32 SERPENTS OF THE NORTHEASTERN STATES 



The blotches on some specimens are narrowly margined with a 

 paler hue. The ground-color varies from yellow to brown and olive. 

 Some specimens are so suffused with black that the bands are indicated 

 only by their pale margins. Specimens of a uniform, velvety black, are 

 not rare. Blackish and pale yellow specimens are usually associated in 

 the same den. The greater number of the black specimens are males, 

 although there are some melanistic females. We have never noted any 

 pale yellow male examples. These large yellow or tan specimens thus 

 appear to be invariably females. 



The average length of the adult timber rattlesnake in the north- 

 eastern States is slightly under four feet. As with a number of species 

 of serpents, however, a specimen may well exceed the usual run. The 

 largest specimen I ever examined was two inches over six feet in 

 length and nearly three inches in diameter. It was taken near Shef- 

 field, in the Berkshires. A specimen nearly as large (slightly under 

 six feet.) was taken near the top of the great rock slide near Hartsville, 

 Massachusetts, the same shattered ledge that is alleged to have in- 

 spired Oliver Wendell Holmes' description of "the mountain" in his 

 classic novel, "Elsie Venner." Large specimens have been recorded 

 from New Jersey and Pennsylvania. 



Distribution of the rattlesnake in the northeastern States is asso- 

 ciated with hills and mountains of moderate height, on which there are 

 broken ledges with large, loose fragments on the slopes and top. These 

 flat fragments may be a foot or more in thickness and from a yard 

 to six or eight feet in length, sloping back into a fissure the bottom of 

 which may be covered with soil or leaves, and which provides a posi- 

 tion of security during storms. It is the common habit of rattlesnakes 

 to coil under the edge of these rock masses, protected from the too-hot 

 summer sun, and ready to retreat quickly if disturbed. If the intruder 

 goes on his way, the snake may lie in its motionless coil without 

 sounding the rattle, thus seeking to escape notice. 



Near these natural homes are specific crevices or "dens," where 

 rattlers that have roamed over a considerable area during the summer 

 congregate each fall preparatory to deep penetration and hiberna- 

 tion beyond the frost line. During the late summer the females return 

 to such places and here the young are born, with a natural instinct to 

 return to this specific spot each year for winter shelter. From the 

 areas of the ledges, many rattlesnakes prowl through the forest areas 

 for food, and often into the farmlands. Variations in weather condi- 

 tions produce marked difference in numbers observed. During par- 

 ticularly dry summers they may come into the low grounds for water 

 in considerable numbers. Their natural prey, small rodents and birds, 

 sometimes shift their feeding grounds and this also affects the sum- 

 mer distribution of the rattlesnake. If a farm is infested with rats 

 and mice and a rattlesnake den is not far distant, it will not take the 

 reptiles long to discover the favorable feeding ground. They may also 



