'Pump Snakes' | Shenzhen Pump Inc.

As one might suspect, on a wide open North Dakota prairie, when the work is done for the day, it’s time for stories. Sometimes, when the facts were a little skimpy, old timers of the area would improvise.

One of these more interesting “improvised stories” comes from Emmons County, in central North Dakota in the spring of 1886. It tells of one of nature’s strangest creatures, the Pump Snake.

Fully grown, the pump snake measured sixteen feet in length and about three inches in diameter. If dissected, one would find a two-inch diameter rubber-like tube, running the length of its body.

Unlike other snakes, the pump snakes ran in herds, and on one occasion a herd of 300 was observed slithering across the North Dakota prairie. Also unlike other reptiles of their family, Pump Snakes can be easily trained to answer the call of man.

Upon hearing a whistle from their trainer, the Pump Snakes would slither off to the nearby creek, always following their leader. All Pump Snake herds had a leader.

Upon reaching the creek, the lead Pump Snake slithers into the water, leaving only a portion of its tail on the bank. Another pump snake then takes hold of the lead snake’s tail in its jaws. Then a third snake takes hold the second snake’s tail. Before long, there is one continuous snake, measuring over 300 feet long.

The lead pump snake starts to rapidly swallow water, passing the water through each of the snakes behind him, like water passing through a hose. The result is a steady stream of water coming out of the last snake’s tail!

As the story goes, one day while tending to yard work, the farmer was shocked to see that his shed had caught fire. Wild with excitement, yet helpless to stop the flames, the farmer watched as the flames grew higher.

Suddenly, the herd of pump snakes slithered into action. Within minutes they had formed a continuous line from the creek to the shed. The last snake, standing on its head, waved the long flexible tail end of his body, and began squirting water on the flames. Within about twenty minutes the fire was extinguished. Needless to say, the snakes were exhausted.

No one from Cat Tail Creek knows when the last Pump Snake died out, but the story that’s a little “skimpy of facts” lives on.

“Dakota Datebook” is a radio series from Prairie Public in partnership with the State Historical Society of North Dakota and with funding from Humanities North Dakota. It is edited for presentation on Forum Communication Co. sites by Jeremy Fugleberg, editor of The Vault. See all the Dakota Datebooks at prairiepublic.org, subscribe to the “Dakota Datebook” podcast, or buy the Dakota Datebook book at shopprairiepublic.org.