THE KING-SNAKE 



343 



HARMLESS SNAKES OF THE UNITED 

 STATES. 



Of the grand army of harmless snakes inhab- 

 iting North America, the King-Snake 1 is un- 

 questionably the king. It is also called the 

 Chain-Snake and Thunder-Snake. It is the 



most courageous of all snakes, and in proportion 

 to its size it is also the strongest. Toward man 

 it is by no means especially vicious ; but on the 

 contrary, its manner is quite tolerant. 



Toward all other serpents, however, it man- 

 ifests as great aversion as any snake-hating 

 woman, and it is pugnacious and aggressive 

 to an astonishing degree. The King-Snake is, 

 for its size, the most powerful of all the con- 

 strictors, and does not hesitate to attack a 

 snake of another species several times larger 

 than itself. It is cannibalistic in its tastes, and 

 not only attacks and kills other snakes, but de- 

 vours them. 



In our Reptile House, a snake of this species 

 once attacked a Cuban boa, fully three times its 

 own size, and tried to swallow it! Had not the 

 boa been rescued, it would undoubtedly have been 

 quickly suffocated by the coils which its antag- 

 onist had wrapped tightly around its body. On 

 another occasion a King-Snake that was placed 

 for a very short time in the cage of the water moc- 

 casins, attacked one of the latter, wrapped around 

 it, and killed it. Several times the moccasin bit 

 its assailant, but the King-Snake is immune to 

 the venom of serpents, and paid no attention to 

 the counter-attack. 



In some portions of the South, the King-Snake 

 is believed to be a special enemy of rattlesnakes 

 and moccasins, and on this account it is pre- 

 served from general slaughter. It is well at- 

 tested that it does sometimes kill and devour 

 snakes of both those species. 



This bold serpent is found from Maryland to 

 southern Florida, thence westward through the 

 Gulf states to the Indian Territory, Texas and 

 Matamoras, Mexico. Its average length is about 

 3J feet, and it rarely exceeds 4 feet. From 

 Maryland to Georgia it is a black snake with 

 thirty white bands or rings around it, and is 

 called the Chain-Snake. Farther south its body- 

 color is greenish, with white rings, and is called 

 the Thunder-Snake. Its favorite food is rats, 

 1 O-pki-bo'lus ge-tu'lus. 



mice, lizards, birds, and other snakes; but no 

 frogs are eaten. 



It reproduces by laying eggs. In Texas, New 

 Mexico and Sonora, Mexico, the Splendid King- 

 Snake is found. In Arizona, California and 

 Nevada occurs Bote's King-Snake, a conspicuous 

 black serpent, marked by thirty broad, cream- 

 colored bands. The latter sometimes predomi- 

 nate so effectively as to give the snake a general 

 cream-colored appearance, with black rings. An 

 entirely black variety, without rings, is found in 

 Indiana and Illinois. 



The Corn-Snake, 2 sometimes called the Red 

 Racer, is one of the handsomest serpents in 

 North America. Its general color-tone is mot- 

 tled yellowish-red, or reddish-yellow. In detail 

 its color-pattern consists of about forty squarish 

 blocks along the back, each of which is dull 



KING-SNAKE. 



brick-red, with a deep margin of black, outside 

 of which is a lighter ground-color. Its length 

 is a little over three feet, and its form is slender 

 and graceful. 



Like the king-snake, this serpent is a powerful 

 constrictor, a good climber, and seldom is seen 

 on the ground. In the fields and forests, it is 

 usually found in or upon low bushes. It fre- 

 quents the habitations of man, and the roofs of 

 old out-buildings are its favorite hunting-grounds 

 for rats and mice. It is fond of rats, and because 

 of this is considered a useful ally of the southern 

 farmer, by whom it is often called the Rat-Snake. 

 (Raymond L. Ditmars.) 



2 Co-lu'ter gut-ta'lus. 



