110 THE AMERICAN MIDLAND NATURALIST 



haven (OSM 365; TZS 82); Jackson Twp. (OSM 259). LiCKING CoUNTY: Newark 

 (OSM 454; TZS 2384). Meigs County: Portland (OSM 437.1). Monroe Coun- 

 ty: Center Twp. (TZS 503); Green Twp. (TZS 726-32. 792. 804. 1484-93); 1 mi. 

 N of Woodsfieid (TZS 1661). Pike County: Mifflin Twp. (TZS 578); Perry Twp. 

 (TZS 680-90, 797, 805 ; OSM 386) ; Beech Flats. Perry Twp. (TZS 806) ; Wake- 

 field (DOR). Ross County: Chillicothe (Morse. 1904). Scioto County: Brush 

 Creek Twp. (DOR); Franklin Furnace (TZS 2028); 2 mi. W of Friendship 

 (DOR); 7 mi. SW of Otway (TZS 1639-45); 8 mi. SW of Otway (TZS 1496-7, 

 1650). Vinton County: Section 7, Wilkesville Twp. (TZS 1200). Washington 

 County: Leith (CM 5167); Marietta (MC). Wayne County: Near Overton 

 (WC). 



Habitat and Habits. — While it is not rare in some localities, the copper- 

 head cannot be considered an abundant snake in Ohio. 



Individuals were found in a variety of habitats and were apt to be encoun- 

 tered almost anywhere in unglaciated Ohio, even to well within the limits of 

 the larger cities. They occurred in the valleys (sometimes along the streams) 

 and ranged up the hillsides to their summits and out over the farm land or 

 woods on the flat-topped hills. Sometimes they were in cleared open coun- 

 try and sometimes in heavy woods, but more often they were taken in scrubby 

 second-growth or brush. 



Specimens were rarely seen abroad save in early spring, and in midsummer 

 they became distinctly nocturnal. Live ones were discovered on the roads at 

 night and it was not unusual to observe freshly run- over ones on the highways 

 in the early mornings. During daylight hours they secreted themselves beneath 

 boards, stones, logs, etc., but one hiding place was so universally a favorite 

 with them and so worthy of exploration that it is perhaps excusable to digress 

 briefly to discuss it. Such was the sawdust and slab pile left to rot in the 

 wake of the itinerant portable saw-mill. 



Sawdust piles were not at all rare in many parts of southern Ohio. Over 

 a mound of aging sawdust was usually scattered a profusion of thin bark 

 slabs. Systematic overturning of these several times revealed copperheads to 

 the collector. The snakes invariably attempted to escape by crawling under 

 adjacent slabs or other cover and where the slabs were stacked or lying in a 

 jumbled pile it sometimes was necessary to move the entire lot before the 

 quarry could be secured. Such work, while arduous, was usually exciting for 

 as the slabs were overturned and cast aside a glimpse might he had of a tail 

 as a snake crawled under the next layer, and there was always a chance of 

 discovering another in the midst of the pile. 



Old and decaying sawdust piles are a favorite lurking place for many 

 species of snakes and lizards. There is usually an abundance of hiding places 

 under the close-fitting boards and bark, and the deep cracks, often in evidence 

 in the pile itself, provide avenues through which the reptiles can penetrate far 

 below the surface. Most sawdust piles are decidedly damp, at least below the 

 outer layer, and even in the driest weather some moisture usually remains in 

 them. This probably attracts snakes especially during the period prior to the 

 shedding of their skins. While reptiles were not found in several of the large 

 number of sawdust piles investigated in the course of the present survey, there 

 were scarcely any in which the shed skin of at least one snake was not uncov- 



