March 10, 1894.] 



FOREST AND STREAM. 



2C1 



MEN AND SNAKES. 



Editor Forest and Stream: 



I have been much interested in the article on "Men 

 and Snakes" by "Coahoma" in your issue of Feb. 24, and 

 fully agree with Mm in his estimate of the brutality and 

 barbarism of such of the human race as kill on sight 

 every living creature that is large enough to attract their 

 attention and not so large as to make them afraid to at- 

 tack it. I often think when I read the account of some 

 very large bags of game made by certain ' 'sportsmen" 

 that the element of slaughter is entirely too prominent a 

 feature, and that the birds have been killed for the mere 

 pleasure of destruction. I recently read, or rather looked 

 over — for I could not bear to read much of it — Sir Samuel 

 Baker's "Rifle and Hound in Ceylon." I never met with 

 an account of more heartless and useless butchery. Ele- 

 phants and buffalo, elk and deer were ruthlessly slaugh- 

 tered; sometimes as many as a dozen in a single day, not 

 to supply the needs of the camp, but for the mere excite- 

 ment of killing, while the carcasses were left to rot upon 

 the ground. Buffalo cows with calves by their sides 

 were relentlessly shot down and left, in most cases to 

 pollute the air. I am glad to be able to add that this 

 happ ned when Sir Samuel was a comparatively young 

 man, and I hope that before his death, which occurred a 

 short time ago, he was able to see the folly of such wan- 

 ton destruction. 



There are, it seems to me, but three general excuses for 

 destroying the lives of the lower animals. First, for use 

 as food or clothing; second, because such lives may be 

 harmful to the best interests of man; and third, for pur- 

 poses of study. I am an ardent lover of hunting and 

 fishing, and fully understand the passion that these pur- 

 suits inspire in the breasts of their devotees, I do not be- 

 lieve that such sports can be justified if the game so taken 

 is not put to economic uses. In one sense at least I be- 

 lieve in pot-hunting. To me the pleasures of the field 

 consist in the charm of nature's works among which I 

 am led, the excitement of the search, the uncertainty of 

 the result, and the emulation of matching my skill 

 against the natural cunning of the game, but when the 

 first flush of final triumph has passed away I must often 

 confess to a feeling of sadness for the beautiful and happy 

 life thus brought to an untimely end. 



There is one point, however, in which I cannot so fully 

 agree with "Coahoma." He speaks of the blacksnake as 

 a. ' 'perfectly harmless creature. " In my experience there 

 is no more persistent and merciless robber of birds' nests 

 than this same blacksnake, at least in the northern part of 

 the country. I have had the satisfaction of ending the 

 career of several of these fellows, taken in the very act in 

 a tree a few yards from the ground, and have known of 

 many other cases. They eat either eggs or young birds, 

 as they may chance to find, and are skillful climbers of 

 trees in the search for their prey. It is true they do de- 

 stroy mice, but they also catch and devour toads and 

 frogs, and these are "perfectly harmless creatures," the 

 toad, at least, being moreover a very useful animal in 

 fields and gardens from the great number of insects which 

 it destroys. The blacksnake and various other of the 

 medium-sized and large species are persistent hunters of 

 toads and frogs, and probably destroy vast numbers of 

 them. Against the mice which the snakes catch and eat, 

 must be set the birds' eggs and young and also the toads 

 and frogs, and I very much fear that the balance of the 

 account will show on the wrong side for the snakes. 



The smaller species, like the grass snake, garter snake, 

 etc., do undoubtedly live to a great extent on insects, and 

 in tliis respect must be classed as useful creatures; but I 

 have found on several occasions a very small snake in sus- 

 picious proximity to the despoiled nest of a ground- 

 building bird, which nest, to my certain knowledge, had 

 contained eggs but a few hours before, and I have no 

 doubt that the sly little wriggler in question was the cul- 

 prit. If a choice is to be made between the snakes and 

 the birds, there can be but one voice in the matter. The 

 birds ha ve generally endeared themselves to all observing 

 people by their sprightly manners, graceful forms, beau- 

 tiful plumage and agreeable notes; while snakes, which 

 have none of these pleasing attributes, are generally held 

 in detestation and aversion even by those who can give no 

 good reason for the feeling. When, however, the food 

 habits of these creatures are examined, other and more 

 important points of difference are discovered. The inves- 

 tigations now being made in the food habits of birds lead 

 to the conclusion that they are a race that cannot well be 

 spared, and any element in nature which either destroys 

 them or hinders their increase has need to show some very 

 strong points of usefulness in other respects. 



While I am willing to accord to snakes the "right to 

 life, liberty and the pursuit of field mice," I must assert 

 that they do not confine their pursuit to the field mice 

 alone, but follow and destroy creatures that stand in the 

 other scale of the economic balance. On the whole I do 

 not believe that the snakes in this country occupy a posi- 

 tion of great importance from either an economic or 

 aesthetic point of view. They are not valued as an article 

 of food, like fish, they do not supply a cheerful and pleas 

 ing feature in the landscape like birds, and the results of 

 observations upon their food habits does not lead to the 

 supposition that they are of great use in this respect, so 

 that while all needless killing is to be deprecated, it would 

 not appear that the snakes stand in any such important 

 relations to other factors in the economy of nature that 

 their taking off would seriously disturb the balance. 



F. E. L. Beal. 



U. S. Departjiekt op Agriculture, Washington, D. C. 



Editor Forest and Stream: 



I have just read "Coahoma's" article wherein he reads 

 Mr. Horace Kephart a lecture for shooting a. blacksnake. 

 Instead of censuring Mr. Kephart I wish to tender him 

 my congratulations. I say kill every blacksnake in the 

 land if you can. If "Coahoma" had been troubled in his 

 mind as I have been troubled in my mind by the misdeeds 

 of this God-accursed reptile, he would lie awake nights de- 

 vising means to destroy it. 



If he had lived in the woods alone for nine years and 

 had entered into a compact of friendship with the birds, 

 had furnished them food and nest material and protec- 

 tion in return for their songs and confidence, had waged 

 a desperate conflict with the blacksnake to protect their 



eggs and young, he would understand my feelings toward 

 the blacksnake and other species nearly as destructive. 



I was never a snake killer until I began to study bird 

 life. At the present time I kill only such species as I 

 know live mostly on birds and their eggs. The blacksnake 

 (Coluber constrictor), the milksnake (Ophibolus eximius) 

 and the garter snake (Eutania sirtalis) are the three 

 species most to be dreaded. 



When these, snakes increase in number the song birds 

 decrease, and when it happens tha,t snakes "winter kill," 

 for a year or two thereafter birds increase rapidly. In 

 another article I will give my experience in relation to 

 the increase and decrease of birds on the Cape. I cannot 

 speak for other localities. " Hermit. 



Gloucester, Mass. 



Editor Forest and Stream: 



Allow me to thank you for the courteous recognition 

 of my "plea for snakes" in your editorial columns. If 

 you will permit me to play tho role of critic upon your 

 kindly criticism I think I can point out a fallacy in your 

 observations which appears to be the underlying ground 

 for much of the unreasoning persecution so generally 

 waged against the harmless varieties of the snake family. 



In the present enlightened state of intelligent minds I 

 hope the recognition of a simple fact, as disclosed by 

 learned searchers in the philological and historical aspects 

 of Bible writings, and read in the indisputable records of 

 nature by those qualified to interpret her writings, will 

 not incur the charge of introducing a question of religious 

 controversy into your columns. I assume that all intelli- 

 gent readers accept what has become a mere truism of 

 science and history, as recognized by all advanced 

 teachers, both secular and divine; that the earth is older 

 than any philosopher will undertake to compute; that the 

 age of the human race is far greater than is assigned to 

 it in Genesis; that the story of the Garden of Eden is a 

 pretty^ and ingenious traditional myth of the early 

 Israelites, held in common with the cosmogonies of other 

 early races of men, but committed to writing at a com- 

 paratively late period in Hebrew history. The role 

 assigned to the serpent in that drama has impressed 

 itself on the minds of men as being what the lawyers 

 would call an a priori investiture, whereas it is in 

 reality purely a fortiori. In plainer terms, the natural 

 fear and aversion to serpents which had grown up from 

 man's experience suggested the part assigned to the ser- 

 pent in the myth. Those people inhabited a country 

 where deadly serpents abounded and they readily attached 

 to them the idea of typical evil. But even in the present 

 day, in India a practical distinction is made between veno- 

 mous and non-venomous snakes, as a variety of the latter 

 known as house snakes is not only tolerated, but culti- 

 vated, for their usefulness in destroying vermin in the 

 dwellings. The Garden of Eden myth, so long regarded 

 as history, has implanted in the minds of men, especially 

 the more ignorant, a superstitious belief that a divine 

 injunction rests upon them to destroy every snake that 

 is unfortunate enough to come within their reach. This 

 is pretty hard lines for the innocent varieties of the 

 snake tribe, audit is to be hoped that advancing enlighten- 

 ment will liberate them from such a cruel piece of bar- 

 barism and also emancipate men from the stigma of a 

 gross superstition. Coahoma. 



Editor Forest and Stream: 



I was much interested while reading the article con- 

 tributed by "Coahoma" treating upon snakes, and can 

 truly say that his sentiments on that subject fully coincide 

 with mine. I have often wondered why so many persons 

 look with horror upon everything of the serpent kind 

 and always kill them if possible to do so. Whether it is 

 owing to the stories taken from heathenish mythology 

 and told to one from childhood up, or to the awful yarns 

 that one often hears about the terrible doings of some 

 members of the ophidian tribe, or to other causes, I am 

 unable to say, but it is certainly true that nine out of 

 every ten persons — many of whom ought to know better 

 — seem to have a fear more or less of snakes, even those 

 of the most harmless varieties, and always try to maim 

 or kill them. 



I would no more think of killing or even hurting a non- 

 venemous snake than of killing or wounding a toad, frog, 

 lizard or a warbling bird; in fact many and many a time 

 have I stopped to watch with the greatest interest the 

 lithe and graceful movements of a snake, especially if a 

 constrictor, and would consider the investigation of it as 

 interesting as of any other creacure belonging to the lower 

 orders of nature's animate children. 



One August day while riding I saw a green snake, and 

 having caught it took it to my home in Asbury Park. The 

 little fellow was about 2ft. in length and "as handsome 

 as a picture." The little snake drew a crowd, and I was 

 not only amused but surprised to note the ignorance 

 shown about the timid, inoffensive thing. Some of those 

 present were certain it had a stinger in its tail; others 

 that its red forked tongue was its stinger; and others 

 thought it must certainly have fangs; so all advised me to 

 kill it before I was bitten or stung; as they saw it crawling 

 up my sleeve they surely thought that some mishap 

 would befall me, but after toying with the creature for 

 awhile and explaining about it to them, scarcely one of 

 the onlookers but would dare to handle it, thus showing 

 what tffect a little information about such matters has 

 upon many persons. A. L. L. 



Editor Forest and Stream: 



Five or six years ago I was passing out of my yard, 

 carrying in one hand a setting pole, when I perceived at 

 the side of a plank walk an object, evidently animate 

 and of very peculiar appearance. It was nearly globular 

 in shape, had eyes bright and protruding, and certain 

 attachments, the nature of which I could not well make 

 out. Its appearance was strikingly peculiar, and it was 

 some little time before I found that it was one of my 

 toads, and that it was endeavoring to keep from being 

 pulled under the sidewalk. By means of the pole I suc- 

 ceeded in eliminating the puller, which proved to be a 

 garter snake of moderate dimensions. Him I killed, and 

 the pullee, evidently much relieved in mind, but with one 

 hind leg badly lacerated, managed to retire from the scene 

 of conflict to some place where it might nurse its wounds 

 in peace. 



This, I believe, was the last snake I have killed, and had 

 he been pursuing his legitimate avocation at a distance 

 from my garden, I should have wished to spare his life. 



I was reminded of this occurrence on reading the letter 



of "Coahoma" in a recent number of the Forest and 

 Stream, and the accompanying editorial. I liked "Coa- 

 homa's" letter, and coincide with him in the views therein 

 expressed. 



It is a good many years since I have killed a snake with- 

 out some sufficient reason. Considered simply as snakes, 

 I was never afraid of them. I should fear them merely 

 as I would a panther or a grizzly, when possessing the 

 apparent ability to do me harm. When a boy I felt some 

 pride in compassing the destruction of a very large snake, 

 as I would now in exhibiting a fine pair of^antlersjas a 

 trophy. 



Of the senseless, unreasoning dread aroused in some 

 mental organizations on the sight of a snake, I know 

 nothing. I am not fond of them, and do not like to 

 handle them. Neither would I from choice handle any 

 sort of worms or caterpillars, though I have had some ex- 

 perience in this regard. 



Some old stories go without saying until questioned. 

 The questioning sometimes serves to show the grain of 

 truth which underlies a mass of fable. 



For example, I believe in the power of the snake to 

 "charm," as it is called, birds and perhaps other creatures, 

 whose nervously susceptible organizations render them 

 peculiarly susceptible to this influence. Similarly I be- 

 lieve that the same power is possessed by the domestic 

 cat, for I have seen it exercised. 



I doubt the existence of any "natural enmity" between 

 the dog and cat, and this is also the opinion of a lady of 

 excellent sense and judgment, with whom for many 

 years I have been on terms of intimacy. 



This lady has a natural dislike, perhaps a horror, of 

 bugs, snakes, and creeping things of whatever descrip- 

 tion, yet she has never been known to conduct herself 

 otherwise than sensibly when in their immediate vicinity. 

 She tells me that her dread of a "tomato worm" is far 

 greater than that she has for snakes. 



Many children have been known to play with snakes. 

 Th,ey are a common object of worship among savage 

 tribes, either as representative of the good or of the evil 

 principle, and are highly honored among others. In some 

 parts of South America they are valued (so I have read) 

 as household inmates, for the protection they afford 

 against vermin. 



The unreasoning dread of and desire to kill all sorts of 

 snakes which exists, I think, mainly among those peoples 

 possessed of a written literature, is, I believe, largely a 

 taught quality, and if the old snake story referred to by 

 the editor had been placed among the uncanonicals, it 

 would have been better both for humanity and for the 

 snakes. 



I think with "Coahoma" that in these days— the last of 

 the nineteenth century — it is well for those who prefer 

 fact to fancy to consider seriously whether, after all, they 

 haven't been a little too rough on the snakes. 



I would like to meet "Coahoma." Kelpie. 



Central Lake, Mich., March 1. 



For Anatomical Material. 



Philadelphia, Feb. 21.— Editor Forest and Stream: 

 Being much interested in the anatomy of the mammalia 

 of America and having been invited to undertake the 

 management of the recently created Wistar Institute of 

 Anatomy and Biology at Philadelphia, I have determined 

 to appeal to all lovers of science, especially to those sports- 

 men having scientific tastes, to send to me for study and 

 preservation the bodies of any of our characteristic quad- 

 rupeds which may come under their notice. It is a mat- 

 ter of common observation that these animals are every 

 year becoming more rare, and many of them are threat- 

 ened with extinction. Does not a great responsibility rest 

 upon those whose professional training fits them for the 

 work of acquainting the scientific world with the structure 

 of these animals? No time must be lost in bringing 

 together in a building appropriate for the purpose carcasses 

 of the Rocky Mountain goat, Rocky Mountain sheep, the 

 pronghorn antelope, the different species of deer, the 

 mountain cat, the marsh hare and the water hare. The 

 bison, it is true, is now in a measure protected, and it is 

 not likely that it will now become extinct. Yet even here 

 it iB desirable that no opportunity be wasted of investi- 

 gating its anatomy. Other animals which are common to 

 both Europe and America do not properly belong to this 

 list. But the above remarks will apply to them as well as 

 to those peculiar to our fauna. 



If the proper spirit be entertained, I am positive that 

 no question of remoteness of hunting ground should serve 

 as an obstacle to success in making collections. Let me 

 suppose that it were known that a body of rhytina could 

 be procured from the Northwest coast, is it reasonable to 

 imagine that it could not be brought home in a condition 

 fit for dissection? If a government vessel can make a 

 voyage for the express purpose of procuring a few bones 

 ofjthe great auk, it is equally rational to organize an expe- 

 dition to bring in the preserved bodies of rare quadrupeds, 

 no matter how distant their haunts may be from the 

 centers of civilization. Zoological science is one of equal 

 dignity with geographical science, and the same pains 

 ought to be taken to procure valuable materials for 

 study in one instance as the other. But I acknowledge 

 that a request for the bodies of animals, let me say like 

 those of the sea otter and the musk ox, is a little off from 

 the main motive of this letter. At least, I hope to obtain 

 through the kind offices of your readers the bodies of 

 animals which are yet to be found within our own terri- 

 tories. Harrison Allen, Director. 



Grouse Chicks and Bantam Mothers. 



Toledo, O. , Feb. 22. — A correspondent of last week's 

 Forest and Stream (Mr. Redmond, of Rochester) queries 

 whether the ruffed grouse hen would take kindly to the 

 chicks hatched from game bantam eggs placed under 

 her. Judging from my own experience in a case of this 

 kind, she undoubtedly would. One of my grouse hens 

 some five or six years ago hatched and reai-ed to full 

 maturity four game bantam chicks, her own eggs not 

 having been fertilized. They remained with her until 

 the pugnacious little rascals (the cockerels) became so 

 abusive of their foster mother they had to be removed. 

 In the wild state the foster mother would in all proba- 

 bility exercise the greatest care over chicks hatched under 

 her, but she would be very likely to become disgusted 

 with their thick wits, and their inability to fly within a 

 week, and the chances are that they would all perish 

 before they had learned how to take care of themselves. 



Jay Beeb^, 



