Rensselaer Semi-Weekly Republican, Volume 34, Number 78, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 30 May 1902 — A Joint Snake, at Last. [ARTICLE]

A Joint Snake, at Last.

The Rensselaer school museum is now possessed of one of those ( most rare and almost fabled repj tiles, a joint snake, These are very curious creatures and the stories told about them are still mere curious, It is said for instance, that they will break to pieces on the least touch, and afterwards the pieces will get together again, and the snake will wriggle off as good as new. There is some truth in this story, for the snake will, for two thirds of its length, break into pieces with the slightest blow. The coming together again however, is undoubtedly a fable. The animals, although snakes to all appearances, are really lizards. About two thirds of their length, or all after the vent, is tail, and all t lis tail part breaks in pieces very easily. If the forward third of the reptile is not injured it will live and the tail will in time be replaced by a new one There are many real lizards which show this same brittleness of their tail portions, and will grown new tails when the original is broken off. These joint snakes are now so rare that Prof. Neher, thinks there are scarcely more than 7 or 8 specimens in the state. The one at the school house was killed a few days ago by J. N. Sample, on the Heferlin farm, a mile or two southwest of town, and he brought it to the school house where it is preserved in alcohol. A live specimen would be worth far beyond its weight in gold, in the eyes of a naturalist. It is broken into several pieces. Although a perfectly harmless and defenceless animal, they can be said to be “cross grained” critters too, for the way they break off show that their grain runs crossways. This specimen is about 2 j feet long, brownish with long light stripes th? full length, above, and whitish below. Its mouth does not open wide like a snake’s, its head is rounder and more pointed, and, also unlike snakes, it has movable eyelids. If you encounter one, don’t kill it, for the love of science, but pick it up tenderly and bring it alive to the Rensselaer school house. Some other interesting additions have recently been made to the school museum. One is another live rattlesnake, which was caught on the same Collins farm, in Barkley, as the big one they have had since last year, this new one is smaller and not so ugly tempered as the old one. That has been in captivity since last summer and has never eaten anything. Another new living specimen is a bull snake 4J feet long, a fine specimen. Prof. Neher handles these snake pets, except the rattlers, with perfect freedom, especially the blue racers and the "spreading viper,” “puff adder” and a lot of other names, And the many people who still think these poor, harmeless "vipers” are among the most vicious and poisonous of serpents, would experience quite a shook to see Mr. Jfeher handle his specimen, and even try to provoke it to bite by tapping it on the nose with his fingers, but it won’t even try to bite.