The Rattlesnake* 



imen are noted. This particular specimen showed average dimen- 

 sions among several dozen specimens from the Eastern States: 



Total Length 3 ft. 8 inches. 



Length of Tail (exclusive of rattle) 2f " 



Diameter of Body . if " 



Width of Head if " 



Length of Head if 



The rattle consisted of ten perfectly uniform segments. 



The writer's largest Pennsylvania specimen measured five 

 feet and one inch in length. The largest specimen he has ever 

 examined measured exactly six feet. It was two and a half 

 inches in diameter at the thickest part of the body, but the head 

 was proportionately very small, showing a total width of one 

 and seven-eighth inches. The rattle was made up of fourteen 

 perfectly uniform segments. This fine specimen was captured 

 in Missouri. 



Distribution. The range of the Banded Rattlesnake is ex- 

 tensive. It occurs from central Vermont to the northern portion 

 of the Florida peninsula, thence westward to Iowa, Kansas, the 

 Indian Territory and eastern Texas. In the mountainous dis- 

 tricts of this large area the species is common, although from 

 the larger, cultivated districts it has for some time disappeared. 

 Again in the swamps of the coastal region in the Atlantic States 

 and Gulf States, the lowland phase, or Cane-brake Rattlesnake 

 is abundant. The species abounds in the mountains of southern 

 New York, Massachusetts and eastern Pennsylvania, and actually 

 appears to be increasing in numbers, in these states, year after 

 year. 



Habits of the Banded Rattlesnake 



In the North this serpent shows a marked fondness for 

 mountain ledges, cleft with many fissures and on which lie large 

 shelving rocks. About such rugged situations large numbers of 

 rattlesnakes gather in the fall, preparatory for the hibernating 

 season. They appear to find the same places, year after year, 

 making their way from the adjoining timber and lesser ledges as 

 if led by some strange, instinctive power. On the main ledge, 

 they coil sociably in great clusters to enjoy the sun of " Indian 

 summer" but only for a limited number of days, when they 

 retire into the deep fissures for the winter's sleep. For several 



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