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172 IGUANA  •  VOLUME 15, NUMBER 3  •  SEPTEMBER 2008 HISTORICAL PERSPECTIVES

While studying the geology of Buck Peak, twelve miles west
of Riddle, Douglas Co., Oregon, last September, I saw a

mortal combat that interested me very much because so anom-
alous. James Storrs, a mountaineer and trapper of California,
well acquainted with the habits of wild animals, was with me at
the time and remarked that it was “the first ring engagement he
had ever seen in which the salamander showed any sand.” In
these strenuous days of nature faking it is after all not surprising
that even the salamanders are beginning to take an active part in
affairs.

We watched the progress of the fight for a few moments
each time at intervals of about forty-five minutes for three hours.

Thinking that the occurrence might be familiar to herpetol-
ogists, I sent a brief account of it to my friend Dr. C. Hart
Merriam for information. In his reply he regarded the observa-
tion as important and expressed a request that the account be
published in SCIENCE as a matter of permanent record.

The combatants were a salamander and a garter snake. The
salamander was about eight inches in length, of a rather dark
brown color above and lighter below. On the back and sides
including the tail were irregularly elongated roundish darker
spots. His smooth skin was naturally moist and being plump
and chunky he seemed to be a bull-dog of his kind. Judging
from the specimens kindly shown me by Dr. Stejneger in the
National Museum the salamander was probably an Amblystoma
[= Ambystoma].

The garter snake was of good size, about two feet in length,
and with other stripes had reddish-brown markings on the sides.
Both animals seemed to be in perfect condition for a hard fight.

When first seen in a narrow dry water course I supposed
that the snake was swallowing the salamander, but the squirm-
ing of the snake attracted closer attention and the salamander
was found to have a firm grip on the snake at the base of the
right jaw and neck. The snake could not bite the salamander but
writhed so as to turn him over and over and drag him along on
his side or back without affecting the grip of the salamander. His
whole attention seemed to be given to holding on without car-
ing whether he was right side up or not.

This moderately active writhing in which the snake fur-
nished all the energy continued for over two hours with gradu-
ally waning strength on the part of the snake. In the course of
the struggle they passed beneath a bank and out of sight, but
when last seen, half an hour later they were out again at the old
place. This time all was quiet. The salamander was now in con-
trol. He had changed his grip. He was directly in front of the
snake and had a deep hold on its upper jaw covering its nostrils.
The lower jaw of the snake was hanging limp. The salamander
seemed fresh in the enjoyment of his victory, while the snake was
nearly dead.

A Salamander-Snake Fight3

J.S. Diller

U.S. Geological Survey
Washington, D.C.

3 Originally published in Science, New Series, Vol. 26, No. 678 (27
December 1907), pp. 907–908.

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