RATTLESNAKES . 101 



pale and bleached one instantly associates them with naked 

 deserts shimmering in fierce sunshine. 



In their habits, so far as known, the various species are 

 very much alike. They bring forth their young alive, the 

 normal number being between nine and fourteen. As soon 

 as an infant Rattler bursts the thin transparent sac in which 

 it is born, it is ready to coil and strike. Even at birth it is 

 fully ec^uipped with poison and fangs. Wild or captive, the 

 favorite food of a full-grown Rattler is small mammals; but 

 what they feed upon in a wild state, when very young, remains 

 to be ascertained. From our six species of captives, we 

 have learned that Rattlers climb bushes with almost as much 

 ease as professional tree-climbers, but in a wild state it seems 

 fairly certain that they rarely do so. 



The tail of the Rattlesnake is ornamented at the end with 

 a rattle consisting of a number of joints of horny material 

 developed out of the skin, one section dovetailed into an- 

 other. The exact age of a Rattler is not indicated by the 

 number of joints in the rattle at the rate of one for each year. 

 On the contrary, under favorable circumstances about three 

 joints will be developed each year, until the snake reaches 

 maturity. We have now, in the Reptile House, Rattlesnakes 

 three years old which already have in their rattles from seven 

 to nine joints. 



The rattles are not shed when an old skin is cast off, nor 

 are they ever shed; but they are frequently broken off, 

 usually about three joints each year after more than nine 

 or ten joints have been acquired. It is very seldom that 

 more than ten joints are found on a living snake. 



