href="@public@vhost@g@gutenberg@html@files@38308@[email protected]#Page_460" class="pginternal" tag="{http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml}a">460

Food Habits 461   Methods of Obtaining Prey 461   Food and Food Preferences 462 Mortality Factors 465   Natural Enemies and Predators 465   Parasites and Diseases 465   Miscellaneous Causes of Death 466 Behavior 466   Annual and Diel Cycles of Activity 466   Basking 469   Coiling 469   Locomotion 470   Disposition 470   Defense and Escape 471   "Head Bobbing" 471   Combat Dance 472 The Venom 473   Properties of the Venom 473   Venom Yield and Toxicity 473   Susceptibility of Snakes 475 The Bite 476   Effects of the Bite 476   Treatment 477   Case History of a Bite 479   Snakebite in the United States 480 Summary 480 Literature Cited 485

---

INTRODUCTION

Objectives of the study here reported on were to: (1) learn as much as possible concerning the natural history and economic importance of the cottonmouth; (2) determine what factors limit its geographic distribution; (3) determine the role of the cottonmouth in its ecological community; and (4) compare the cottonmouth's life history with that of other crotalid snakes, especially the kinds that are most closely related to it.

Twenty-five live cottonmouths were kept in the laboratory for the purpose of studying behavior and fang shedding and for comparison of measurements with those of preserved specimens. Live snakes were obtained in Brazoria and Nacogdoches counties, Texas, from Hermann Park Zoo, Houston, Texas, and from the late Paul Anderson of Independence, Missouri. Preserved western cottonmouths were examined for the purpose of determining variation, distribution, food habits, body proportions, embryonic