The Bluffton news. [volume] (Bluffton, Ohio) 1875-current, 1954-06-10
Dear Mainly Perbonal:

1SaI 2AdllAAg 1eO1AsaA*
Perhaps it is bnly another idiosyn-
Grassy of the trained scientist to OBJ
ject strongly toNfaulty reporting, be
it in a scientific journal or in ones
own hometown newspaper. A seem
ingly innocuous statement appeared
in the May 26 issue df The Bluffton
News, referring to a f"12 foot Blue
Racer, which was seputedly killed
on farm near Bluffs tbn. | cannot let
this pass without appropriate COM
ment.
Let me refer you to the ,herpetolo-
gist's bible, The Fikld Book of Snakes
by Schmidt and pavis t1942). This
is the most recf int treatise dealing
with North American snakes and
represents the combined labors of
hundreds of professional and amateur
workers in the field. The maximum
lengths of thd largest species of
American snakes are as follows:
Eastern Diamona aback Rather e. 81 +;
CoachWhlp rs ~; yellow bullsnake
e. s"); Indigo e. 9'); Pilot Black
snake e. 5") and finally the Blue
Racer (5' 10hD.} How about that!
Not one exceeds nine feet. Don't take
my word for it; check the books for
yourself. The above mentioned book
should be in the library. The Reptiles
of Ohio by Roger FCoifant is there,
am certain. The largest Ohio Blue
Racer examined bE Conant was s. II"
long,, beating tn record by a half
inch, but still just a shade under half
the lebgth of the Montgomery
/" h"msnster". aSol you can readily see,
NrS Editor, wRyFI am skeptical. 1t
tsturbs a1e tssknow that the snake
1as eyer killq "a in the first place, but
il is even mqr unfortunate that the
Ispecimen wa not preserved.
While II am about it, let ME al
so add that the Blue Racer along \
with the Milk Snake, is one of
our most valuable reptiles. Both
of them are also among the most
persecuted and easily extirpated
species. Small wonder that, as
you say, BLUE Racers are said to
be comparatively rare in this
area" Incidentally, the myth
that racers chase people has no
foundation in fact. When corner
ed, they will put up a good fight.
Most animals do.
Please don't feel too disturbed
about all this. 1t may have been
a typographical error, faulty re-
porting, inaccurate yardstick, or
any number of things. Then
again it could have been an es-
capped python or boa, and not
racer at all. I'll be very happy
to cOntrihute to a fund to buy a
good yardstick for any aspiring
snake measglrers.
Wherever u go, find that the aver
age person Is a walking bundle of
misinformation where reptiles are
concerned. Since | joined the faculty
here, | have identified no fewer than
a half dozen snakes, which had prev
iously been identified as copperheads
by experts. One turned out to be
Milk Snake, another was a six inch
Dekay's Snake, two were Pilot Black
snakes and two others were Common
Water Snakes. If I stick around here
long enough, | may yet see my first
Delaware Copperhead.
Sincerely,
Charles A. Triplehorn, B.Sc., M.Sc.
Asst Prof. of Entomology
WE HAVE TAKEN UP the above
matter with Mr.. Peck Montgomery,
who furnished Mainly Personal with
what Prof. Triplehorn would brand
as a case of mistaken identity or pure
prevarication. Defending himself, Mr..
Montgomery tells0s he would be will
ing to swear on a herpetologists's
bible that he measured the Blue Racer
twice, and it totaled II feet.
N&
THERE WEREfTIMES at the
Town Meeting held Monday even
ing in the school auditorium
when you could have heard a
mouse-literalIy.A Matter of fact
those sitting in the front rows
could see the little fellow scurry-
ing about the floor in front of
the stage as though he had for