CLASS REPTILIA 



423 



Figure 296. Gila monster of the American southwest, the only poisonous lizard in the United 

 States. It is shown feeding on eggs, a common food. It is beautifully colored with black and 

 orange patches; it has poison glands in the lower jaw, and grooved teeth which carry venom 

 into an animal that is bitten. (Courtesy of N.Y. Zoological Society.) 



and the cobras. The sea snakes are true sea 

 serpents (Fig. 274). They inhabit the Indian 

 Ocean and the western tropical Pacific; and 

 one species occurs along the western coast of 

 tropical America. They reach a length of 

 from 3 to 8 feet or more, and all are venom- 

 ous. The tail and sometimes the body is 

 laterally compressed — an adaptation for 

 swimming. The venom of sea snakes is so 

 deadly that their prey, which consists of 

 fish, are quickly benumbed by it. Laboratory 

 tests have indicated that one species of sea 

 snakes has venom more potent than that of 

 cobras. 



The cobra-de-capello, Naja naja, of India, 

 China, and the Malay Archipelago is very 

 vicious; when disturbed it raises the anterior 

 part of the body from the ground, spreads 

 its hood with a hiss, and strikes. In India 

 the bare-legged natives are killed in large 

 numbers by cobras (Fig. 297) and other 

 snakes; for example, each year 7,000 to 

 12,000 are reported killed by snake bites, 

 most of them probably the bites of kraits, a 

 species related to the cobra. 



Only 19 species of dangerously poisonous 

 snakes occur in the United States: the 

 harlequin snake, the Arizona coral snake, 

 the copperhead, the water moccasin or cot- 



tonmouth, and 15 species of rattlesnakes.* 



If the pupil of the eye is round and the 

 snake is ringed with red, black, and yellow, 

 and if the red rings are bordered by yellow 

 rings, the species may be a venomous coral 

 snake. If the pupil is vertical and there is a 

 pit between the eye and nostril on each side 

 of the head, the snake is a poisonous rattle- 

 snake, moccasin, or copperhead. All other 

 snakes that live in the United States are 

 harmless. Very few people in this country 

 die as the result of a snake bite. According 

 to the World Health Organization study, 

 there are only about 300 to 400 deaths 

 per year in North America from snake bite. 



The harlequin or coral snake, Micrurus 

 fulvius (Fig. 298), of the southeastern 

 United States is dangerous, but man is 

 rarely bitten by it. 



The water moccasin (Fig. 299) occurs in 

 the swamps of the Atlantic Coast south of 

 North Carolina, and in the Mississippi Val- 

 ley from southern Illinois and Indiana south- 

 ward. The length of an average specimen is 

 4 feet. 



The copperhead snake (Fig. 300) occurs 

 from southern Massachusetts to northern 



* There are also 14 subspecies of rattlesnakes. 



