RATTLES 
According to popular superstition a rattlesnake ecquires a new 
ring on the rattle each year, and hence the number of rings composing 
tie rabble as Supposed to amdaicave the age of the reptile. This novion 
is wholly ancorrect, for the rattlesnake adds from two to four rings 
each year, usually, “thhteee Under normel conditions one ring is added 
each time the snake Bias. its) skim. “UEhe youns revuller “is provaded with 
isingkewwucvon av Paltthiag and within avtew days, au sheds, its skin and 
commences feeding; in about two months it sheds its skin for the second 
ine And imen tne Licsu cane of the ravville 1s uncovered or added. This 
has been growing under the old skin, and its presence was apparent in 
the swollen appearance of the tail at the base of the original button. 
The last seven or eight vertebrae fuse together shortly after birth and 
form a composite bone known as the "shaker", end it is around this bone 
that each cap or ring of the rattle forms. a 
All our snakes shed their skin one or more times during the year. 
Mhe ‘shed skin wsually comes off entire, so that from head to vai 
forms but a single piece of very thin transparent material, and is 
generally turmed inside out. That part of the skin that covers the 
Gap on the ratvvlesnake's tail cannot be sned on account of its peculiar 
shape. At the time the skin is shed, however, it is HOR edes and dis— 
lodged from its place and moves backward to become an additional ring 
on the rattle. Thus the rattle of the rattlesna! a a series 
of shed caps or rings, held together mechanically and loosely because 
of their shape, The reéttle seldom numbersmore than ten rings because 
the vibration ab the tip 1s so great that the terminal rings are soon 
worn down or broken off. 
Ke 15 
- 
ievis believed by most selentists that nature equipped the rattile— 
snake with this rattle to warn enemies away from its death-dealing fangs, 
and aisime) Tongen vie opimion of maturalists that the rattle is used 
as a call during the breeding season, The ace tet side wretiilesnalce 
Cannot rattle when its ra attles are wet from swimming or Aas in wet 
grass) Or rainstorms is incorrect. 
YOUNG 
Barly in the fall the female rattlesnake brings forth 6 to 9 young 
about 5 inches long, the eggs having been retained in her body until 
hatched. The young display all the traits of the adults, and will try 
wo) Labvile end bie as SOom as they are born. 
The copperhead and the oeca moccasin give birth to young during 
July, the litters averaging from 7 to 9. 
Uniiike the pit vapers; the coral snake 1s oviparous, and deposits 
its eggs late in May or early in June in decaying bark or damp soil. 
As many as 7 eggs have been found together. 
EXPOSURE TO SUN 
The popular belief that rattlesnakes will die upon being exposed to 
strong sunlight for ten minutes has recently been confirmed by scientific 
18 
