A Corn Snake from Lakehurst, New Jersey^ 



William T. Davis 



In Science for March 15, 1912, the writer gave an account of 

 a corn snake, Coluber guttatus Linn., from Chatsworth, Burling- 

 ton County, N. J., from which state the species apparently had 

 not been previously reported. Cope, in The Crocodilians, Lizards 

 and Snakes of North America (1900), particularly states that the 

 corn snake had not been found in New Jersey. The Chatsworth 

 specimen was thirty-four inches in length and was collected in 

 July, 191 1. 



On June i, 1912, while at Lakehurst, in the pine barren region 

 of New Jersey, and a little over twenty-five miles northeast of 

 Chatsworth, I found a corn snake at about 5 p. m., opposite the 

 Pine Tree Inn, on the gravel sidewalk of Union Ave., the main 

 street of the village. Miss Margaret Shinn was wheeling a baby 

 carriage and nearly ran over the snake, which was lying at full 

 length on the walk and hardly moved until I came along and 

 picked it up. The snake had come from a vacant piece of land 

 of small area and was about to cross the road. It is three feet 

 and five inches in length, and is now in our museum. I have been 

 informed that two other corn snakes were found in the vicinity of 

 Chatsworth during the summer of 1912. 



From the foregoing it may be seen that the very beautiful and 

 harmless corn snake is a resident of the pine barrens of New 

 Jersey, although it cannot be very common, for so few are found. 

 As is well known, Lakehurst and vicinity have been much ex- 

 plored by many naturalists, and pine snakes, king snakes, and 

 other species have been found, but until the past summer no corn 

 snake. It is probable that Lakehurst is about the northern range 

 of the species in New Jersey. 



1 Presented at the meeting of the Association, October 19, 1912. 



