Hunting "bell-tails" (<lianioii<l-l)ack rattlers) among the saw palmettos. Si. Johns River, Florida 



A few Observations on Snakes in the Field 



By ARTHUR L. GILLAM 



Willi illustrations from photographs of ihe living snakes in the field by Mr. K. L. Bell and Mr. A. L. Gillam 



SUPERSTITION, exaggeration and lack 

 of knowleelge usually run riot in the 

 telling of snake stories. One day this 

 past summer while I was in the reptile 

 house at the New York Zoological Park, a 

 man called two of his acquaintances over to 

 the small cage where a horned rattlesnake 

 {Crotalus cerastes) was confined and said to 

 them: "See that snake there? Well, it's 

 the most dangerous snake in the world. If it 

 sticks that horn into you, it means instan- 

 taneous death!" I hastened of course to 

 correct his statement, and explained that the 

 "horn" was harmless and that the snake's 

 venom was ejected through enlarged teeth 

 called "fangs." The gentleman was not 

 particularly grateful however for my inter- 

 ference. At another time, when one of my 

 friends and I were snake-hunting in Con- 

 necticut, we st()])ped for a few moments at a 



farmhouse along the road to inquire of the 

 farmer living there as to the whereabouts of 

 a den of the "chunkhead" — that being the 

 local name of the copperhead snake (Ancistro- 

 don contortrix). After having directed us, he 

 told us with seriousness of various harrowing 

 experiences he claimed to have had with 

 "chunkheads" and how they had "jumped" 

 at him a distance of fifty feet right through 

 the air. He was unacquainted with the fact 

 that it is practically a physical impossibility 

 for any snake to "jump" or strike much 

 farther than a distance equaling about two- 

 thirds of its own length. 



Although it was somewhat accidental that 

 I first took an active interest in snake-hunt- 

 ing, I soon found it such a fascinating out- 

 door sport that I became absorbed in it. It 

 combines excitement and healthful, red- 

 blooded exercise with an ever-changuig 



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