jn:i''iMij-:.s 



6-2' 



Poisonous snakes. l'\>rtuniiiL'ly nuiie of (uir vcihuiious 

 snakes tend It) infest houses, as does the ho(Mh'(l (-(dini (»f 

 India. Ill eoiisecnieiiee, snake bites are extremely rare with 

 ns, and i)ro])ahlv not nioro than two (h-aths occur annuallv 

 from this cause (I lorna(hiy). < M ihc 17 venomous species 

 lo are rattlesnakes, beloiit^iiiLr to the (genera Crotnhis and 



Fi<;. ItiO. Blowing viper, trying to make room fi»r one mor»* 

 Pliotograj)!! Ity tlw author 



Sisfno-Hs (tho massasaugas), so well known, so (dearly dis- 

 tinsruished hv the rattles, and so nearlv extind iVoni all 

 settled regions, that they recjuire no description, li i> proba- 

 bly safe to say that a rattlesnake strikes only in self-defense 

 and that it never oives chase. AVhen coiled it cannot strike 

 more than one thii'd of its length, and nnicli less if the neck 

 is drawn into an S-shape(l loop, and its ras[>ing buzz gives a 

 warning that is readily understood by both animals and man. 



Closely related to the rattlesnakes arc tin- two inoceasins — the 

 npland moccasin, or copperhead {Anrisfrotlon rntitortrir), an<l th«' nsjly 

 water moccasin (.1. /uscirorus), often eaUcd the cotlonmouth. The 

 coppcrliratl is fountl among rocks and in woods from Massaeliusctts 

 to Florida, ranging westward to Texas and nortiiward to Indiana. The 

 water moccasin inhabits the swamps and grassy slntres of the hayous 

 of the (lulf states, feeding largely on fisli an«l frogs, and on otiier snak«*s. 



