Leon Hale: One of the customers, Joyce Denham, has sent me a hoop-snake-sighting report, the first I've received in almost two years. She was at Langtry, which is upstream from Del Rio on the Rio Grande, and she saw this hoop snake rolling across what she calls the desert.Nothing especially exciting in the report. Just that snake, making a circle of itself and rolling along, not bothering anybody.I've been getting hoop-snake stories for I guess 50 years. A reptile of this kind puts its tail in its mouth, arranges itself in a circle, and travels by rolling like a hoop at impressive speeds.All the snake books I ever read, written by experts, say no such creature exists. Yet I keep getting these hoop-snake-sighting reports, from perfectly intelligent people.I ought to tell you that Denham saw that snake a long time ago, and is just now telling me about it. Most of the sightings I hear about happened a long time ago that way. I would be really interested in receiving a hoop-snake sighting made in recent times, say within the last couple of years.So if you see one, let me know. Don't hesitate to include lots of detail. Exactly when and where the sighting occurred. The estimated size of the snake. The direction of its travel, and its approximate speed. Did it seem to be chasing anything? Were there witnesses other than yourself?Please don't try to fool me. You'll be wasting your effort.

I know what a real hoop-snake sighting is like. A few days after the last time I mentioned these interesting reptiles, I received a report about a hoop snake 12 feet long that had a luminous stinger on the end of its tail and it went around stinging cattle and trees and killing them.Come on, if we're to unravel this mystery, we must deal with real hoop snakes, not imaginary ones. I am holding out for a photograph of a hoop snake.Speaking of pictures, has anybody else received the photos of the lion-killing mule?

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I live in Ontario Canada, and have heard about hoop snakes all my child hood from my father and a few relatives. If you think about it the hoop snake is an old wives tale to keep there children around the house and yard. They didn't want the children wandering off. Using the hoop snake story of speed and death bite done the job. I am amazed that this legend has travelled so far and people are still talking about them.

I heard my grandmother talk about this one time. Nothing real spectacular other then that it startled her. She lives in Northern Colorado in a kind of dessert type area. Not alot of detail to go with it. Just that she saw a strange circle traveling across the ground, and she watched it cause it was out of place and seemed odd. Then the circle hit a rock that was buried half in the ground, and she realised it was a snake cause it let go and then slithered on for a bit out of site. Thats pretty much it. Happened around 40ish years ago.

I remember a book of old western lore that showed a sketch of the hoop snake.
Also Pacas Bill, Paul Bunyan,Babe the Blue OX- Didn't think any one took it seriously.

Maybe sometimes snakes get bored so they wait around for one or two people to see them and then make themselves into hoops and roll past. Then they probably go back to their dens and laugh themselves silly knowing that no one will believe the witnesses.

that'd be so awesome to witness!

gees... and i thought hoop snakes were native to only australia

Never heard of this. THis is the only site that gots info on it. Tryed doing more research....nothing much more....

Hoop snakes would be really kewl to see, if they were real. My burning question is - if these snakes are real, how would they get themselves moving once they turn themselves into a hoop?

Start at the top of a really long hill, and hope there are no ROCKS!

i'd say it would be pretty easy... just start a rocking motion, much like that of a swing... and go like the clappers

I wonder if a Kangaroo could use it for a neckless?