346 
FOREST 
AND STREAM 
August, 1921 
THE WISDOM OF THE SERPENT 
By PRICE BROWN 
OBEDIENCE AND RESPECT 
SEEM TO GOVERN THE LIVES OF 
SNAKES AS WELL AS OF MEN 
general law of animal life which for- 
bids unprovoked attack. 
This incident of personal experience 
which Mr. Sass so graphically tells re- 
minds me of one in my own life which 
occurred several years ago. Each, of 
course, is a reptilian story. There was 
this difference, however, that while his 
experience was related to the venomous 
moccasins of the south, mine was sim- 
ply a story of the innocuous garter 
snake of the Muskoka region. 
Still, as sniakes of all kinds, whether 
venomous or not, are all reptiles and 
equally possessed of many of the char- 
acteristics of the race, the two stories 
standing side by side may each be wor- 
thy of recital. 
The incident that I am about to re- 
late occurred one beautiful summer 
day, one of those translucent days for 
which the whole Muskoka region is not- 
ed. The sky was clear, the air balmy, 
a gentle breeze cooled the atmosphere. 
After a somewhat unsuccessful fishing 
excursion we landed on the beach. We 
had scarcely time to tie up our boat 
when a friend approached me with an 
invitation to paddle over with him to 
his island for dinner. The invitation 
was too welcome a one to be resisted. 
We were soon paddling over the lake, 
dotted with many islands all covered 
with green verdure toward our destina- 
tion, — the island which was considered 
the most beautiful in the whole lake 
region. 
On reaching the beach we hauled up 
the canoe and hastened toward the 
house. It stood some distance away on 
rising ground with young trees and a 
terraced lawn intervening. When half 
way to the house we reached an open 
space. We were surprised to find an 
unusually large garter snake which my 
friend’s brother had killed only a few 
minutes before. It was three feet long 
and nearly two inches in thickness. 
There was perfect stillness all around 
and there were no other snakes any- 
where to be seen. Hastening to the 
house we enjoyed a bounteous meal 
with the family, and the conversation 
turned naturally to snakes. 
Immediately afterwards we all wend- 
ed our way back to the scene of the 
slaughter to make a further survey. 
To our surprise the dead snake was not 
alone, but surrounded by eight smaller 
ones, varying in length from one to 
over two feet. They completely encir- 
cled the seemingly mother snake, lying 
in an oval around her with their heads 
about a foot away, and their tails 
stretched directly outwards like the 
spokes of a wheel. 
Much as we were surprised by the 
presence and position of the snakes, we 
were much more astonished by the fixed 
rigidity of their bodies. Their immo- 
bility was amazing. They appeared to 
be in a thoroughly hypnotized condition, 
and entirely unconscious of the presence 
of human visitors. They waited impas- 
sively for their destruction. Such an 
opportunity to effectually destroy so 
large a colony of objectionable reptiles 
at one swoop was too strong to be dis- 
regarded, and the brothers killed them. 
A LTHOUGH I did not concern my- 
self with it at the time, I was 
sorry afterwards that the whole- 
sale execution had not been delayed. 
The occasion favored an opportunity 
for the study of animal life which might 
never occur again and which should not 
have been lost. We should have waited 
until the seance was over, the catalepsy 
at an end and the mental attitude of the 
young snakes restored to 1 a normal con- 
dition. What would have been the final 
outcome of the obsequies? Being car- 
nivorous reptiles, would they on return- 
ing to consciousness have religiously de- 
voured their mother? Would they united- 
ly have massed their strength and car- 
ried her off for decent burial? Or, hav- 
ing dutifully performed their vows, 
would they have silently slunk away to 
their varied haunts in the strip of 
woodland which surrounded this island? 
There are great problems in this 
story of serpentine life. These little 
snakes, although probably all of one 
family, were of different ages, and it 
is likely that they had scattered homes 
and haunts apart from each other. In 
foraging for food I never saw snakes 
hunting in groups. While gliding 
about in divers directions for the in- 
sects, frogs, and lizards upon which 
they live for their miidday meal, why 
was it, and by what means was it, that 
they were all summoned to that one 
spot almost at the same moment of 
time? To what telepathic influence did 
(CONTINUED ON PAGE 373 ) 
The Water Moccasin 
I N the August number of the Atlantic 
Monthly there is an article by the 
naturalist, Mr. Sass, of South Caro- 
lina, called “The Whimsical Goddess.” 
In this he relates a somewhat unique 
experience with poisonous moccasin 
snakes which occurred while he was 
touring near the coast. 
While walking unconcernedly 
through the low undergrowth of brush 
and sage, without knowing it he almost 
stepped on one of the venomous rep- 
tiles. Although at that moment he 
was convinced and even now believes 
that poisonous snakes will not attack 
a human being unless provoked, in 
alarm, and almost instinctively, he at 
once killed the snake. On glancing 
round he discovered eight or ten others 
in the undergrowth and sand round 
about. All but one remained apparent- 
ly unmoved by the death of their com- 
rade. Basking in the sand and brush a 
dozen feet away, one suddenly roused 
himself, opened his huge mouth, and 
gliding forward made ready for an at- 
tack. With a big stick Mr. Sass killed 
this one also. 
The question was, why did the sec- 
ond snake attack him? The first one did 
not. The second was too far away to 
be physically provoked, and why should 
the revengeful spirit be aroused in this 
one and not in the others? 
He claims that it was due to a freak 
of nature, which he terms “The Whim- 
sical Goddess,” which may be found 
scattered occasionally through all ani- 
mal life. He relates two other in- 
stances, one of a wildcat and the other 
of a hawk, but in neither case does this 
contradict what he considers to be the 
