SNAKE LORE FOR FOREST LOVERS 



451 



pine Poisonous Snakes, as the principal genus is the genus 

 Eliips. The common one (E. fulvus) ranges from North 

 Carolina to southern Mexico, and is a brilliantly colored 

 species. It is beautifully ringed with bands of black, 

 yellow and red, and the Sonora Coral Snake from Ari- 

 zona has the same general appearance, though the ar- 

 rangement or sequence of the bands or rings are different 

 (Fig. lo). These snakes are dangerous, and the bite of 

 one of them may prove fatal to the human species. This 

 result does not always follow, however; for the writer, 

 when an Associate in Zoology of the Smithsonian Institu- 

 tion, many years ago, examined the thumb of Mr. Horan, 

 the then superintendent of the Museum, shortly after he 

 received a severe bite from a large and healthy Coral 

 snake from Florida ; hardly any inconvenience followed as 

 a consequence. However, the thumb was sore for fully 

 a week after the bite was inflicted. 



Coral snakes live underground, and are often plowed 

 up in old fields in Florida. They live largely upon 



A MOST VICIOUS SERPENT THE PRAIRIE RATTLER 



Fig. 12. This cut was copied by the writer from the old Report 

 of the Mexican Boundary Survey. The snake represented is a 

 most dangerous and venomous reptile one of the worst of the 

 genus. It coils quickly, and strikes at an enemy with wonderful 

 energy. 



YOUNG OR BLOTCHED CHICKEN SNAKE 



Fig. 13. A specimen taken at Great Falls, Maryland, (1916), a 

 species said to heretofore only occur as far north as northern 

 Virginia. A non-venomous reptile, which will, when fuUgrown, 

 occasionally catch and devour a chicken. 



small lizards and snakes, are extremely vicious by nature, 

 and one had better be careful in handling specimens. A 

 few of our entirely harmless serpents so closely resemble 

 Flaps that they readily deceive those not familiar with the 

 color-pattern of both, and their behavior when handled. 

 Coral snakes are oviparous. 



There is no mistaking a viperine snake in this country, 

 should one be at all familiar with the salient characters 

 that any species of the entire group presents. They all 

 belong in the family Vipcridcc, which is again divided 

 into the Viperina, or the true vipers of the Old World, 

 and the Crotalince, or "Pit Vipers" of the Western Hem- 

 isphere. All of our big, thick-bodied, venomous snakes 

 are crotaline ones, or pit vipers. They are called pit 

 vipers for the reason that they have a curious, deep, little 

 pit in front of either eye. The pupil of the latter organ 

 is like a cat's that is to say, it is a vertical slit-like one, 

 and not round, as in harmless snakes. These crotaline 

 snakes also possess a flat, triangular head in the vast 

 majority of them, that is distinct from the rest of the 

 animal. With but few exceptions, the top of the head is 

 covered with small, granular scales, those on the side hav- 

 ing a definite arrangement for the species. 



These serpents, as represented in our fauna, have, as 

 a rule, long fangs in the upper jaw that fold backwards 

 against the roof of the mouth when the latter is shut ; 

 they are grooved, and on either side connected with a 

 special poison apparatus where the venom is secreted. 



The use of the pit in the Pit Vipers is not yet known, 

 although it has been very extensively examined by some 



