and even refuse to bite. In extreme southern Illi- 

 nois the mud snake, also called the stinging snake, 

 hoop snake, ot horn snake, is unnecessarily feared 

 because of the brier-like spur on the tip of its tail. 

 This snake presses its spur against the body of 

 the person who steps on it, but the spur contains 

 no poison and cannot puncture the skin. In a few 

 areas, green snakes and blue racers are incorrect- 

 ly said to be dangerous. 



vacant lots contain the type of trash that furnishes 

 adequate cover for "garden" snakes. Any objects 

 under which these snakes can crawl to hide, to 

 escape heat or chill, to find food, or to shed their 

 skins are likely to attract them. Third, most 

 "garden" snakes find in these lots an adequate 

 supply of earthworms, insects, and spiders on 

 which they may feed. 



How can snakes in such areas be eliminated? 



Fig. 10 - The eastern hognosed snake, Heterodon platythinos. The stocky body, wide head, and oc- 

 casional bright markings are responsible for confusing this species with the copperhead. 



Controlling the Number of Snakes 



Snake eradication is difficult, but there are 

 specific measures which can be taken to reduce 

 the number of reptiles in an area. These measures 

 are contingent upon some knowledge of snakes and 

 their habits. 



Most requests received by the Natural History 

 Survey for information about snakes are concerned 

 with exterminating these animals in gardens, shrub- 

 bery, or lawns in suburban and village areas in the 

 northern half of Illinois. The so-called "garden" 

 snakes are known to be harmless, but their pres- 

 ence is nevertheless objectionable to a large 

 number of persons. Among the Illinois reptiles 

 commonly known as "garden" snakes are the smooth 

 green snake, Dekay's snake, plains garter snake, 

 and eastern garter snake. 



There are several reasons why "garden" snakes 

 are abundant in suburban and village areas, par- 

 ticularly in vacant lots and along railroad rights 

 of way. First, these snakes are predominantly 

 prairie animals, showing preference for conditions 

 they find in least-disturbed prairie habitats. Va- 

 cant lots and railroad rights of way furnish larger 

 plots of relatively undisturbed prairie than do the 

 intensively cultivated fields on farms. Second, 

 these snakes require some form of cover. Many 



All snakes depend for their food on other living 

 animals, and they can go for weeks without eating 

 and suffer no discomfort. The use of poisoned 

 baits is therefore almost impossible as a means of 

 eradicating them. Cyanide gas will kill snakes, 

 but it is extremely dangerous to use and at best 

 it will kill only the occasional snake that happens 

 to be in the hole where the gas is applied. Many 

 so-called "snake" holes are really mammal or cray- 

 fish burrows. Repellents are ineffective against 

 snakes. 



Although in the West trapping has been suc- 

 cessfully employed in catching snakes near hiber- 

 nating dens, trapping of "garden" snakes is 

 impractical, as these animals do not congregate 

 in great numbers to hibernate. 



Snakes often fall into cisterns, basement 

 window boxes, and steep-sided ditches, where they 

 can be caught and destroyed, but especially built 

 excavations large enough to serve as traps require 

 a tremendous amount of spadework and they can be 

 expected to catch only an occasional snake. 



There is no efficient method of destroying a 

 colony of snakes overnight. If the presence of 

 snakes is intolerable, the size of the population 

 can be reduced by the following procedures. Kill 

 or remove each snake encountered; rake your lawn 

 and garden and the ground under shrubbery; cut and 



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