THE SIDEWINDER 

 (Cro talus cerastes) 



HE is the most vicious in appearance, most un- 

 usual in habit, and most feared by man of all 

 the reptiles of the desert. He is so tiny that he 

 seems made for a plaything, yet there is no man 

 who is not ready to reckon him a beast of pro- 

 portions when the measure of horribleness is 

 applied and not the rule of girth or length. His 

 hand is against every creature: he is no falsifier: 

 he carries no mark of innocent countenance to 

 bespeak friendliness where none exists. The 

 green glares of cruelty are in his eyes and the 

 hornlike scales above them give him the malig- 

 nant aspect that befits his splenetic and ugly 

 temper. His actions are quick, his aim is sure, 

 and demonlike he prowls about in the darkness 

 of night, by day lurking beneath bushes where 

 his enemies cannot see him, but where he can 

 strike the passer-by to advantage. This is the 

 sidewinder pygmy rattlesnake of the desert 

 sands. 



