From the Epigrams of Martial:
Not serpents in the sunshine hissing; Not snake in tail that carries rattle
Martial was a Roman from the 1st century AD. How is it that he describes what sounds like a rattlesnake even though all known species are native to the Americas?
Looks like a very poetic interpretation of Martial III, 44, in which these three lines appear:
Non tigris catulis citata raptis, / non dipsas medio perusta sole, / nec sic scorpios inprobus timetur.
"Neither the tigress enraged by her robbed kittens / nor the venomous burning snake under the midday sun / nor the villainous Scorpion is as feared as you."
Scorpio is pretty uncontroversial here.
It's a flourish added by the translator. It's not in the original Latin.
Non tigris catulis citata raptis,
non dipsas medio perusta sole,
nec sic scorpios inprobus timetur.
Nam tantos, rogo, quis ferat labores?