﻿DANGEROUS 
  REPTILES 
  — 
  COCHRAN 
  285 
  

  

  prairie 
  rattlesnake 
  and 
  the 
  water 
  moccasin 
  constitute 
  the 
  other 
  species 
  

   which 
  together 
  with 
  the 
  diamondbacks 
  are 
  responsible 
  for 
  about 
  95 
  

   percent 
  of 
  deaths 
  by 
  snake 
  bite 
  in 
  this 
  country. 
  

  

  The 
  pigmy 
  rattlesnakes. 
  

  

  "The 
  bites 
  of 
  pigmy 
  rattlers 
  and 
  massasaugas 
  (genus 
  Sistrurus) 
  are 
  

   practically 
  never 
  fatal 
  to 
  adults, 
  except 
  possibly 
  through 
  septic 
  com- 
  

   binations. 
  These 
  rattlers 
  are 
  our 
  least 
  poisonous 
  snakes, 
  for 
  of 
  20 
  

   cases 
  on 
  record, 
  none 
  ended 
  fatally." 
  6 
  They 
  frequently 
  feed 
  upon 
  

   frogs. 
  The 
  massasauga 
  is 
  about 
  31^ 
  feet 
  long. 
  It 
  frequents 
  swampy 
  

   places, 
  although 
  it 
  shuns 
  the 
  actually 
  wet 
  places. 
  It 
  js 
  brownish 
  or 
  

   grayish, 
  with 
  chestnut-brown 
  blotches 
  on 
  the 
  back 
  and 
  a 
  similar 
  row 
  

   on 
  each 
  side. 
  The 
  ground 
  rattler 
  (pi. 
  3, 
  fig. 
  1) 
  is 
  seldom 
  more 
  than 
  

   20 
  inches 
  long, 
  with 
  a 
  very 
  minute 
  rattle. 
  It 
  prefers 
  dry 
  areas 
  with 
  

   low 
  vegetation. 
  Its 
  venom 
  is 
  particularly 
  powerful, 
  but 
  the 
  small 
  

   amount 
  of 
  it 
  injected 
  at 
  a 
  bite 
  is 
  not 
  known 
  to 
  have 
  been 
  lethal 
  to 
  

   man. 
  

  

  The 
  water 
  moccasin. 
  

  

  While 
  the 
  rattling 
  of 
  the 
  rattlesnake 
  is 
  said 
  to 
  be 
  a 
  warning 
  device, 
  

   there 
  are 
  many 
  pit 
  vipers 
  which 
  have 
  no 
  rattle 
  and 
  hence 
  cannot 
  

   give 
  the 
  warning, 
  unless 
  the 
  vibrating 
  tail 
  should 
  strike 
  against 
  dry 
  

   leaves 
  or 
  rushes, 
  in 
  which 
  case 
  a 
  rattling 
  sound 
  is 
  produced. 
  By 
  far 
  

   the 
  most 
  dangerous 
  of 
  these 
  in 
  the 
  confines 
  of 
  the 
  United 
  States 
  is 
  

   the 
  water 
  moccasin 
  (Agkistrodon 
  piscivorus), 
  or 
  cottonmouth. 
  

   Adults 
  are 
  dull 
  olive 
  or 
  brownish 
  above 
  and 
  paler 
  on 
  the 
  sides, 
  on 
  

   which 
  are 
  indistinct 
  blackish 
  bands. 
  Young 
  specimens 
  are 
  brilliantly 
  

   colored, 
  usually 
  of 
  a 
  pale 
  reddish 
  brown 
  with 
  bands 
  of 
  dark 
  brown 
  

   narrowly 
  edged 
  with 
  white. 
  The 
  snake 
  is 
  one 
  of 
  the 
  largest 
  of 
  the 
  

   poisonous 
  ones 
  in 
  this 
  country, 
  attaining 
  a 
  length 
  of 
  6 
  feet, 
  and 
  it 
  is 
  

   also 
  one 
  of 
  the 
  most 
  pugnacious 
  in 
  its 
  wild, 
  state. 
  Over 
  most 
  of 
  its 
  

   distribution 
  it 
  lives 
  along 
  streams 
  and 
  lakes 
  or 
  in 
  swamps 
  and 
  is 
  

   particularly 
  abundant 
  along 
  abandoned 
  rice 
  ditches 
  of 
  the 
  south- 
  

   easterly 
  and 
  Gulf 
  States. 
  In 
  captivity 
  it 
  feeds 
  upon 
  small 
  rabbits, 
  

   rats, 
  birds, 
  fishes, 
  and 
  frogs. 
  

  

  The 
  copperhead. 
  

  

  Another 
  rattleless 
  pit 
  viper 
  is 
  the 
  copperhead 
  {Agkistrodon 
  mojce- 
  

   son, 
  pi. 
  1, 
  frontispiece, 
  and 
  pi. 
  3, 
  fig. 
  2) 
  . 
  It 
  can 
  be 
  recognized 
  by 
  its 
  

   reddish-brown 
  hour-glass-shaped 
  marks 
  crossing 
  the 
  back, 
  set 
  off 
  by 
  

   the 
  light 
  buff 
  or 
  reddish-tan 
  ground 
  color. 
  It 
  feeds 
  upon 
  small 
  ro- 
  

   dents, 
  birds, 
  and 
  frogs. 
  In 
  the 
  northern 
  States 
  it 
  frequents 
  rocky 
  

   places, 
  usually 
  in 
  the 
  vicinity 
  of 
  moderately 
  thick 
  timber, 
  marshy 
  

   glades 
  or 
  hollows. 
  In 
  the 
  South 
  it 
  is 
  found 
  on 
  higher 
  and 
  drier 
  ground 
  

  

  8 
  [Kellogg, 
  R.], 
  Poisonous 
  snakes 
  of 
  the 
  United 
  States. 
  Mimeographed 
  circular 
  Bi-571, 
  

   U. 
  S. 
  Dep. 
  Agr., 
  Bur. 
  Biol. 
  Surv., 
  February 
  1925. 
  

  

  