Questions arise over hoop snakes, gators, coachwhips and other reptiles

Illustration of a hoop snake chasing a rabbit.

A month or so ago, I went on a Boy Scout camping trip with my young son. Our campsite was near a sizeable pond and later that night, when it was good and dark, one of the other men on the trip spotted a half-grown alligator in the water’s edge. We got all the boys together and took them around the pond with flashlights to look for the gator.

While walking around the pond, I told one of the other men that I’d heard all my life that the best way to run from an alligator was to run in a zig-zag pattern. He laughed and said that if the alligator got after us, he’d let me test my theory, but he planned to run as fast as he could in a straight line.

I told him that supposedly, alligators can run pretty fast in a straight line, but they have to slow down when they are forced to change direction. He said this didn’t really make sense, if you think about it, because a gator could cover more ground by running straight from Point A to Point B. If he has sense enough to not fall for a zig-zagging runner, then he’ll intercept his target easily.

This same man, who works professionally as a forester, told me that on a scout trip years before, they actually caught a coachwhip snake while the boys were taking a class on venomous snakes. He explained that coachwhips are pretty rare, and it was surprising to find one on the day that they were actually teaching the boys about snakes.

I told him that I’d always heard that coachwhips would chase you, and he just laughed. Some sources say that this legend grew out of encounters between people and snakes when they were both frightened and ran in the same direction to get away. Coachwhips can often move faster than a human, so this might have given folks the impression that they were being chased.

Of course, this led into a discussion of hoop snakes, which are legendary creatures that can supposedly put their tails in their mouths and roll after their prey like a wheel. Somewhat like Bigfoot, people from time to time claim to see these hoop snakes, and some sources say that the only way to escape one is to hide behind a tree. If it catches you, it will lash out at you with the tip of its tail, which supposedly contains a venomous stinger, or so the story goes.

I’m also reminded of the old wives’ tales about gopher tortoises and loggerheaded turtles. If one ever bites you, it won’t turn loose until the sun goes down. I’ve also heard that it won’t turn loose until it hears thunder. It’s also said that a mortally wounded snake will wiggle until the sun goes down.

In the end, I’d like to hear from anyone in the reading audience with more ideas along these lines. I’d be interested to know if anyone has ever been chased by an alligator and about how that race turned out. Also, if you know of any other reptile-related folklore, let me hear about it, so I can pass it along at a later date.