Rattle snake

“ Perhaps there is no portion of America in which the rattle-snakes are so large and so numerous as in Wisconsin. There are two varieties: the black rattle-snake, that frequents marshy spots, and renders it rather dangerous to shoot snipes and ducks; and the yellow, which takes up its abode in the rocks and dry places. Dr F— told me that he had killed, inside of the fort Winnebago, one of the latter species, between seven and eight feet long. The rattle-snake, although its poison is so fatal, is in fact not a very dangerous animal, and people are seldom bitten by it. ”

“ No, my dear, there are no snakes of that kind in Lower Canada, and very few below Toronto. The winters are too cold for them. But there are plenty in the western part of the Province, where the summers are warmer, and the winters milder. The rattle snake is a dangerous reptile, and its bite causes death, unless the wound be burned or cut out. The Indians apply different sorts of herbs to the wound. They have several plants, known by the names of rattle snake root, rattle snake weed, and snake root. ”

“ While ranging over the natural field, there is no reptile merits more particular notice than the rattle-snake, which is one of the most formidable living creatures in the whole universe. Providence hath kindly furnished him with a tail which makes a rattling noise, and no doubt was intended to warn every other creature of the danger of approaching nigh him. ”

“ One of the most venomous of all snakes is indigenous to our own country,—namely, the rattle-snake; but even he never fails to give ample warning of his presence before attacking any one. The habits of these Australian snakes are similar to those of their species wherever found; their usual resort is a hole in the ground under fallen leaves, or in the decaying trunk of a tree, and they live by preying upon frogs, mice, lizards, and birds. ”

“ Every year of its life a new joint is supposed to be added, so that the reptile killed by the black snake, must have been twenty years old. Each joint was in form somewhat like the tip end of my thumb. I have often since seen rattlesnakes, though seldom one so large. Generally I have found them coiled up among the dry herbage, with the tip of the tail raised in the centre of the coil. On seeing me approach the creatures have instantly produced a quivering movement of their tails, which made the joints of the rattle shake against each other. ”

“ Fig. 73.—Crotalus terrificus (Dog-faced Rattle-Snake, Cascavella in Brazil) . (After Stejneger.)
Rattle-Snakes are met with especially in stony and arid localities, or among brushwood near water. They hardly ever bite except when surprised or attacked.
(1) C. terrificus (Dog-faced Rattle-Snake, Cascavella in Brazil; fig. 73) .—Snout very short; three or four series of scales between the eye and the supralabial shields; body-scales in 23-31 rows, dorsals very strongly keeled; 160-199 ventrals; 18-30 subcaudals. ”

“ I have killed more than twenty rattle-snakes in a day, and copper-heads were innumerable; but the snake that I most dreaded was the moccason, which is quite as venomous as the copper-head or rattle-snake, and much more active and malicious. Vipers and other poisonous reptiles were innumerable; and in the swamps was a monstrous serpent, though of rare occurrence, which was really dangerous on account of its prodigious size. This snake is of a brown colour, with ashy white spots distributed over its body. It lives by catching rabbits and squirrels, rackoons and other animals. ”

“ The use of such a tail probably consists in attracting or fixing the attention of small animals, by slightly raising and vibrating the tip. The rattle no doubt acts as a warning, every snake preferring being left alone to being forced to bite. Many a man has been warned in time by the shrill sound, and this principle applies undoubtedly to other mammals. ”

“ So far as I am aware, the only explanation that has been suggested touching the function of the snake's rattle is that it serves as an advertisement of the whereabouts of the poisonous reptile, so that it may be avoided by enemies which might otherwise inadvertently injure it. ”

“ Nothing could exceed the beauty of his eye. A clear black lustre characterizes the eye of this animal, and is said to produce so powerful an effect on birds and smaller animals, as to deprive them of the power of escaping. This snake had eight rattles, so that he must have been at least eleven years old. I understood afterwards that there was a rattle-snakes' den in the neighbourhood. They appear to live in society, and the large quantities that are frequently found congregated together are astonishing. ”

“ The fat of a Rattle-snake is very Soveraign for frozen limbs, bruises, lameness by falls, Aches, Sprains. The heart of a Rattle-snake dried and pulverized and drunk with wine or beer is an approved remedy against the biting and venome of a Rattle-snake. ”

“ When we got to the end of our mad skunk stories we turned our attention to tales of friends of ours who had died from rattlesnake bites. It seemed each of us had dozens of dead friends who had met their doom by crawling into a roundup bed at night without shaking the blankets only to find a couple of rattle-snakes coiled up inside. The more we told the stories the more snake-bite antidote we imbibed, till we got so full of the antidote it's safe to say that it would have been sure death for any poisonous reptile to have bitten any man in the crowd. ”

“ Some animals are held in universal dread by others, and not the least terrible is the effect produced by the rattle-snake. Mr. Pennant says, that this snake will frequently lie at the bottom of a tree, on which a squirrel is seated. He fixes his eyes on the animal, and from that moment it cannot escape: it begins a doleful outcry, which is so well known that a passer by, on hearing it, immediately knows that a snake is present. The squirrel runs up the tree a little way, comes down again, then goes up and afterwards comes still lower. ”

“ The bite of the rattle-snake is accounted fatal, at least is thought very dangerous over all America; but with regard to the fascinating qualities of its eyes, such as the story of its causing mice, squirrels, and birds to run into its mouth, I reject them as fables ”

“ In other cases a chance of escape must be given even by the animal itself to its prey; as in the rattle-snake, which, when excited to strike, cannot avoid using his rattle, any more than the cat can resist curling its tail when excited in the chase of a mouse, or the cobra can refrain from inflating the loose skin of the neck and extending it laterally, before striking its poison fangs into its victim. ”

“ Holbrooke [83] has seen one of twenty-one links. A Crotalus at the London Reptilium had twenty-five links at one time; then ten of them got broken off, but still a respectably-sized rattle remained. The longer the rattle, the greater the risk of injury. Oliver Wendell Holmes, in his wonderful story Elsie Venner, states that a snake in the locality where the Rocklands ‘Rattlesnake Den’ existed, had forty joints in its rattle, and was supposed, after Indian traditions, to have killed forty people. ”

“ He relies on his huge strength to kill his enemies; but other snakes, such as vipers and rattlesnakes, are. Even when the head of a viper has been cut off it still remains poisonous, and may cause death. The rattlesnake is so called because it makes a funny rattle with its tail before it strikes. It is about five feet long sometimes, and the sound of its rattle sends terror into the heart of anyone who is near, as he knows that at any moment the snake may dart out upon him with its hideous head aloft and its wicked eyes gleaming. ”

“ The Rattle-Snakes are found on all the Main of America, that I ever had any Account of; being so call'd from the Rattle at the end of their Tails, which is a Connexion of jointed Coverings, of an excrementitious Matter, betwixt the Substance of a Nail, and a Horn, though each Tegmen is very thin. Nature seems to have design'd these, on purpose to give Warning of such an approaching Danger, as the venomous Bite of these Snakes is. Some of them grow to a very great Bigness, as six Foot in Length, their Middle being the Thickness of the Small of a lusty Man's Leg. ”

“ They see you're a snake, and they take other people's word for it that you have got a rattle, and so they think that you're dangerous at both ends. A 'rattlesnake,' mind you, sounds much worse to most people than any other sort of snake."
"That's a great shame," said the worm pensively. "What's the use of having good intentions? I sometimes think I'll turn spiteful, and bite everybody—when I get out of this glass box." ”

“ Yet a young man who desired to obtain a rattle would have no hesitation in killing one of the snakes for the purpose; but he apologised profusely to the creature for the liberty he took with it, explaining that he required the rattle for the adornment of his person, and that no disrespect was intended to the snake; and in proof of his good will he would leave a piece of tobacco beside the carcase.629 The Cherokee regard the rattlesnake as the chief of the snake tribe and fear and respect him accordingly. ”

“ For though I do not think I have any uncharitable prejudice against the rattle-snake, still, I should not like to be one. ”

“ When the period of a renewal of the skin approaches a new covering of the extremity of the tail is formed below the old one, but the latter, instead of being cast off with the remainder of the epidermis, is retained by the posterior swelling of the end of the tail, forming now the first loose joint of the rattle. This process is repeated on succeeding moultings — the new joints being always larger than the old ones as long as the snake grows. Perfect rattles therefore taper towards the point, but generally the oldest (terminal) joints wear away in time and are lost. ”

“ Extending this specimen by imaginary converging lines, we form an idea of what its length might have been if perfect, probably about twenty joints, which is a not unusual number; but we perceive at once that a rattle, as we happen to see it, is no criterion of its age or its original form. Rarely is a snake seen with a long rattle perfect and entire. ”

“ If a man were practiced at dodging lightning bolts he might do it, but not an ordinary mortal. For that lunging head is one of the swiftest things in the whole swift-moving animal world. And it isn't entirely safe to rely on a warning rattle. Sometimes the old king-snake forgets to give it. These are the poison people—the gray rattlesnakes that gather in mysterious, grim companies on the rocks—and the only safety from them is thick covering to the knees that the fangs cannot penetrate. ”

“ The next is the rattle of a small Oregon snake. This, [300] as is observable, is old and very much worn; so much so, indeed, that one has to handle it with care. It is, however, pulled apart intentionally to show that the links vary in form from those of the tapering specimen. Any rattle can thus be separated without much effort, as, owing to the elasticity of the substance, not much resistance presents itself. The links are just loose enough to produce that sibilant effect, like the rustling of dry leaves, or of ripe beans in a pod ”

“ It was the warning of the rattlesnake! Glancing furtively around, Kingman saw the reptile within six feet of him. His scaly, glittering body lay coiled like a rope, and from the centre his head, terrible in its beauty, rose some eighteen inches, and was drawn back, ready for the fatal strike. The tail on the outside of the horrid ring was gently swaying, giving forth that deadly rattle, and the whole body seemed alive and excited. Hardly a more terrible spectacle can be conceived than that of the coiled and bristling rattlesnake. ”

“ Think I don't know a genuine rattlesnake when I see one, do you; well, what d'ye think of a feller that'd jump over a log without even lookin', and when a common garden variety of black snake gave him a jab, he hollered that he was poisoned by a terrible rattler, and could even see his poor leg swellin' up right before his eyes. Me not know one, when I've been in the Zoo reptile house down in New York, and even watched one swallow a rat! Well, I guess you're away off, Step Hen Bingham. ”

“ In fact it is impossible for one to do so.
While rattlesnakes are dangerous, their bite is not nearly so fatal as is popularly supposed. This fact has at least two important reasons, viz., season and the habits of life of the snake. In the extreme South and in midsummer the venom attains its highest state of virulence. Then the person fairly struck by a large rattler is in extreme danger, provided the second factor in the equation does not intrude, that is, the habits of life.
All venomous snakes, and more especially rattlesnakes, are sluggish. They do not move rapidly or over great distances. ”

“ The rattlesnake is not among the most active of the species of snakes: it never springs a greater distance than its own length, which rarely exceeds four feet. It is owing to this that the black snake has the advantage, being able to spring from a greater distance on its prey, and, from its rapid motion and method of seizure to deprive it at once of the power of injecting its venom. ”

“ If you have never seen a rattlesnake, don't go near one, unless you have a chance to kill it, even if his fangs have been extracted. The heel shall bruise the serpent, and that is the best use to which they can be put.
But as Howard Lawrence opened his eyes, in the dull light of this summer morning, he saw coiled within five feet of him a striped rattlesnake, its intensely black eyes fairly scintillating light, and its rattle gently waving but making no noise. ”