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might be imablo to continue to defend itself or capture its prey if it 

 should be so pi'odij;al as to waste its venom. Mankind and nearly 

 all forms of animal life know the sound as well as the odor of this 

 reptile, and have learned to avoid it. It mi<;ht be asked why the 

 Rattle Snake is blessed with a rattle as a means of protection, while 

 its cousin, the Copperhead, is doomed to go through the world 

 without sounding a similar alarm for driving away intruders, and 

 thus preserving its venom for future needs. This may be explained 

 by observing the difference in the habits of the two species. The 

 Rattle Snake lies quiet, coiled upon a stone, log, rock or hummock, 

 and is often inconspicuous and entirely unseen by the person or 

 creature which it drives away by its sound. It does not generally 

 attempt to flee or crawl from an intruder. The Copperhead remains 

 inactive or attempts to shrink away to a place of safety, until it 

 finds it is discovered, when it will put itself 'on the defensive. 

 Vigilance and its tendency to retire from danger take the place of 

 the warning rattles. It should be added that in taking their prey 

 the Rattle Snakes do not use their rattles nor fangs, and where the 

 prey is small enough to be captured and eaten without injecting 

 venom into it, they reserve their secretion. 



The Common Rattle Snake can be known by its yellowish brown 

 to dark colors of various shades, with three rows of irregular 

 brown spots running together more or less and forming zigzag 

 cross blotches; the tail is black, while the body may vary from 

 almost black to light yellow with spots or blotches. There is a 

 pale line from the mouth to the eye with a very dark patch below 

 it. The ventral plates are one hundred and sixty-five to one hun- 

 dred and seventy-five in number, and the total length rarely exceeds 

 sixty inches. The largest that we have received or collected is 

 fifty inches long. There is a popular belief in this State that the 

 yellow individuals are females and the black ones are males, but 

 our dissections of all the specimens that we could procure have 

 proven that this is not the truth, but rather that the color is light- 

 est immediately after moulting, and darkest just before moulting, 

 although it api)ears the yellow is the i)r('dominating color of the 

 females and the darker shade prevails among the males. 



There is also a popular belief that the age of the snake is to be 

 recognized by the number of rattles and the ''button," or small 

 rattle at the tip. Most persons think a rattle is formed each year 

 and consequently a serjx'nt with fourteen rattles and a button 

 should be fifteen years of age. However, this is not true, as wo 

 have seen them shed or lose two or three of their rattles at one 

 time in I heir cages in zoological gardens. Also, we have k-e])t 

 a careful account of the iiumbei' of rattles in regard to length or 



