THE SNOW SNAKE
Aestatesommus hiemepericulosus
During the year of the Two Winters, when the July temperature dropped to -62°, these pink-eyed, whlte-bodied, savage serpents crossed over from Siberia via Bering Strait. They are bad actors, the venom is deadly, with a speed of action second only to that of the Hood Snake or the Hamadryad.7
Hibernating in summer but becoming active in Winter, the Snow Snake coils on a low drift where its pure white color makes it wholy invisible to its prey. One strike is sufficient. Mankind is not often bitten as he makes too big a mouthful. But sometimes a Snake will get over-ambitious. When this does happen, tanglefoot oil is the only known remedy.
“I Was treed by a Snow Snake” is still a much-used explanation of a late home-coming.