THE POISONOUS SNAKES OF TEXAS, WITH NOTES 
ON THEIR HABITS.* 
BY J. D. MITCHELL. 
The objects sought in the publication of these notes are : 
First. To contribute to what is already known of the habits of the 
poisonous snakes of Texas. • J 
Second. To register a plea for the protection of the useful and non- 
poisonous snakes. 
Third. To provoke investigation into the habits of all snakes, that a 
true and correct knowledge of their usefulness, or danger, to mankind 
may be known. 
The plates used in illustrating “The Poisonous Snakes of Texas” were 
obtained through the courtesy of the officers of the National Museum of 
Washington, D. C. 
There are twelve species of poisonous snakes reported from Texas, as 
follows : 
Elays fulvius (Harlequin snake). 
A?icistrodon piscivorus (Cotton-mouth). 
Ancistrodon contortrix (Copperhead). 
Sistrurus catenatus consors (Gulf Coast Massasauga). 
Sistrurus catenatus edwardsii (Edward’s Massasauga). 
Sistrurus miliarius (Ground Rattlesnake). 
Crotalus adamanteus (Diamond Rattlesnake). 
Crotalus adamanteus atrox (Texas Rattlesnake). 
Crotalus horridus (Banded Rattlesnake). 
Crotalus molossus (Dog-faced Rattlesnake). 
Crotalus confluentus (Prairie Rattlesnake). 
Crotalus lepidus (Green Rattlesnake). 
With the exception of Elaps, all of the above species are marked with 
a pit in the skin of the upper jaw, between and below the eye and nostril 
and forming a triangle with the nostril, the eye, and the pit for the three' 
corners. They are known as pit vipers, and are thus distinguished from 
harmless snakes. The old theory that only those snakes that had a tri- 
angular head and projecting jaws were poisonous is not correct; but when 
*Read before the Texas Academy of Science, November 28, 1902. 
