The Rat Snakes or Colubers 



ceeded in getting it out again, when, with commendable bravery, 

 it turned on its captor and fought vigorously. A negro, passing 

 down the turnpike and carrying a scythe, came suddenly upon 

 the exciting spectacle of a man, snake and cannon shells very 

 much mixed up, and at once offered to engage the snake with his 

 weapon. What would have happened to the serpent if the man 

 with the scythe had arrived at the bridge before the writer, is not 

 difficult to guess. An hour later this snake was taken from a 

 bag and exhibited to the wondering family of a farmer. The 

 creature had entirely cast aside its hostile airs, and submitted 

 to handling with perfect docility. 



The Pilot Blacksnake, though an admirable climber is not 

 so partial to arboreal situations as some of the colubers. Other- 

 wise its habits are much the same as the allied species. It de- 

 posits a like number of eggs. 



The serpent receives its name Pilot Blacksnake from the 

 fallacious idea that it warns the poisonous snakes (the rattlesnake 

 and the copperhead) of the approach of danger and leads them 

 away to safety. This superstition has probably arisen from the 

 fact that the species is found in places frequented by the danger- 

 ous snakes in question. In the North it displays a marked pref- 

 erence for mountain ledges, so commonly the abodes of the 

 banded rattlesnake. Here it may be found stretched upon low 

 bushes, from which it throws itself when surprised, with a remark- 

 able display of agility, then glides quickly among crevices in the 

 rock to safety. A fine specimen, slightly over six feet in length 

 and captured in Sullivan County, New York, was taken on the 

 Half-moon Ledge, a place notorious for rattlesnakes; it dis- 

 gorged a well-grown "cotton-tail" rabbit. At the time it exuded 

 a strong-smelling secretion from glands near the tail; the power- 

 ful, musky odour penetrated the clothes of Messrs. Dove and 

 Pearsall, who captured the snake, and remained for some hours, 

 although these gentlemen explain that when afterward being 

 handled the serpent showed no signs of using the scent-glands. 

 It became very tame as a captive, climbing out and over one's 

 shoulders when the door of its cage was opened. No amount of 

 teasing could induce it to bite, although if startled it would 

 frequently vibrate the tail, the tip of which would beat a rapid 

 tattoo on the side of the cage. -Some specimens are very erratic 

 and nervous. In fact the majority of the writer's specimens 



35 



