198 A COLLECTOR'S EXPERIENCES 



operator in time to prevent the active snake from 

 gliding til rough it as quickly as falling water. The 

 art is to pass the noose over the reptile's head, then, 

 with a sharp tug on the pole, make it a prisoner. 



The gyrations of a captured water-snake are be- 

 wildering. It coils into all sorts of fantastic knots, 

 and snaps at the pole, itself, and its shadow, and will 

 ultimately break the wire unless overpowered. A 

 few seconds' maneuvering enables the operator to get 

 the reptile by the neck, unfasten the noose, and drop 

 it into a canvas bag. Never will the writer forget 

 one experience while noosing snakes in this manner. 

 He was attracted by the head of what appeared to be 

 a large turtle among some aquatic plants. As tur- 

 tles can also be taken by a noose properly manipu- 

 lated, he slipped a miniature lasso of wire over the 

 creature's head and pulled ; l)ut instead of hauling in 

 a turtle, the body of an enormous water-moccasin 

 came thrashing ashore, its dark eyes sparkling wicked- 

 ly, and its widely distended jaws disclosing a pair of 

 fangs that sought for vengeance. The apparition 

 was so startling that for a moment the collector was 

 quite overcome with astonishment. This was his first 

 " cottonmouth," and he presumes that the startled 

 feeling was practically identical with " l)uck fever." 

 But there were other moccasins in that swamp, their 

 turtlelike heads just visible above the surface of the 

 weedy water. The catch that morning was eleven, 

 and those same eleven snakes are thriving in cap- 

 tivity. 



With the capture of most of the terrestrial snakes 



