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THE AMERICAN MUSEUM JOURNAL 



which was lying in ;i coil and wide awake. 

 The snake made no attempt however, either 

 to strike or escape, but waited patiently to be 

 bagged. Had the same accident happened 

 with the little Connecticut rattler I am cer- 

 tain that there would have been at least a 

 couple of punctures in the yoimg man's 

 hand. 



In my opinion, a rattlesnake uses its 



Mr. Charles Siiydcr, liciid kcc|)cr :il I he park ol' Ihc 

 New York ZoiiloKioal S()(;i<!ly, showing liow Ik; handles a 

 poi.sunoiis snake for ob.servalion of its month and fangs. 

 The specimen is one of lifleen l)and(;(i limber raltlers 

 captured on a trip lo ScaKhlicokc^ Mountain, Connecti- 

 cut. The leelh of harmless snakes are solid; poison- 

 ous snakes liave two or more grooved or hollow fangs 

 in the njiper jaw, conntsctcd hy a dud with a poison 

 gland on I he side of I he heM.I 



rattles not onlj' as an expression of nervous- 

 ness and anger, but also as a lure to attract 

 the curiosity and attention of its prey and 

 bring this prey within reach of the strike — ■ 

 or perhaps so to bewilder the prey with fear 

 that it will be incapable of moving until the 

 strike can be made. Also it seems that the 

 rattling is a mode of communication that 

 snakes have with one another. I have been 

 on snake ledges at various times when every- 

 thing was still and riuiet, and while in the 

 act of bagging the one or two snakes which 

 were then in sight, have heard one, two or 

 three others answer the buzzing my captives 

 were making — the replies coming from widelj' 

 separated points. In one instance a reply 

 came from another ledge about eighty yards 

 from me. I have sometimes wrapped the 

 rattles of newly captured specimens in damp 

 cotton before 1 placed them in my bags so 

 tliat their buzzing would not confuse me in 

 locating a stranger's song. 



One fallacy which most people believe, is 

 that a rattlesnake or copperhead can always 

 be located by the odor. The fact is, one ma.y 

 handle fifty or more of either species — hold- 

 ing them within a foot of the nose — and not 

 ob.serve any particular odor. Then at some 

 other time, one or more of the lot may chance 

 to emit its pungent secretion. If it does, the 

 "])erfume" is really very iroticeable — some- 

 thing of a cross between banana oil and 

 cucumber, yet like neither. Under proper 

 atmospheric conditions the odor might be 

 noticed sixty yards away, although five or ten 

 yards would be the more likely distance. 

 Sometimes I have noticed the scent where I 

 was unable to find any .snake, in spite of 

 careful searching. Considerhig the nearest 

 retreat where a snake could have escaped my 

 observation, I have figured that the odor 

 must have b^en there ten minutes or longer 

 before my arrival. 



Usually a rattlesnake or copperhead, if 

 disturbed, will attempt to escape, but often 

 it will remain just where it may happen to be, 

 silently or otherwise, and refuse to budge. 

 I'Vequently I have almost stepped on one, 

 or have stepped over one before seeing it. It 

 is far safer to let a snake crawl over your 

 feet than to put your foot on it. When 

 it is crawling it is thinking more of getting 

 somewhere than of striking and if a per.son 

 remains quiet, there is scant likelihood of 

 its becoming troublesome, although it does 

 not have to coil to .strike. Mr. Bell and I 



