Georgia.
and westward to the Great Plains. Its
abode is usually on the lodges or in
rock crevices Of the woody and hilly
n districts. This snake bites less fire.
q~uently than some others. Another
rather unimportant Rattlesnake is
the Pigmy, secreting little venom, but
having a large range through the
south.
Largest Of all poisonous species in
/ North America is the eastern dia-
m~ond-back RATHER, which sometimes
attains a length of nine feet. Its
habitat extends from southern North
Carolina to the Florida Keys, and
west TO Louisiana and the Mississippi
river-commonly about swamps. Hor-
\ rible indeed is its poison, but for
| tunately il does not like the proxim-
ity of man.
The prairie rattler hunts its prey
\ trodents) in the plains OF the Da-
kotas, Nebraska, Kansas and Okla
1 bona, and ever reaches west of the
Rocky Mountains; and up into Can
ada.
Further south. from Texas to Cali
f%ornia, the formidable western dia-
mond-hack RATHER is abroad. This