Pilot Blacksnake — Part 2

Coluber obsoletus, (Say.)

The serpent receives its name-Pilot Blacksnake-from the fallacious idea that it warns the poisonous snakes (the rattlesnake and the copperhead) of the approach of danger and leads them away to safety. This superstition has probably arisen from the fact that the species is found in places frequented by the dangerous snakes in question. In the North it displays a marked preference for mountain ledges, so commonly the abodes of the banded rattlesnake. Here it may be found stretched upon low bushes, from which it throws itself when surprised, with a remarkable display of agility, then glides quickly among crevices in the rock to safety. A fine specimen, slightly over six feet in length and captured in Sullivan County, New York, was taken on the Half-moon Ledge, a place notorious for rattlesnakes; it disgorged a well-grown "cotton-tail" rabbit. At the time it exuded a strong-smelling secretion from glands near the tail; the powerful, musky odour penetrated the clothes of Messrs. Dove and Pearsall, who captured the snake, and remained for some hours, although these gentlemen explain that when afterward being handled the serpent showed no signs of using the scent-glands. It became very tame as a captive, climbing out and over one's shoulders when the door of its cage was opened. No amount of teasing could induce it to bite, although if startled it would frequently vibrate the tail, the tip of which would beat a rapid tattoo on the side of the cage. Some specimens are very erratic and nervous. In fact the majority of the writer's specimens could not be trusted. A specimen 4 feet long deposited 10 eggs on the 26th of June. The eggs were 2 inches long and 7/8 of an inch in diameter.