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THE GUIDE TO NATURE 



Vipers — Crotalinae. On each side of 

 the head, between the eye and the nos- 

 tril, is a deep pit — a distinguishing 

 characteristic. They also have but a 

 single row of plates for the greater 

 length of the tail, whereas our harmless 

 snakes have two rows on the under sur- 

 face of the tail. The harmless snakes 

 have the pupil of the eye round, 

 while the qopperhead ;and moccasin 

 have an elliptical pupil. The moccasin 

 is dull olive, with wide, black, trans- 

 verse bands. It abounds in the swamps 

 and sluggish waterways of the southern 

 states ; the mouth, when open, is gray 

 white, thus the popular name of cotton- 

 mouth. The copperhead is pale, hazel 

 brown. Crossing this ground color are 

 rich, reddish brown bands, narrow on 

 the back and wide on the sides, appear- 

 ing, from above, to have the outlines of 

 an hourglass. The top of the head may 

 show a coppery tinge, hence the name. 

 In the north, the colors are dulled, but 

 the markings remain the same. 



In the New England and Middle At- 

 lantic states there are but two species 

 of poisonous snakes, the timber rattle- 

 snake and the copperhead. 



A poisonous snake does not spring 

 from the ground ; it seldom strikes 

 more than a third of its length, and 

 never chases an enemy. The attitude 

 toward man is merely that of self-de- 

 fence. It need not coil before striking, 

 providing the neck can be doubled into 

 an S-shaped loop to lurch the head for- 

 ward. It is impossible to render a pois- 

 onous snake permanently harmless by 



extracting the fangs, as a number of 

 auxiliary fangs are ready within two 

 weeks to take the place of the function- 

 al pair. 



Snakes do not sting. The injury is a 

 bite, dealt by a pair of hollow teeth in 

 the upper jaw. These teeth have an 

 opening at their tip for the ejection of 

 the venom. Each fang works indepen- 

 dently and is connected with a poison 

 gland behind the eye. When the mouth 

 is closed they fold back against the up- 

 per jaw and are covered by a mem- 

 brane. The snake can strike without 

 ejecting its poison, the entire poison 

 apparatus being under perfect control 

 at all times. The darting, velvety, 

 forked tongue is in no way connected 

 with the poison apparatus ; it is used 

 only for the purpose of feeling. The 

 snake, to strike, goes through a num- 

 ber of operations ; the head is raised 

 slightly, lurched forward, and the 

 mouth opens ; the fangs strike, often 

 only one effectually, and are pushed 

 deeper. 



The venom of Ancistrodon afifects in 

 about ecjual proportions the blood and 

 the nerves ; the venom of Sistrurus and 

 of Crotalus is practically destructive of 

 the blood. Bites from these snakes are 

 dangerous but not fatal if prompt and 

 proper action is taken. 



Venom is a glutinous, yellowish sub- 

 stance resembling a thick solution of 

 gum Arabic. The peculiar odor comes 

 from the snake. In fresh venom are 

 floating granular particles that soon 

 settle. These particles are whitish and 



THE WATER MOCCASIN (ANCISTRODON PISCIVORUS). 

 Habitat: southeastern United States. 



