HOOP-SNAKES 
So little is known of the wild life of most reptiles, and so 
deep-rooted are myths and superstitions in the minds of most 
people that it is a difficult task to disentangle them and learn 
the whole truth concerning their natural habits. All reptiles 
are “crowd-shy,” and since they refuse to pose for the photog¬ 
rapher it therefore becomes necessary to piece together the 
combined observations of legions of laymen, provided one is 
to construct a true picture of such wily creatures. Such under¬ 
taking requires the patience and skill of one endeavoring to 
put in order the numerous parts of a jig-saw puzzle. 
Whether or not a hoop-snake (or horn-snake, if you prefer) 
really rolls like a hoop when making an attack is a highly con¬ 
troversial question. Reports to this effect have been current 
among laymen since General Oglethorpe established his colony 
in this part of the South, but scholarly men deny the truth of 
it. This interesting reptile is all but extinct, but once in a 
decade these snake hunters with whom I have been on many a 
thrilling jaunt, unearth one. Their natural habitat and that of 
the rattler being the same, their winter quarters are usually 
the gopher holes upon the sand ridges and shrub-oak hummocks 
adjacent to streams along the coastal plains. All the while 
that I was engaged in pursuing “myths” (which turned out to 
be the truth) about the rattler I would be quietly inquiring 
into this alleged habit of the hoop-snake. Among all the ob¬ 
servers who testified so freely concerning their observations of 
the rattler I failed to find one who would make a statement on 
his honor, or give an affidavit that he had ever witnessed such 
a performance. While everyone believed it, none would testify 
that they had ever seen it. This convinced me that all those 
who had given testimony against the rattler did not manufac¬ 
ture their stories out of whole cloth. However, I knew one 
venerable old gentleman who witnessed such action, and who 
related the details to Uncle Dave, but at the time I became 
interested in the “myth” this observer had died—thus ended 
my pursuit of this will-o’-the-wisp. 
A Northern soldier who was sent to a Georgia camp for 
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