Abstract
ON Sunday morning, May 30, about 10 o'clock, I noticed a common western hog-nosed viper, about 20 in. in length, basking on the lawn in the warm sunshine. I approached the serpent in company with a friend to make some investigation of it, and only to interfere with it enough to keep it from crawling away. The creature went through the usual feint of being a dangerous snake that is peculiar to this species, and quickly began to coil and recoil and to hide its head under its body. After it had done this a short time it turned on its back, but continued to writhe as though injured severely. Gradually it assumed a position simulating that of a dead snake lying on its back, with its mouth completely inverted and bleeding. This was done in such a way that the head appeared to be completely mashed or severed. The exudate of blood from the entire surface of the mouth was perfect. It was the most complete and well-carried-out feint of a tragic death that I have ever witnessed, and all without the least torture or stroke of any kind from me. I only detained the snake by placing my foot in front of it and turning it back once at the beginning. We left the creature in this apparently killed condition, only to see that it disappeared in a very short time.
Similar content being viewed by others
Article PDF
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
BARTLETT, W. Tragic Death Feint of a Snake. Nature 106, 503 (1920). https://doi.org/10.1038/106503c0
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/106503c0
This article is cited by
-
Death is common, so is understanding it: the concept of death in other species
Synthese (2021)
-
Tonic Immobility and Related Phenomena: A Partially Annotated, Tricentennial Bibliography, 1636–1976
The Psychological Record (1977)
Comments
By submitting a comment you agree to abide by our Terms and Community Guidelines. If you find something abusive or that does not comply with our terms or guidelines please flag it as inappropriate.