HOW REPTILES ARE CAPTURED 197 



vannali Kiver. The collectino: outfit consisted of can- 

 vas bags, plenty of fine soft copjDer wire for noosing, 

 and — an abundance of quinine. On the return of the 

 expedition to New York we brought four liundred 

 and nine reptiles, comprising snakes and lizards. 



Abounding in the Southern swamps and along the 

 waterways running parallel with unfrequented roads, 

 are water-snakes of many kinds, some of them ex- 

 ceedinglj beautiful in brilliant shades of red and yel- 

 low, some sinister and ugly in coloration and equally 

 so in temper, others (the cottonmouths) possessing 

 highly dangerous fangs, but all primarily anxious to 

 seek their natiye element when disturbed. Of all the 

 shy creatures the writer has ever seen, these Southern 

 water-snakes deserve first mention. It is quite dis- 

 heartening to observe one moment a brilliant speci- 

 men coiled gracefully around a branch overhanging 

 the water, and to think of the interest which the 

 creature would cause in captivity, and an instant later 

 to see the prize glide sinuously into the water below, 

 leaving but a few bubbles as mementoes. This often 

 happens after one has stalked the animal in most cau- 

 tious fashion with a long l)amboo pole equipped with 

 a ready noose, while the persistent mosquitoes attack 

 the collector viciously, seemino-ly realizini^ that if he 

 moves a finger-tip the coveted specimen will vanish. 



It is safe to say that at least half the water- 

 snakes stalked in this manner, escape. The wire of 

 the noose must be of about the thickness of a ]un,- 

 and it //v7/ ti'emble as one reaches forward. A iioose 

 of thick wire does not respond to a pull from the 



