352 



ZOOLOGICAL SOCIETY BULLETIN. 



RAIDING A RATTLESNAKES' DEN. 



FIRST-KEEPER SNYDER of the Reptile 

 House and Mr. DeLos Hicok have just 

 returned from an expedition, involving 

 lively work and considerable danger, to the 

 boundary line between Massachusetts and New 

 York. The purpose of the trip was to secure 

 a cageful of specimens of the banded or tim- 

 ber rattlesnake, the only species of rattlesnake 

 found in this portion of the LJnited States. 

 The result of this expedition, despite unfavor- 

 able weather, is an exhibit of eighteen fine 

 rattlers, all captured within three days' time. 



In line with our aim to stock the Reptile 

 House with a liberal number of representatives 

 of the North American serpents, it was de- 

 termined that the local species of poisonous 

 snakes, the rattlesnake and the copperhead 

 snake, should be well represented. It was de- 

 cided to construct in one of our larger cages 

 a high section of rock-work with several 

 ledges, and in this cage to di.splay a number 

 of timber rattlesnakes. To make that kind of 

 an exhibit attractive a considerable number of 

 snakes was needed. Though we had made 

 repeated efforts to buy timber rattlesnakes, our 

 success had been unsatisfactory. Hence the 

 special expedition to the Taconic Mountains, 

 to a "den" from which we have obtained rattle- 

 snakes once before. 



Three years ago, Mr. DeLos Hicok, a civil 

 engineer who is much interested in serpents, 

 called at the Reptile House and informed the 

 writer that surveyors working along the 

 Massachusetts-New York boundary, where it 

 passes through the Taconic Mountains, had 

 been both hampered and alarmed by encoun- 

 tering numerous rattlesnakes. Acting upon 

 Mr. Hicok's suggestion for an experienced 

 man to accompany him in making an investi- 

 gation, the writer dispatched Keeper Snyder, 

 of the Reptile House staff. Investigation re- 

 vealed the fact that the state boundary runs 

 parallel with extensive rock-ledges and stone- 

 slides. Following up the ledges on the Mass- 

 achusetts side of the line, the investigators 

 came upon rock formation so seamed, fissured 

 and strewn with flat fragments as to offer 

 ideal wintering quarters for snakes. It being 

 spring, the "den" was well inhabited. Eleven 

 large snakes were captured alive. A con- 

 siderable number were seen to glide into shel- 

 tering crevices, while the search elicited a 

 sonorous and steady rattling from fissures of 

 indefinite depth. 



The specimens obtained by this first expedi- 

 tion were exhibited in the Reptile House, 



where they thrived for nearly two years, after 

 which a number of them died from a parasitic 

 infection. This year's expedition was more 

 carefully planned, as the route lay direct to 

 the "den," without the necessity of discover- 

 ing it. The start was to have been made 

 early in May, but the unseasonable and pro- 

 longed cold weather seemed likely to keep the 

 snakes below ground. It was not until May 

 iSth that Messrs. Snyder and Hicok started 

 for the "den." 



When they arrived they found one condi- 

 tion much against them. In spite of the cool 

 weather, the undergrowth had sprung luxuri- 

 ously into leaf, making the search for serpents 

 not only exceedingly difficult but dangerous. 

 In breaking through the tangled mass, Mr. 

 Snyder explains that he took desperate chances 

 of being bitten. Hidden snakes suddenly 

 buzzed almost from under his feet. When the 

 men reached the ledges, or open ground, they 

 found the snakes exhibiting a peculiar degree 

 of caution. They were either coiled close to 

 the edges of heavy undergrowth or at the 

 mouths of deep clefts in the rocks. And they 

 were quick to take advantage of cover, glid- 

 ing into thickets or among rocks as soon as 

 the human intruders came into view. The 

 trail of most of the specimens could be fol- 

 lowed by the whirr of their rattles. 



Mr. Snyder says that the fissures on the 

 ledges must extend inward for great distances, 

 as the rattle of an escaping snake could be 

 heard to grow gradually fainter until, barely 

 distinguishable, it continued its tireless mono- 

 tone, the owner evidently having drawn itself 

 into an angry coil in some distant subter- 

 raneous retreat. 



Several groups of snakes were found coiled 

 in the sunshine, displaying a really sociable 

 spirit. From each of these groups, however, 

 the catch was seldom more than two. After 

 a quick decision by the collector, and an assault 

 on the specimens chosen, the other snakes 

 lost no time in beating a retreat. From one 

 group of five individuals but a single example 

 was obtained, a fine sulphur-colored rattler 

 that fought viciously, grinding its fangs 

 against the stick used to hold its body to the 

 ground, and finally biting itself in an hys- 

 terical exhibition of rage. 



After two days spent on the ledge Messrs. 

 Snyder and Hicok succeeded in capturing 

 eighteen large rattlesnakes. Some of these 

 are marked by a rich, sulphur-yellow colora- 

 tion, while a few are jet black. The largest 

 specimen is five feet long and two inches in 

 diameter at the thickest part of the body. Its 

 rattle is made up of thirteen segments. 



