FOREST AND STREAM 
645 
December, 1920 
CONCERNING VENOMOUS 
SNAKES 
I N the Mississippi River bottom coun- 
try in North Mississippi, the writer 
during thirty-six years of constant 
residence, has observed but four varie- 
ties of venomous snakes, to wit, the tim- 
ber rattle-snake, the cotton-mouth moc- 
casin, the water moccasin and copper- 
head. Only a single specimen of the 
last named has been seen, about three 
feet long. This copperhead had an ex- 
cellent opportunity to strike the observer 
and with considerable provocation, as 
my foot probably came in contact with 
him when by a quick movement the 
snake assumed a “striking attitude” 
within a foot of me, but refrained from 
striking. The rattle-snake has become 
very scarce, though once very prevalent, 
as his chosen habitat was the well- 
drained cane ridges which have mostly 
been cleared and put in cultivation. 
The other two, water moccasin and 
cotton-mouth, are still to be found in 
low swampy regions, in lakes and bay- 
ous; and of these I wish particularly to 
speak. There is a decided difference in 
the appearanec of the two snakes. The 
cotton-mouth has a habit of opening his 
mouth, apparently to exhibit its white- 
ness, which is a very conspicuous feat- 
ure. His color is darker and more uni- 
form than that of the water moccasin, 
and his skin smoother. The water moc- 
casin has a rusty and rather rough look- 
ing skin, with dull color and shades of 
variation. He attains a greater maxi- 
mum size than the cotton-mouth snake, 
according "to my observations. Though 
both venomous, neither of these is dan- 
gerous to human life. 
In the first place, their fangs are 
relatively short, as they live on frogs, 
fish and other aquatic dwellers that ap- 
parently do not require long fangs for 
their capture. But mainly, they have 
manifested no disposition to bite human 
beings. The writer has deliberately ex- 
perimented with numerous specimens of 
both of these varieties, and especially 
the water-moccasin, some large ones, 
and one in particular that was about 
six feet long and monstrous in appear- 
ance. These experiments consisted in 
dragging the snakes with a stick, teas- 
ing and provoking them to strike, and 
never in a single instance succeeding in 
doing so. The snakes would swell up, 
look angry, and appear to be ready to 
strike, but never striking ; and finally 
have generally been shoved aside with 
my foot and told to go their ways. I 
must mention this exception, however, 
thait if subjected to actual pain by 
pressing hard on the back of the snake 
with a stick, he would instinctively 
clutch the stick with his fangs, exert- 
ing the neck muscles very much as cats 
make a muscular effort when forcing 
their claws into the bark of a tree. 
The only interest that attaches to 
these observations is^ that they are 
directly at variance with general belief 
concerning the pugnacity and danger- 
ous character of the reptiles, which be- 
lief, so far as this region is concerned, 
is wholly fallacious. By water-moccasin 
the common water snake ( Natrix ) is 
not meant. This is the “water mocca- 
Courtesy of the American Museum of Natural History. 
True Albacore ( Germo alalunga) 
sin” of popular fancy, is non-venomous, 
and is pugnacious when cornered; and 
figures in many “dangerous” adven- 
tures and “narrow escapes.” Natrix is 
much in evidence in the springtime 
when the low grounds are overflowed. 
It then climbs into the overhanging 
bushes and branches of trees. A skiff 
passing underneath occasionally shakes 
a snake off the bushes into the boat, 
which invariably produces a panic 
among the occupants, who generally 
prefer to “take water” rather than face 
the terrible reptile in the same boat. 
Coahoma. 
THE TRUE OR LONG-FINNED 
ALBACORE 
By J. T. NICHOLS 
V ARIOUS large off-shore members 
of the mackerel family furnish ex- 
citing ocean fishing to rod and line 
anglers jnder the name tuna, albacore 
or bonito. These fishes usually have 
very wide world ranges, the same vari- 
eties being likely to occur in warm seas 
of any ocean. Some of them are not 
well known to scientists on account of 
their inaccessibility and their large 
size which prevents their being readily 
cared for in museum collections of 
fishes, and the variability of individuals 
within a given species. Another factor 
False Albacore ( Gymnosarda 
which adds to the confusion is the care- 
less way in which their popular names 
are used in various parts of the 
country. 
The name albacore should rightly be 
restricted to two or three kinds which 
have a very long pectoral or breast fin. 
A photograph of a true albacore ( Ger- 
mo alalunga ) , taken on the Pacific coast, 
is published herewith. The tuna, which 
is the same as the tunny, being by far 
the largest species, up to 1,500 pounds 
weight, sometimes goes erroneously by 
the name albacore. Attention has been 
called to the fact that on the New Jersey 
coast an entirely different fish, Gymno- 
sarda alleterata, which is common there 
in September, is firmly entrenched be- 
hind the name albacore. This species is 
really most closely related to the oceanic 
or off-shore bonito, one of the thickest 
bodied of the big mackerels, with dark 
lengthwise stripes along the lower part 
of the sides. Unfortunately, it has n:> 
good common name; that of little tunny 
is in rather general use in the litera- 
ture. If albacore it must be, let it be 
known as false albacore. 
ANOTHER WILSON’S PHALAROPE 
ON LONG ISLAND 
M R. WILLIAM S. DANA, of Mastic, 
has called our attention to an- 
other Wilson’s phalarope which 
was killed at Moriches Bay, Long 
Island, N. Y., in a flock of yellowlegs. 
August 23, 1920. He secured the bird 
and sent it to us for examinatiop in the 
flesh, so that the record might be cor- 
roborated. It was in the gray plumage. 
Though very rare, this species appears 
to be of more than casual occurrence on 
Long Island in southward migration. 
In the August number of Forest 
and Stream (page 442) there is men- 
tion of a Long Island Wilson’s Phala 
rope (1918), in a flock of Yellowlegs. 
