Hoop snake

Overview

A legendary serpent of North American (and Australian) folklore that grasps its tail in its mouth and rolls like a wheel to chase prey, striking with a venomous stinger on its tail.

Details

Origin:

Reports cluster in the eastern and midwestern United States and parts of Canada, with Australian parallels.

Regions:

Virginia, West Virginia, Minnesota–Wisconsin border, North Carolina, Prince Edward Island, British Columbia

First Reported:

1784

Full Account

The hoop snake is a legendary creature of North American frontier and lumberjack folklore — and, more sparingly, of Australian folklore — characterised by an unusual mode of locomotion. Rather than slithering, the hoop snake reportedly grasps its tail in its mouth, forms a hoop, and rolls along the ground like a wheel to pursue prey at high speed; at the moment of attack it straightens out and stabs the victim with a venomous stinger on its tail. According to one frequently quoted 1784 letter, the hoop snake 'throws himself into a circle, running rapidly around, advancing like a hoop, with his tail arising and pointed forward.' One distinctive defensive lore: a person attacked by a hoop snake is said to be able to dodge behind a tree, which receives the venomous strike and dies from the toxin, leaving the would-be victim unharmed. The creature is reported across the Eastern and Midwestern United States — particularly Virginia, West Virginia, Minnesota, Wisconsin, and the Carolinas — as well as Prince Edward Island and parts of British Columbia. Naturalist Raymond Ditmars famously offered a standing reward for verified evidence; no specimen has ever been produced. Folklorists and herpetologists generally treat the hoop snake as a tall-tale figure, noting possible inspirations in the rainbow snake (Farancia erytrogramma), mud snake (Farancia abacura), sidewinder rattlesnakes, and the cartwheeling defensive behaviour of the Southeast Asian dwarf reed snake.

Also Known As

• Hoop-snake (United States, Canada)
• Stinging snake (American frontier folklore)

Etymology

Origin:

American English compound: 'hoop' (a circular band) + 'snake'. Named for the legendary tail-in-mouth wheel form of locomotion.

Meaning:

A snake that forms a hoop.

First Use:

Documented in late 18th-century letters; widely circulated in 19th-century American frontier and lumberjack folklore.

Timeline

• 1784-01-01 — Frequently cited 1784 letter describes the hoop snake's hoop-rolling pursuit and venomous tail strike (Earliest commonly cited written description of the hoop snake)
• 1939-01-01 — Henry H. Tryon's Fearsome Critters (Idlewild Press) includes the hoop snake among classic lumberjack fearsome critters (Codifies the hoop snake within the printed fearsome-critter canon)

Sightings & Evidence

Cultural Significance

Treated by some 19th-century rural Americans as a real species; treated today as folklore in both popular and herpetological literature.

Related Phenomena

• Hidebehind — Lumber-camp fearsome critter
• Hugag — Lumber-camp fearsome critter
• Ouroboros — Ancient mythic serpent biting its own tail; iconographic parallel
• Rainbow snake (Farancia erytrogramma) — Real Southeast US snake sometimes proposed as inspiration for hoop snake reports
• Mud snake (Farancia abacura) — Real US snake sometimes proposed as inspiration for hoop snake reports

Tags

Sources

• Hoop snake — Wikipedia
• Fearsome Critters — Idlewild Press, Cornwall, New York