is supposed to indicate the age of the reptile. This notion is wholly in- 

 correct, for the rattlesnake adds froiri tvv-o to four rings each year, usually, 

 three. Under normal conditions one ring is added each tine the snake sheds 

 its skin. The young rattler is provided with a single button at birth, 

 and within a few days it sheds its skin and commences feeding; in about 

 two months it sheds its skin for the second time and then the first ring 

 of the rattle is uncovered or added. This has been growing under the old 

 skin, and its presence was ap'oarent 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 knovm as the 

 "shaker" , and it is around this bone that each cap or ring of the rattle 

 forms. 



All our snakes shed their skin one or more times during the year. 

 The shed skin usually comes off entire, so that frora head to tail it forais 

 but a single piece of very thin transparent material, and is generally 

 turned inside out. That part of the skin that covers the cap on the rattle- 

 snake's tail cannot be shed on account of its peculiar shape. At the time 

 the skin is shed, hovrever, it is loosened "nd dislodged from its place and 

 moves backward to become an adcitional ring on the rattle. Thus the rattle 

 of the rattlesnak:e is sim.ply a series of shed caps or rings, held together 

 mechanically and loosely because of their shape. The rattle seldom numbers 

 more than ten rings because the vibration at the tir) is so great that the 

 terminal rings are soon worn down or broken off. 



It has often been asserted that nature equipped the rattlesnake with 

 this rattle to warn enemies away from its denth-deTling fangs, but it is 

 the opinion of maJiy naturalists that the rnttle is used as a call during 

 the breeding season. The idea that the rattlesnake cannot rattle v^hen its 

 rattles are wet from swimming or being in wet grass or rainstorms is in- 

 correct. 



Early in the fall the fem.ale rattlesnake brings forth 6 to 9 young 

 about 5 inches long, the eggs having been reta.ined in her bod^;" until 

 hatched. The young display all the traits of the adults, and will try to 

 rattle and bite as soon as they are born. 



The copperhead and the water moccasin giv^ birth to yo'-ing during 

 July, the litters averaging from 7 to 9. 



Unlike the pit vipers, the harlequin snake is oviparous, oJid 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 SUM 



The popular belief that rattlesnakes will die upon being exposed to 

 strong sunlight for ten minutes has recently been partially confirmed by 

 scientific experiment. The death of the snake is due not so much to the 

 effect of the sun's rays as to the combination of solar heat and radiation 

 from the rocks or sand on which the snake is lying, frequently raising the 

 air temperature to a very high point. Such excessive temperatures quickly 

 raise the temperatures of cold-blooded snakes even beyond the apparent 

 maximum of 46° C. which they can tolerate. 



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