156 SNAKES. 



to the former account, he says: *As there noted, the 

 PituopJiis, when alarmed or enraged, slowly Inflates itself 

 with air, thus nearly doubling its normal size along its 

 entire length, except the tail. It then slowly expels the 

 air with its own peculiar sound.' He recalls his boyish 

 terror on once hearing this sound, which came upon him 

 suddenly in a field, 'like the restrained roaring of a bull.' 

 This was in New Jersey ; but the PituopJds family extends 

 to the Western States, and to the Rocky Mountains, where 

 'Bull snakes' are frequently seen. In the reports of the 

 United States Exploring Expeditions, mention has been 

 made of the prairie Bull snake, and of others in Nebraska 

 and as far west as California. 



Some attain to seven feet in length ; Holbrooke mentions 

 one of nine feet, and ' as thick as your arm,' in common 

 parlance. An angry snake of this size could, of course, 

 blow with considerable force, and the term ' bellowing ' might 

 not unreasonably be applied to the sound ; as it is also 

 applied to the croaking of the ' bull frog ' {Rajia vmgiens), 

 the sound of which is really so like the lowing of cattle, 

 that, on hearing one for the first time in the woods 

 of Virginia, I looked round, quite expecting to see a 

 young heifer in close proximity.^ Probably, had the 

 bovine lungs sounded at the same moment, the reptilian 

 ' bellow ' would have proved but a feeble imitation. A 

 sound out of place, so to speak, or unanticipated, strikes 

 upon the ear more forcibly than when expected. But if 

 one reptile, and that a very small one, can so well imitate 

 a bull as it is universally known the bull frog does, why 



' Life in the South, vol. i. p. 260. By Catherine C. liopley. Loncl. 1862. 



