NATURAL HISTORY. 



When a bird or a wild animal is killed, that's the end of it. If photographed, it may still live and its educational 



and scientific value is multiplied indefinitely. 



TIi*E RATTLESNAKE QUESTION. 



I have been much interested in the dis- 

 cussion as to how rattlesnakes produce 

 their young. The proprietor of a hotel at 

 this place some 40 years ago made a cage 

 with glass front and put in it 2 or 3 rattle- 

 snakes brought him by a native living in 

 the mountains near here. The cage was 

 placed in the barroom of the hotel and has 

 remained there ever since. It has sel- 

 dom been without an occupant. At one 

 time there were 24 rattlers in it. There is 

 only one now. They are not so numerous 

 in this section as formerly. 



Rattlesnakes live about one year to a 

 little over 2 years. One lived in the cage 

 2 years and 3 months. They do not eat 

 anything, but will drink water. During 

 the time mentioned 3 broods of young rat- 

 tlers were born, one brood of 8, one of 9 

 and one of 12. All of them were brought 

 forth alive. After the second brood was 

 born the fact was told to a newspaper re- 

 porter, who published an account of it in 

 the local papers, from which quite a dis- 

 cussion arose. Some writers claimed that 

 young rattlers were only produced from 

 the egg hatched externally, and others 

 that they were produced alive. Some 

 time later another rattlesnake showed 

 signs of bringing forth her young, and the 

 landlord notified the newspaper corre- 

 spondent; also a local physician. They 

 watched the operation, and a full account 

 was given in the local papers, together 

 with an affidavit of the physician, who 

 stated that the young were born alive, 

 each with an umbilical cord y 2 to Y\ of an 

 inch long, and each with one small rattle, 

 or button, as it is called. 



While the foregoing is positive evidence 

 that rattlers produce their young alive 

 when confined in a cage, it would not be 

 conclusive proof that they do so under all 

 circumstances. In the discussion men- 

 tioned there was more testimony in favor 

 of their being produced from the egg 

 hatched externally; hence the doctor's 

 affidavit, as he considered that his veracity 

 was questioned. 



Are not young rattlesnakes hatched both 

 ways, according to conditions, locality, 

 climate, etc.? Agassiz explained this in 

 his lectures on the egg, delivered many 

 years ago, in which he stated, as I remem- 

 ber it, that all life is produced from an 

 egg, some hatched internally, some exter- 

 nally, and some species both ways; some 

 species of venomous snakes in a Northern 



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climate bringing forth their young alive 

 and the same species in the South laying 

 their eggs in the sand to be hatched by the 

 heat of the sun. 



C. G. Bennett, Wurtsboro, N. Y. 



In reading February Recreation, 

 page 134, a writer asks "Do mother rattlers 

 hide their young?" I have hunted rattlers, 

 copperheads, adders, DeKay, green, 

 black racers, ribbon and garter snakes, 

 and water pilots; also pine snakes, in 

 Delaware. Have hunted these varieties 

 in New York, New Jersey, Connecticut 

 and Delaware, for 2 years, making a liv- 

 ing catching live ones. Have no use for 

 a dead snake, as there is little or no 

 market for them; but I often get as high 

 as $15 for a live snake. 



Rattlers are born with poisonous teeth 

 and are able to defend themselves as soon 

 as they can snap. Some people claim they 

 can tell a snake's age by its rattles. They 

 can not. I caught a large rattler in Sul- 

 livan county, New York, and he had 4 

 rattles,. I kept him in captivity 2^2 years. 

 When he died of cancer in the throat he 

 had the same four rattles. Why have 

 some snakes more rattles than others? 

 I can not explain. 



I have found many snakes' eggs and 

 have sold them as high as 50 cents apiece. 



Some of the most learned men on rep- 

 tiles can not answer the question why 

 some snakes are born alive and others 

 hatched in the sun out of an egg. 



Victor T. Knies, Eastport, N. Y. 



I have read with interest the articles 

 in Recreation about the rattlesnake. As 



1 am especially interested in this branch 

 of natural history, I feel it my duty to my 

 friend the rattler to speak a little in his 

 behalf, and try to correct the errors some 

 of our friends have made. 



Friend Fibler is correct. I never knew 

 of a rattlesnake that laid eggs. They are 

 all ovoviviparous. 



The next time J. V. S., of Omaha, finds 

 a snake that has swallowed her young for 

 protection, he would confer a great favor 

 on the National Museum by killing the 

 snake, tying up its throat, so the young 

 ones will not be unswallowed on the jour- 

 ney, and sending it as soon as possible 

 for examination. 



I do not doubt that Brother Dey kept 



2 rattlesnakes a year and during that time 

 the bottle was not uncorked. I have kept 

 them, too, for that period without food, 



