246 



FOREST AND STREAM. 



[MarCh 34, 1894. 



TREE-CLIMBING SNAKES. 



A Call for the Previous Question. 



Editor Forest and Stream: 



Even after my last statement, the vials of wrath con- 

 tinue flowing until one would suppose, by implication, 

 that I had been running around through the woods kill- 

 ing everything I saw, out of sheer wantonness. Very 

 well, gentlemen, have it so. If it will do the woods-folk 

 any good, or inculcate a truer sportsmanship, to make me 

 ipose as an awful example of what I never was, and 

 •always did detest, why just crack away. 



i killed a snake; not because he was a snake, nor be- 

 cause I was afraid of him, nor because he might be after 

 birds, nor in the interest of science, nor to try my pistol, 

 nor yet out of mere deviltry. I killed him because he 

 had invaded the precincts sacred to women and children, 

 and had frightened a peaceable housewife so that she 

 seized her basket and ran to the station Crying: "To 

 think that I was passing back and forth under that horrid 

 thing all day ! I will never come near the woods again in 

 all my life. 



The woman was from a great city,, where the air is 

 poisoned with sulphur and befouled with soot. Her holi- 

 days, I judged, were few. She had an instinctive and 

 unconquerable repugnance to the reptile, and a fear of it 

 which was not altogether fanciful. One glance at the 

 powerful muscles of a 5ft. blacksnake, one thought of 

 toddling children who knew no better than to play with 

 it — that was enough for her. 



Now which had a better right on the premises, the 

 woman or the snake? 



You say that it was all ignorant prejudice on her part. 



Very well; but was she to blame for it? Read your 

 Bible. 



But that Garden of Eden story is all a myth? 



Certainly; and shows how the instinctive loathing of 

 serpent forms has always been part and parcel of our 

 human nature, not a proof of malignity or idiocy in some 

 one individual. 



Why didn't I teach her better? Well, 1 have been 

 several kinds of a fool in my day, but I haven't sent 

 missionaries to uninhabited islands, and am not thinking 

 of doing so at present. You can teach men to respect 

 snakes— that is to stay, some men, a very select few. But 

 woman? Well, there is Miss Hoply ; I mention her in pro- 

 found respect; she is one in just about five hundred 

 million woman, so far as the snake question is concerned; 

 and I don't feel called upon to preach at the test of them 

 for the sake of a thing that I have no special fondness for 

 myself. I would rather speed my energies on something 

 that gives some promise of tangible result. 



If that misguided snake had been sunning himself on 

 the bluff that backs the picnic groundsy a mere matter of 

 50yds. away, or anywhere else in the woods where I had 

 been giving the household-defender its annual targeting, 

 he would be alive to-day for all of me. But he came 

 where he was not wanted, frightened a good old lady 

 half out of her shoes, and I killed him* Consequently I 

 am a brute and a barbarian. All right} I will not quarrel 

 over a definition. 



And now let us see if we can't get back to the point 

 from which this discussion started. My only object in 

 writing was to report a fact about blacksnakes, which I 

 had not seen previously mentioned, namely, that they 

 sometimes descend a nearly vertical and comparatively 

 smooth surface in a straight line. I made no comment 

 on their ability to climb trees, taking it for granted that 

 everybody knew as much. Perhaps everybody knows, 

 too, that they can execute the seemingly contradictory 

 feat that I witne-sed at Creve-Coeur; but if so, then 

 everybody has a provoking way of keeping such knowl- 

 edge quiet. 



Before writing my letter of June I had examined 

 such works on herpefcology and animal locomotion as our 

 library affords, but found no mention of snakes ascending 

 or descending trees in a straight line, 1 ordered Miss 

 Hopley's treatise, but it has not yet arrived from London. 

 Most authorities are content to simply say that the Colu- 

 bridce are nimble climbers. DeKay Says of the black- 

 snake: "It climbs trees with great ease, by coiling itself 

 found the trunk in a spiral manner, in search of eggs and 

 young birds" (Nat. Hist, of N. Y, Zool. iii., 86). This 

 statement about coding round the trunk is repeated by 

 others, but my research ended in finding nothing about 

 vertical ascent or descent, and so I wrote to Forest and 

 feTREAM for information. 



Meanwhile I have been hunting diligently through our 

 sets of periodicals for some light on the subject, and at 

 last have found an article bearing directly upon the 

 matter, and from which I take the liberty of quoting 



In Science for Dec. 16, 1892 (vol. xx., pp. 338-9), there is 

 a most interesting report by Waldo Dennis of "Watching 

 abnake for an Hour," in which he says: "One bright 

 morning in July I was walking in the woods when asnf ko 

 crossed my path only a few feet in front of me. It was 

 about two feet long and its dark blotches made it resemble 

 a water snake. It had not been disturbed by mv pres- 

 ence, as it moved very slowly, and this slow movement 

 led me to watch it. 



"It scarcely crossed the path before it began to ascend 

 a medium-sized dogwood tree (Comics florida). This to 

 me was a coveted opportunity. The story of an eye wit- 

 ness as to how a blacksnake had climbed the naked corner 

 of a house to a height of ten feet had left me curious to 

 see something of the kind myself. 



■ "u he - d °¥ wood tree > near the ground, was about seven 

 mcnes m diameter, and was a rather smooth-barked one 

 Ihe tree leaned but slightly for about ten feet of its height" 

 but then it curved sharply to a horizontal, making the 

 highest part of the body about fifteen feet from the ground 

 the snake started up on the under side of the slant and 

 apparently found no more trouble going up the tree than 

 it nad in going over the ground. It made no effort to 

 wind itself around the tree nor to hug the tree by winding 

 back and forth, as the blacksnake had been reported to 

 do on the corner of the house. It went straight up with- 

 out crook or turn." * * * F 



The entire article is very instructive reading, but I can 

 only quote a little here and there. 



birds were only four or five days old. Later in the day I 

 heard the two old thrushes making a tremendous fuss 

 and on walking carefully toward them I found a kW 

 blacksnake m the act of swallowing the last of that little 

 ? ^ J h f V0 no doubt that he was fche r ascal who de- 

 "When suchapro^beran^aknot came in its way, wratih I toed^to^n? htV^r^J 0 ^' ^ ^ d , in my 

 £5S3L to °?E ve ^ ttle for ite advantage, and left I hi salvatSn ^ bUt & fn6ndl * hole was 



to one szde. After getting up four or five feet it stopped; I A few day's later I was attracted by a large gathering of 



being anxious that it should go on up, and fearing it 

 would come down, I touched it with a stick, whereupon it 

 moved faster, gliding quickly out of my reach, showing 

 thus that it had been going so slowly from choice and not 

 from any difficulty in going faster. * * * It occurred 

 to me to wonder how it would manage its descent, so 

 I left off experimenting in this line and retired to 

 watch. * * * 



"After a sun bath of nearly half an hour, the snake be- 

 gan slowly to descend. His course was as straight coming 

 down as it had been going up; but, now being on the top 

 of the trunk, he naturally kept to the outside of the bend. 

 His progress was interrupted with frequent pauses, and at 

 times it was so slow that I could scarcely detect any move- 

 ment." 



This tallies closely with the conduct of my blacksnake, 

 which, after it was shot, descended in a perfectly straight 

 line, very slowly, as though the tree trunk were smeared 

 with molasses and the stiffened snake was passive, letting 

 gravity pull him down, while the sticky fluid sufficed to let 

 him down easily. The following paragraph from Mr. 

 Dennis's article is worthy of notice in this connection, but 

 I draw no inferences at present: 



"Not finding his game in this instance, however, his 

 highness stiffened himself and withdrew. But, as if loath 

 to give up the treat he had promised himself; he lingered 

 quite a while, at the spot and busied himself in away 

 which probably accounted for his moving so slowly be- 

 fore, but which from my distance had been unnoticed. 

 He seemed to be using his tongue as a tactile organ on the 

 bark, playing it back and forth from his mouth like a 

 little brush, running it way out, or dropping it down 

 close to his chin, according to the nearness of the piece 

 of bark under inspection. It finally turned up the tree 

 again, carefully sampling the bark as it went. It seemed 

 in quest of something, but what could it find with its 

 tongue? when so evidently* to the eye, there was nothing 

 for a snake to eat. After going for a little ways, he again 

 turned down. But all the way, from here down, it kept 

 Up that use of its tongue on the bark." 



I observed a similar action of the tongue on the part of 

 my snake, but supposed that it was because he was 

 wounded, and so made no comment. 



I am very much obliged to Capt. Gallup for his interest- 

 ing answer to my query, and would like to hear more 

 about those needle-like spines or "claws." How long are 

 they? Are they stiff like a needle, or flexible like a hair? 

 Are you sure, Captain, that they do not slough off after 

 the snake has cast its skin? 



After reading "Coahoma's" Valiant defense of snakes in 

 general, I felt more kindly toward a class which I had 

 always been told were the foes of birds, and toward 

 which I had cherished some resentment accordingly. 

 But Mr. Beal, "Hermit," and Capt. Gallup give us pretty 

 strong evidence that the blacksnake is a bandit who 

 deserVes no quarter. I love birds; I wish justice to snakes; 

 but between birds and snakes, if a choice must be made, 

 there is no question whatever from my point of view. 



In conclusion, Mr. Editor, let me reiterate once for all 

 that I wish harm to no creature. I may be mistaken in 

 estimating the relative value of species, but the humblest 

 reptile is an object of curious interest to me, even if I 

 cannot love it, and I kill nothing without what seems good 

 reason. At the same time I have no use for a hysterical 

 sentimentalism, which, carried to its logical conclusion, 

 would destroy gun and rod, and make vegetarians of us alb 



Horace Kephart. 



St. Louis, March 10. 



Editor Forest and Stream: 



I have taken much pleasure in reading the snake 

 articles that have appeared in ForesT and Stream lately, 

 and before the controversy ends Would like to add my 

 mite, 



t have always believed the blacksnake to h& one of the 

 greatest foes that the nesting birdfe in this part of the 

 country have to cohtepd with; hot ftom what I have 

 read-, but frdm what I have seen with my own eyes. 

 "Kelpie" says he, believes Shake's Have the power to 

 charm birds arid other §rhall animals, but I doubt it, for 

 I haVe lived for twenty-five years where snakes are com- 

 mon, and although I have always been on the lookout 

 for such an occurrence, it has never been my good for- 

 tune to verify this geUeral belief, 



Four years ago I caihe upon t^M catbirds that were 

 much excited about Something, and on examination I 

 found a blacksnake coiled aroUnd a limb of a small tree, 

 not far from the neat of the bitd&i The two Catbirds 

 would flutter almost into \he face of the snake, and then 

 with a quick dart strike his body with a vicious peck. 

 The snake was immovable most of the time, but once in a 

 while struck at the birds, who were always too quick for 

 him. In fifteen minutes the birds were exhausted and 

 rested on a branch three feet or so away, Finally the 

 snake decided he had other business to attend to, and 

 started to glide down his branch, but iii ah instant the 

 two plucky birds were at him again. The snake was 

 evidently afraid to retreat while the battle was on, for he 

 at once became quiet and stood fifteen minutes' more 

 buffeting, when suddenly he wildly untwisted himself 

 and dropped to the ground. Before he had crawled ten 

 feet I killed him with a stick, and found that his body 

 was literally covered with tiny marks made by the beaks 

 of the birds. If I had followed the impulse to dispatch 

 nim at once I would probably have been a believer in 

 snake charming, for those birds were fluttering right 

 into his face just as I have always read they did It is 

 possible this particular snake was cross-eyed, or had some 

 other ocular defect which interfered with his charming 

 powers, but at any rate he was the worst licked snake I 

 ever saw. And the catbirds, oh! didn't they have a re- 



iSSS&^^S?. 1161 * 0 * young birds that thej had 80 



Last summer I found two song sparrows and one Wil- 

 son thrush nest in a hedge. I saw these nests when thev 

 were under construction, when they contained eggs and 

 after the eggs were hatched. One day the nests of the 

 song sparrows were empty, which I wondered at, for the 



birds around a bush that I knew contained a nest of 

 young catbirds. On looking I found this nest was not 

 empty, for a blacksnake had coiled as much of his ugly 

 body in it as possible, and was evidently wondering what 

 the poor parent birds were making such a fuss about. 



I have witnessed many other sights of the kind, and a 

 blacksnake was always the thief, so can you wonder that 

 I consider him my enemy and try to kill him? Mr. F. E. 

 L. Beale spoke words of wisdom when he said he did not 

 believe the snakes in this country occupy a position of 

 great importance from either an economic or aesthetic 

 point of view. I for one am open to conviction, and if 

 Forest and Stream can convince me that the blacksnake 

 has other good qualities that overbalance his bird-killing 

 proclivities, he shall always be spared by me. 



The bird arrivals in this neighborhood so far this season 

 are: March 3, bluebirds; March 6, robins and starlings 

 (male only); March 13, pewees. Percivae Chrystie. 



High Bridge, N. J., March 16. 



An Albino Weasel. 



Toledo, O., March 12.— Editor Forest and Stream: My 

 hired man killed a weasel the other day which was en- 

 tirely white, Vtdth the exception of about one-half inch at 

 the end of the tail, which was black. It is the first 

 weasel of the kind I ever saw and would ask if white 

 weasels are common. This weasel was domiciled under 

 a rotten log, and his larder contained partially devoured 

 portions of two quail, two chipmunks and some small an- 

 imal with a gray skin, probably a field rat. Autokee. 



An Albino Hawk. 



AnnIston, Ala.--I see in your columns occasionally a 

 reference to albinos. We have in Anniston a hawk which, 

 while not an albino altogether, is white. It is of perfect 

 shape but its eyes are black. It has very few feathers but 

 what aire pUre white — some three or four in its wings and 

 tail. It was caught near this place in a trap. P. F. A. 



m^t §&g mti 



IN DIXIE LAND.— 111. 



[From a Staff Correspondent.] 

 the Plot "thickens. 



W !!p.:; 1 first determined upon my trip into Dixie Laud, 

 iere were a number of my friends who expressed the 



As usual, this? 



there were a number of hay 

 wish and determination to go with me. 



number grew less as the time for debar tute grew hear] 

 and when it came to actually getting on the train, 1 round 

 that I was qtiite alone, with a journey of a few thousand 

 miles, more or less, to be taken in that condition. It had 

 happened, however, that my friend, Dick Merrill, of Mil- 

 waukee, had talked over the prospects of the trip with m^ 

 while he was over in Chicago taking in a f etv more prizes 

 in the dog show with his wen-khown setter Paul Bo. t 

 persuaded Dick that Paul's health would be benefited by 

 a winter journey South* and we both concluded offensive 

 and defensive alliance for the purpose of havingmofe fun 

 in one month than anybody ever did have before. At the 

 last moment Dick wired that he was detained by business, 

 but that he would meet me in Little Rock on such and 

 such a morning. "That/s the last I'll ever see of him," 1 

 thought; and when a telegram Came Oh that morning 

 instead of the sehder of it, I was the more ready to bad 

 that belief; though all the telfegram said was that be would 

 be at Little tiock two days later. At any irate, I was per- 

 fectly comfortable and happy at Little Rock, the more ad 

 as Mr. Irwin and myself had good promise of getting Mr& 

 Irwin to relent abbiit that Welsh rarebit, and as 1 felt that 

 I should hot easily find a part of the country where 1 

 would have better opportunity to get into subjection an 

 appetite which was really becoming alarming. Theref or«,- 

 reasoned I, why not let the world wag a couple of days, 

 and wait for Dick, whether he is going to come or not? 



So we let the world go right on, and on the morning 

 when Dick was billed to appear as per his last schedule, I 

 sauntered down to the depot with the calmness that can 

 only ceme to the philosophical man who is sure of three 

 mesl? a day, atid rhay be more'. 



Much to my surprise and delight; Dick did really com§ 

 this time. I saw him down the platform,, his young,- 

 blonde face at dome altitude above, the average of ih« 

 crowd, his long limb's incased id an elegant pair of these 

 trousers whose creases are the despair of the Milwaukee' 

 bloods, his Fedora hat creased with equal accuracy, his 

 necktie tied small at the bottom of the knot, and a fresh 

 flower in the lapel of his coat. On the whole, he' ^fw* 

 quite a wholesome-looking boy, and I was glad to see him. 

 If the audience will keep its eyes upon the creases of 

 those trousers, I will later on lay a legal foundation fur 

 introducing them in evident 



"Well, what kind of shooting hate you been having? 

 asked Dick, the first thing. Of course lie did. He didn't 

 care whether or not everybody was well, or how the! 

 country was getting along. In the enthusiasm of youth 

 the only thing of importance was the shooting. The 

 three meals a day, or the Welsh rarebit, of which I was 

 about to tell him, made no figure in his mind. 



"Oh, we killed a buggy load of birds or so yesterday," 

 said I, nonchalantly, as if we could do it any time we 

 wanted to. 



Where? Whereabouts? How far out did you go? 

 Can we get out again to-day?" And so on. To all of 

 which I answered suitably, and begged him to be calm, 

 and to come on up and enjoy his breakfast, as became a 

 wise young man. 



Meantime approached a very dirty and ragged nigger, 

 with the query, "Is them all yd' dawgs, boss, 'n' does you 

 want 'em fotched up town, sah?" 



"Oh, yes, the dogs," said Dick. "You know I told you 

 I would bring Paul Bo and a pointer along for the trip. 

 Well, I concluded it wasn't best to bring Paul the way he 

 was f eeling, and my pointer cut his leg on a piece of glass* 

 so I brought along two pointers that belong to a friend o\ 

 mine. He says they are fair, and will be helped by more 

 field work than he can give them, so he wanted me to, 

 bring th,em along." , 



Decent Baggagemen. 

 We found the pointers to be a pair of opposites, Nip, a 

 gau^t. Colossus, about 6ft, long, not fat and alleged to be 



