The Rattlesnakes 



infancy. The ledges, on which the snakes basi< and breed, are 

 no longer molested and the survivors of the race rapidly multiply. 

 The writer was escorted over a superb stretch of mountain and 

 forest in New York State that well illustrated such conditions. 

 Fifty snakes were taken in ten days time from a ledge on this 

 estate. The gentleman who made the capture took all of the 

 snakes alive and explained that he could have caught as many 

 more. 



Distrihulion oj the Rattlesnakes. — Northern Mexico and the 

 extreme southwestern portion of the United States appear to be 

 the headquarters of the Rattlesnakes; ten of the total number 

 of thirteen species occurring in tiie United States are to be found 

 in that region. These are the Western JVlassasauga, Sistrurus 

 caienatus edwardsii; the Black-tailed Rattlesnake, Crotalus 

 molossus; the Western Diamond Rattlesnake, C. atrox; the 

 Prairie Rattlesnake, C. confluentus; the Pacific Rattlesnake, 

 C. oregoniis; the Tiger Rattlesnake, C. tigris; the Horned Rattle- 

 snake, C. cerastes; the Green Rattlesnake, C. lepidus, the White 

 Rattlesnake, C. mitchellii and I^rice's Rattlesnake, C. pricei. 

 Of these species, the Black-tailed Rattlesnake, the Tiger Rattle- 

 snake, the Horned Rattlesnake, the Green Rattlesnake and the 

 White Rattlesnake (and several varieties of these) are confined 

 to that region or immediately adjacent areas. The Pacific 

 Rattlesnake inhabits the western portion of the Great Basin and 

 the Pacific region — thence extends northward into British Colum- 

 bia, as does the Prairie Rattlesnake which occurs over a great 

 portion of the central United States. The only other species 

 of Rattlesnake that extends northward into British America 

 is the Northern phase of the Massasauga, Sistrurus catenatus, 

 (typical), which also occurs in the Central States. 



In the eastern portions of the United States, the Timber or 

 Banded Rattlesnake, Crotalus horridus, occurs from Vermont to 

 northern Florida, thence westward into the Great Plains. The 

 Diamond-back Rattlesnake, C. adamanteus, inhabits a compara- 

 tively small area in the East, occurring from North Carolina to 

 Florida (inclusive of the latter state), thence westward to 

 the Mississippi. It frequents the low, swampy country of the 

 coast and is the largest species of the genus. 



From this outline it will be readily understood that Rattle- 

 snakes inhabit the United States generally, but with exception 



428 



