Rattlesnake
a venomous serpent of America, allied to the viper, moccasin, and copperhead. The tail of the rattlesnake is provided with horny rings that rattle together when shaken. The number of rings increases with age, but not with regularity. The rattlesnake has no regular teeth, but possesses a long poison fang on each side in front, at the roots of which are poison sacs. These teeth lie flat when the animal is not enraged. When disturbed the rattlesnake throws himself into a coil, shakes his rattles, and darts or springs at his enemy.
We have fourteen species in North America. One species is confined to the Pacific coast. Five species are found only in the southwest or near the Mexican border. The diamond rattlesnake, so named from three rows of diamond-shaped areas on its body, is the largest species of all. It attains a length of eight and one-half feet and an extreme body girth of fifteen inches. It is at home among the palmetto palms of Texas and the Gulf States. The prairie rattlesnake belongs to the Great Plains. This is the species that haunts the old burrows of the prairie dog. The common or timber rattlesnake is found in rocky localities from New England to the Rocky Mountains and southward. It feeds on birds, squirrels, and such animals as may be taken unaware. It brings forth nine to fourteen young alive. It attains a length of three to eight feet. On the approach of autumn, colonies crawl into crevices in the rocks together and lie torpid until spring. The following from Bret Harte has much truth in it:
Haughty, with miseries untold,
And the old curse that left thee cold,
And drove thee ever to the sun
On blistering rocks
Thou whose fame
Searchest the grass with tongue of flame,
Making all creatures seem thy game,
When the whole woods before thee run,
Asked but-when all is said and done--
To lie, untrodden, in the sun!