The Rattlesnakes 



more powerful poison which makes up for the deficiency in size 

 of the venom conducting tectii and possibly a smaller amount 

 of poison discharged from them. 



The late Dr. C. Slover Allen, whose fondness for snakes, 

 particularly the rattlesnakes, resulted in the maintenance of 

 quite a collection of these creatures, once described to the writer 

 his experience after a bite from a Pigmy Rattlesnake. Dr. 

 Allen said: 



" 1 was placing the snake in a bag, holding the reptile by 

 the neck, when my forefinger slipped and the little creature took 

 instant advantage by turning and burying both fangs in my 

 thumb. I was so used to handling the big 'Diamond-backs' that 

 the bite did not greatly alarm me. Taking an elastic band, 1 

 at once applied this as a ligature at the base of the thumb and then 

 opened both fang punctures with a razor, to a greater depth than 

 the teeth had actually gone. I alternately sucked and washed 

 out the wound, applied a solution of permanganate of potash 

 and finally applied a wet, antiseptic bandage. Then 1 removed 

 the ligature. The thumb throbbed painfully as did the wrist 

 and a portion of my hand was badly swollen, but a day or two 

 afterwards these local symptoms passed away. I attributed my 

 escape from more serious consequences to the almost immediate 

 scarification, application of the ligature and washing of the 

 wounds." 



So small is the rattle of this species, that its whirring can be 

 distinguished but the distance of a few feet — about eight feet at 

 most with a full-grown specimen, and barely a yard away from 

 a half-grown snake. When annoyed this little snake will throw 

 its body into a fighting coil and sound its tiny rattle, giving 

 vent to its anger by a series of vicious jabs in the direction of the 

 disturbance. The writer found this species to be moderately 

 common in very dry and sandy areas in South Carolina. These 

 situations were called the "sand hills" by the natives. While 

 collecting there the heat was found to be almost unendurable 

 during the middle of a June day. T^e vegetation consisted prin- 

 cipally of scrub oak, varying from a yard to six feet in height. 

 Burrows of the gopher tortoise were numerous and in these 

 some of the snakes took refuge. 



Unlike the majority of the rattlesnakes, which feed only 

 upon warm-blooded animals, this species is fond of frogs. 



4.35 



