THE REPTILES OF OHIO III 



ered. The damp sawdust must be an excellent hatching medium for eggs, and 

 ovoviviparous snakes may find the moist environment of advantage previous 

 to the birth of their young. Three female copperheads found under a single 

 bark slab in a sawdust pile in Monroe County each bore young a short time 

 after they were collected. 



Food, in the form of insects and rodents, is usually abundant and the 

 warmth generated by the decaying of the sawdust must be still another induce- 

 ment to reptiles. The interior of a pile in Scioto County, examined on a cool 

 evening in early May, was so much warmer than the surrounding atmosphere 

 that it actually steamed when it was exposed to the air. A copperhead found 

 in it felt noticeably warm to the touch. 



A large sawdust pile in Hocking County, which was covered with an inter- 

 woven mass of slabs, was systematically examined September 11, 1932. In it 

 were found two juvenile copperheads, a swift, three young large-headed skinks, 

 a common water snake and eleven pilot black snakes, the last apparently just 

 emerged from eggs (see page 60) . While no definite evidence was secured it 

 is highly probable that snakes and lizards frequently hibernate m sawdust piles. 



The habit of vibrating the tail when alarmed or excited is well developed 

 in the copperhead. One, on a wooded hillside in Monroe County, would have 

 been passed unnoticed but for the fact it vibrated its tail among dried leaves 

 and attracted the attention of the collector. Most specimens, when first dis- 

 covered, remained quiet or crawled away, but if they were once aroused or 

 restrained they struck savagely and repeatedly. 



As an example of how inoffensive a copperhead can be in the presence of 

 human beings, the following case may be cited. A party of collectors stopped 

 at a spring on a hillside in Hocking County, removed a wooden cover above 

 the water, extracted a cup and filled it several times until all in the party were 

 refreshed. During the act of replacing the cover a copperhead was discovered 

 lying quietly on a rock immediately adjacent to the spring. The collectors' 

 hands had several times been within striking distance of its head! 



The copperhead is not the deep -dyed villain of popular imagination 

 although there are numerous authentic cases in which unsuspecting persons 

 were bitten by specimens they failed to see in advance. It remains so much 

 in hiding that it seldom comes in contact with man and bites are infrequent. 

 While it is decidedly dangerous and fatalities have occurred, it is not as dead- 

 ly as some of the other venomous snakes, and the great majority of victims 

 recover. 



If one wears leather boots in areas where copperheads or other poisonous 

 snakes are common, or protects his feet and legs in some other fashion, the 

 chances of being bitten are slight. Care should be exercised where one places 

 his hands and feet while in the field. 



Copperheads were collected in Ohio from April to October inclusive but 

 the greatest number was found from May to September. No "dens," such 

 as those in which copperheads and other snakes are known to hibernate in 

 other states, were discovered in Ohio during the course of the present work. 



