By William T. Cox
Snow snakes are reappearing and snowshoe rabbits are unusually prevalent, according to reports from Northern Minnesota districts in which the snow is deepest, State Forester W. T. Cox announced recently.
Snow snakes first were reported in Minnesota in the winter of 1897-98 when the state record snowfall was 67.6 inches, he announced.
“The snow snake seems to look like a giant cousin of the Alaskan ice worm,” said Mr. Cox. “It burrows in the snow somewhat as the worm honey-combs the ice. It speeds over the snow like a big corkscrew and then resembles a miniature rotary snowplow tunneling through drifts. Its tail is tipped with a ball of white fur that emphasizes the whirling motion.
“Snowy white except for its pale blue eyes, the snow snake lives mainly on snowshoe rabbits and pays little attention to colored objects. It will watch a white man intently, but is blind to [American] Indians.”
Fondness of the snow snake for white rabbits. Mr. Cox announced, may explain the fur tipped tail. He said one report to his office told of a snow snake which caught the iceball on its tail in a bush and died of exhaustion.
Attempts to make photographs of the snow snake have failed, Mr. Cox said, because the camera is unable to discern the snake from snow.
