November, 1921 
FOREST AND STREAM 
499 
A SNAKE ATTACKED BY CHIGGERS 
A RECORD OF THE UNUSUAL OCCURRENCE OF A KING SNAKE 
BEING SUBJECTED TO THE ASSAULTS OF THESE INSIDIOUS MITES 
BY DR. R. W. SHUFELDT 
L AST August (1920) Mr. William 
Palmer, of the United States Na- 
tional Museum, presented me with 
a living specimen of the King 
Snake ( Lampropeltis g. getulus), which 
he had collected within a few miles of 
Washington. At the time I took it home 
for examination, the specimen was suf- 
fering severely from an attack of chig- 
gers; and, as this is so unusual a thing, 
I at once gave the matter especial atten- 
tion. In a few hours I had made some 
very successful negatives of the animal 
at the height of the attack, and a photo- 
graph from the best of these is here re- 
produced to illustrate the victim’s ap- 
pearance as it writhed in the agony 
caused by the irritation made by the 
merciless insects. It was shedding 
at the time I received it, and the 
evidence of the presence of the chiggers 
was best seen on the head and neck, the 
latter half of the body and the tail being- 
more or less free from them. As is 
always the case, the old skin covered the 
eyes, causing them to appear white and 
surely depriving the snake of its sight. 
Next day I learned that Dr. H. E. 
Ewing, of the Division of Insects of the 
United States National Museum, had 
examined this specimen at the height of 
the attack, and I wrote him for 
a letter on the subject, with 
permission to publish it. Doc- 
. tor Ewing promptly complied 
with this request, and in a day 
or so the following communi- 
cation was received from him, 
which I give in full : 
Washington, D. C., 
Aug. 28, 1920. 
Dear Dr. Shufeldt: — Your 
letter of Aug. 25 received and 
inquiry in regard to infested 
King Snake noted. I examined 
this snake several times while 
it was in the possession of Mr. 
Palmer. The mites that were 
attached to its skin were no 
other than the common chig- 
ger that attacks man in Mary- 
land and Virginia. These 
larvae engorged themselves to repletion, 
but would not let go their hold on the 
skin. After the snake shed its skin they 
remained attached and died attached. 
Since I could not rear the nymphs from 
these engorged larvae, and since they 
failed to detach themselves from their 
hold, I decided that the King Snake was 
not one of the natural hosts. 
Presumably our common chigger of 
this vicinity is an immature stage (lar- 
val) of one of our harvest mites (Trom- 
bidiidas), but we do not know. The 
genus Leptus has been dropped for the 
The King Snake after treatment 
chiggers, as it has been shown to be 
founded on larvae of a different family. 
We know, therefore, neither the correct 
specific or generic name of our common 
chigger of the east. The common chig- 
ger of this region has never been figured. 
You will find several chigger figures in 
an article by Mr. Hartzell and myself in 
Jour. Econ. Entomology for April, 1918. 
Yours very truly, 
(Signed) IT E. Ewing. 
pOLLOWING this, I called upon Doc- 
1 tor Ewing at the Museum; he very 
kindly permitted me to examine speci- 
mens of chiggers with his microscope, 
and referred me to some of the latest 
literature on the subject. He was of the 
opinion that a full report on the case of 
this snake was distinctly worth the while. 
My next step was to treat the suffering 
snake, and this was begun by soaking 
him for some twenty minutes in water, 
allowing him to breathe as it became 
necessary. Very soon the water loosened 
the skin, and fully exposed to view the 
little bumps the chiggers had raised 
wherever they had pierced the skin and 
entered the animal’s body. Twenty min- 
utes later I had all the old skin peeled 
off, which permitted the snake to see 
perfectly and greatly reduced its suffer- 
ing. A few days later the chiggerian 
tumors had entirely disappeared, and the 
specimen was a truly beautiful object to 
behold, being soft and silky, glossy as 
new porcelain, and apparently entirely 
relieved from the effects of the attack. 
While he was in this condition I made 
several more negatives of him, and one 
of these photographs is here reproduced 
to show what a fine snake it really was 
in health. Later I presented the 
specimen to the National Zoological 
Park; and, in event of the cure being- 
complete, it is now on exhibition there 
in their Reptile Depart- 
ment. 
Before closing, it may be 
pointed out that we have in 
our ophifauna over a dozen 
species and subspecies of King- 
Snakes, they being distributed 
throughout Texas, Arizona, the 
Gulf States, the New England 
States, down to include Flor- 
ida, and quite generally over 
the country to include the 
Pacific tier of States. Where 
King Snakes inhabit the same 
region with venomous ones, 
such as rattlers and moccasins, 
they are known to kill and de- 
vour both of these dangerous 
reptiles, and for this reason 
they deserve the best protec- 
tion we can give them. 
REMARKABLE point about a King- 
Snake is that it is entirely immune 
to snake poison. If bitten by a big rattler 
or by a copperhead — apart from such 
punctures as the teeth inflict, the King 
Snake suffers no ill effects. Indeed, it 
only inflames its temper, and causes him 
to overcome the rattler or moccasin and 
( Continued on page 516 ) 
The merciless mites caused the snake to writhe 
in agony 
