In each issue this year, we're highlighting one artifact from the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department's historical collections.
This unusual artifact was found beneath a tree in the Hill Country. There are several possible historical uses for glass eggs:
- To control snakes in chicken coops. A snake might eat the glass egg rather than a real egg and crawl off to die, sparing the other eggs in the coop.
- To encourage young hens to lay more. “Egg counterfeits” were said to help increase egg production.
- To kill lice, which live on hens. It's unclear if this was an actual function or a dubious advertising claim — a 1922 garden guide touted the glass eggs as “Lice Exterminator” and “Friend of the Hen.”
Which use this particular egg served is anyone's guess, although its location under a tree has led our cultural resources team to suspect it may have been eaten by a hungry snake.
