OUR NATURAL ENEMIES.
No animal, perhaps, is so little known and understood as the snake. This is not because its study has been neglected or overlooked, as our scientific institutions are replete with fine collections of most of the reptiles, and exhaustive works upon their habits and customs. Yet, notwithstanding this, the snake continues to be the subject of ever-recurring stories, fabulous in the extreme, that seem handed down from generation to generation. Strange to say, many of these stories are current among those who, from the nature of their lives, would be expected to be well and accurately informed on the habits of the animals. Farmers and horticulturists are plentiful who religiously believe that the Milk Snake, the beautiful Ophibolus clericus, deprives milk-giving animals of their supply of milk. A statement often seen, and that has many believers, is that the Whip-snake of the South seizes its tail—which is supposed to have a sting—in its mouth, and rolls away in the form of a wheel, stopping suddenly and striking the enemy with the sting. Such fables are current by the score, and denial only strengthens belief.
More than a hundred species of snakes, nearly all having a wide geographical range, are found in America, north of Mexico. They constitute the first order, Ophidia, of reptiles, and have long, cylindrical bodies, are footless, without a shoulder-girdle, and invested with a coat of scales, which is shed in the summer months. Snakes have no eyelids in the strict sense of the term. Their eyes are permanently covered by a delicate membrane that takes the place of the lid, and this explains the stony stare, so disagreeable to many, that all snakes have.
The skeleton of snakes is so arranged as to allow the greatest freedom and flexibility. Numerous pieces of bone, hollow in front and convex behind, make up the long tapering backbone, which literally works on a ball-and-socket plan. Articular facets, that lock into each other, are found upon the processes of the vertebræ, and these strengthen and give to the backbone a greater degree of flexibility. A more remarkable arrangement, however, is found in the head, which enables the snake to prey upon animals that are larger than itself. The jaws seem a combination of elastic springs, having no gauge to their tension, the quadrate bones connecting the lower jaw with the skull being movable, thus allowing that enormous gape with which all are familiar who have seen a snake swallow its prey. Besides this, the bones of the jaw itself and palate are more or less movable, also tending to the larger distention of the throat.
As snakes do not tear or mutilate their prey, their teeth are not set in sockets, but serve merely to poison and stupefy the prey, or to prevent its escape, acting as hooks by which the body is hauled over the victim. The bones of the lower jaw, as we have seen, are not fastened closely to each other; so in swallowing prey the teeth on one side are advanced, and then those on the other side, and so on until the victim is hauled, hand over hand, as it were, into the snake’s throat.
Poisonous snakes, such as the rattlers, have two long, sharp fangs, each compressed and bent up, and forming a hollow tube, open at both ends. The upper portion of the hollow fang is fastened to a bone in the cheek, which moves with ease, so that, when not in use, the fangs can be packed away until needed.
All animals, man included, have doubtless in their saliva a deadly poison, though in the latter it is extremely diluted, and essential only to the digestion of food. In poisonous snakes, however, it is stored up in sacs, modifications of the salivary glands, and placed in each side of the upper jaw. From the poison-gland under the eye forward to the edge of the jaw, a delicate canal, which opens into the fang above the tube of the tooth, extends. Alongside of the latter may be seen rudimentary fangs, all ready to grow out should the large one be lost. To use the poison, the snake has merely to strike its prey, when the muscles of the jaw, which are admirably fitted for the part they have to play in the tragedy, press upon the glands, squeeze the poison through the little canal down through the hollow fang, and the work is accomplished.
In their actions, snakes are most graceful. The gliding motion, so characteristic, is effected by the movements of the large central scales, that are successively pushed forward, the hinder edges resting on the ground and constituting a support. These scales, or pushers, are fastened to the ribs by muscles, and by holding a snake by the hand the swelling movement can readily be felt.
Snakes vary much in color. They are generally adapted to their surroundings. Green Snakes are found in green grass and vegetation, while grey snakes affect rocky districts, where they are alike protected. Their skin is shed in one piece at various seasons of the year, being forced off by the snake forming a ring with its tail and squeezing the rest of the body through it, or by wriggling through entangled bushes. Poisonous snakes may be always recognized by their broad, flattened heads, generally short and thick bodies, and the almost invariable possession of a vertical keel along the centre of each scale. Long bodies, small heads devoid of distinct necks, and scales not keeled, characterize non-poisonous species.
Probably the best-known of our common kinds of poisonous snakes are the rattlesnakes. They belong to the dangerous family Crotalidæ, to which the copperheads and moccasins also belong, and are distinguished by the large, ugly head, absence of teeth in the upper jaw excepting the fangs, and the pit in the head.
NORTHERN RATTLESNAKE.
Prepared to Attack a Song Sparrow.
Crotalus horridus, our Northern Rattlesnake, has doubtless the widest geographical distribution, being found in nearly every State in the Union, from the Gulf of Mexico to Northern New England, and thence west to the Rocky Mountains. It has a most forbidding appearance, and when once seen with its enormous head, triangular in shape, and large brilliant eyes, with fiery irides, it can never be mistaken. Between the eye and the nostril is a deep pit, a character that is peculiar to the family.
All rattlers, as the name indicates, have a horny appendage to the tail, formed of separate button-like objects, that rattle together when the tail is vibrated. This rattle not only serves to warn human beings of danger, but also to arouse in animals a curiosity that often proves fatal. The popular belief that a rattle is added every year, and that it is possible to determine the age of the animals by this means, is not borne out by facts. Sometimes two rattles are known to appear within a year, and other instances are recorded where four have been attained in that period, and others still when several have been lost, new ones taking their places. The number of rattles is also uncertain. The greatest number, as observed by Dr. Holbrook, is twenty-one, but a specimen is mentioned in the books that had forty-four.
Mild and peaceful in disposition, the Rattlesnake has never been known, unless provoked, to attack a human being, nor to follow him with hostile intention. He preys upon small animals, as rats, squirrels, rabbits and birds, and can always be approached when he is stretched out, only striking when he is coiled. He is not a climber, seldom, if ever, being found in trees. His alleged powers of fascination are purely mythical. The horror his presence inspires often paralyzes with fear his victim, who, incapable of flight, stupidly awaits his fate. Men, women and children have been known, when attacked by these animals, to become rooted to the spot, as it were, by fear and surprise. All the so-called cases of fascination can be explained by the fear which the snake’s unlooked-for presence inspires.
Wonderful curative powers are imputed to the oil of the Rattlesnake. Many snakes are killed during the summer months for this oil, but the grand gathering of the crop is in the fall, when they have repaired to their dens and wintering places. Sunny days in October and November are chosen by snake-hunters for raiding them. The snakes, dull and sluggish at that time of the year, crawl out of their dens upon the rocks, huddling together by the score for the purpose of basking in the sun. Armed with old-fashioned flails the hunters, when they come upon a group of snakes, proceed at once to thresh them, but few making good their escape. The Rattlesnakes, assorted from other species that are frequently massed together with them, are carried home, when the oil is simply tried out, bottled up and is then ready for the market and the credulous patient.
No subject connected with snakes, it would seem, has attracted so much attention as the vexed one as to the care which they take of their young. Snakes would hardly be expected to show any great amount of maternal affection, but that they do, and in a most remarkable manner, by taking their young into their mouths, if alarmed, is a well-established fact. The mother, when danger is imminent, sounds her rattle as a signal, opens her very large mouth, and receives in it her little family.
The bite of nearly all rattlesnakes is extremely dangerous, though not necessarily fatal in the smaller kinds. Almost all animals succumb to their bite, and even man himself, if the proper remedy is not at hand. There is a general belief that the hog is exempt, and acting upon this belief farmers have been known, where these reptiles are very abundant, to turn in a few hogs upon them for their destruction. This animal, though it has a fondness for the reptile, and exercises a great deal of caution in its attack, has not infrequently been killed by the reptile’s poisonous fangs. Large doses of whiskey have been successful in neutralizing the effects of the poison, but it has been practically and experimentally proved that permanganate of potash is the best antidote.
But of all the poisonous snakes of this country, the Copperhead, Ancistrodon contortrix, is the most dreaded. In the South, he is known as the Cotton-mouth, Moccasin and Red-eye, and is just as common in the Gulf States as in the Atlantic and Middle States. He attains a length of two feet, is of a hazel hue, the head having a bright coppery lustre, and loves to conceal himself in shady spots in meadows of high grass, where he feeds upon small animals, rarely, if ever, attacking large ones unless trodden on. The mother Copperhead has also been observed to shelter her young in her mouth when threatened by danger.
Ancistrodon piscivorus, the Water Moccasin, that commands so much respect from the negroes of the South, is, from the pugnacity of his nature, equally to be feared. While the Rattlesnake will slink away from danger, the Moccasin will attack man or brute with savage ferocity. He is essentially a water-snake, chasing fishes and small reptiles in the streams of his native haunts, and may be recognized by the dark-brown colors on the upper portion of the head and the yellowish line that passes from the snout to or over the nostril. His length rarely exceeds twenty inches, and he is stout in proportion. The Moccasins show the same curious care for their young already mentioned. A low, blowing noise apprises them of danger, and into the slightly-opened mouth of the mother, which is held close to the ground, they hurriedly disappear.
MOTHER BLACK SNAKE.
Her Affection for Newly-Hatched Young.
One of the commonest of the non-poisonous snakes is the Striped Garter Snake, ten species of which being known in the United States. Upon the earliest appearance of spring they are almost the first to roll out of their holes, where they have lain dormant in balls or clusters during the cold winter months. Though easily excited, and striking quickly, yet their bite is little more than a scratch. Their appetites are now quite vigorous, and they have been seen to chase a toad for more than fifty feet over a gravelly road, effecting its capture. They are remarkably prolific, and their numbers about pools are sometimes astonishing. It would seem that they are viviparous as well as oviparous, from the fact that some young ones have been free and others in sacs in the abdomen of the mother. With a brood of forty or fifty young, which a single female has been known to produce, it would seem that the Striped Snake would have a difficult time in protecting her offspring by taking them into her mouth. They have this habit, however, as abundance of evidence could be adduced to show. One witness observed a Striped Snake upon a hillside, and noticed something moving about her head, which proved to be young snakes. He counted twenty little ones from one and a half to two inches long. Led by curiosity, he made a move towards the spot, when the old one opened her mouth, and they went in out of sight. He then stepped back and waited, and in a few minutes they began to come out. Another witness came across a female with some young ones near her, who, perceiving him, uttered a loud hiss, and the young ones jumped down her throat, when she instantly glided away to a place of concealment beneath a huge heap of stones.
The Black Snake, Bascanion constrictor, the mortal enemy of the Rattlesnake, is a familiar species, and one that is widely distributed. As winter approaches, these snakes come from far and near to some apparently appointed place of rendezvous, where, rolling themselves up into a matted ball, they sleep the days and nights of winter away, and come out in the spring-time, when the common mother of us all has conditioned things to their habits and ways of life. In appearance, from a decorative point of view, they are very attractive, being of a uniform steel-blue color, with a rich tessellated arrangement of scales. They are of wild and untamable natures, powerful and active as foes, often engaging in encounters with other snakes, especially the Rattlesnakes, whom they kill or force to disgorge their prey. In their movements they are so rapid that they are often called the Racer. It is in the breeding season that they manifest their greatest boldness, and have often been known to go out of their way to attack a passer-by. They will chase an intruder for a long distance, and will even descend a tree to attack the one who is teasing them.
It is the Black Snake that appears the most frequently in the guise of a charmer. But, as has been remarked before, this power, so often imputed, is merely imaginary. The reptile preys upon birds in their nests, penetrating the thickets in quest of them, and often the cat-bird and the red-winged blackbird, which are so prone to attack, are seen acting strangely, crying and fluttering before the reptile in fear and rage, while thus charmed, and frequently falling a victim in their endeavors to protect their young. At such times the cries of distress of the old birds bring birds of different genera together, who join their forces against the common enemy, finally compelling him to retreat. Like other snakes mentioned, the Black Snake has the same remarkable habit of taking her young into her mouth for protection.
Among the most attractive forms are the Green Snakes. Leptophis æstivus, so common in the South, and occasionally to be met with in Southern New Jersey, is of a brilliant green color, and so perfectly mimicking a vine that it would rarely be taken for a living creature when lying around the branches of a tree. They have a habit of coiling in the nests of birds, often surprising the egg-hunter by bounding swiftly away. Allied species, further to the South, have been observed, when approached, to leap twenty feet in the air, falling to the ground and making their escape. They are perfectly harmless creatures, and, like the Green Snake of the North, can be handled with not the slightest risk of danger. We once knew a gentleman who had one in confinement, whom he had trained to eat from a dish and to come to his hand at the sound of his voice. The beautiful creature, which was a female, showed the most marked affection, and would often twine her little form about his neck or glide her smooth head, lazily as it seemed, along his face and forehead.
SUMMER GREEN SNAKE.
Manner of Mimicking a Vine.
An extremely common snake in the Eastern United States is the Water Snake. Nerodia sipedon is the name by which it is known to the naturalist. There is in Michigan an allied form, known as the Red-bellied Water Snake, which is quite as common, while several other species abound in other localities. They are all inoffensive creatures and prey upon small animals. The female shows the same regard for her young as other kinds, suffering them, even when three or four inches long, to take shelter in her throat, when she will clumsily turn in search of some place of concealment.
WATER SNAKE.
Swallowing Her Young.
Water-snakes generally affect water-courses, often hanging from the branches of trees over streams, into which they drop when disturbed. Dr. Bell, an English naturalist of distinction, once tamed a European species of this genus. This pet could distinguish him among a crowd, and would crawl to him, passing into his sleeve, where it would curl up for a nap. Every morning found it at the doctor’s table for its share of milk. For strangers it had an aversion, flying and hissing at them when any familiarities were attempted.
Were these grovelling creatures better known, there would be found much in them to admire and commend. They are not the hideous beings they are represented to be. The feeling of hatred against them, an instinctive and unappeasable enmity, is perfectly natural, and has grown out of religious superstitions. Fear, disgust and aversion are man’s experiences at the sight of a snake, and there is at once a disposition to seize a stick or stone, or to make use of his heel, if well protected, to deal a fatal stroke. War to the death seems to be the cry between the highest of the mammals and the serpent tribe. It is not at all surprising, therefore, that the snake, seeing a human enemy, should either glide hastily off into the bushes, or, being thwarted, should coil itself up and hiss or throw itself forward in attack. Man would do well to protect the snakes about his domains, and treat them as friends, for they do him invaluable service in the destruction of vermin that make havoc with his crops.
Ants, bees, spiders, and many fishes, animals that are lower down in the scale than the snake, it is claimed, show far more forecast, ingenuity and architectural ability than it, but asserters of such an opinion forget that the snake is never studied under favorable conditions. Long ages of persecution have made him fearful of man, from whose presence he flees as from a pestilence or scourge, and there is consequently no chance to learn his better nature. Even man, until recently, has shown no inclination to make his acquaintance, being controlled by a dread which it appears well nigh impossible to overcome. Where the animal has been made to partake of the milk of human kindness, and has learned to regard man as a friend and not an enemy, he has shown remarkable susceptibility to culture and enlightenment. Let it be hoped that a modicum of the wisdom which has been attributed to him from the earliest of times, when he was made the object of homage and the insignia of the physician, shall at least be found to remain to the credit of science and truth.