King Snakes 



"Milk" Snake can steal enough milk from one of his cows to pro- 

 duce a marked deficiency to be noted at milking time. 



The Milk Snake is a rather secretive species, hiding under 

 flat stones or debris and pi< k rting to prowl late in the day or 

 at twilight than during the brightest hours of light. It is par- 

 ticularly fond of small rodents, and feeds largely upon mice and 

 young rats. Like all the snakes of the genus Ophibolus, its habits 

 incline toward cannibalism, and it feeds frequently upon the 

 young of other snakes, besides such lizards as the "blue-tail" 

 and the swift, which it hunts at night as these creatures take 

 refuge in the crevices of bark on fallen trees. The writer dis- 

 sected a specimen that had been killed in a barn, in Sullivan 

 County, N. Y. The stomach contained five very young rats. 

 Confronted by this demonstration of the reptile's useful habits, 

 the man who had killed the snake stubbornly remarked that "a 

 snake is a snake" and refused further argument. 



In captivity this snake is indifferent in feeding and seldom 

 lives long. It prefers mice, which are quickly constricted to 

 death in the reptile's strong coils. Young specimens can seldom 

 be induced to take food of any character. Although rather a 

 quiet reptile, the Milk Snake will sometimes resent handling in 

 a curious and rather treacherous manner. Without a pretence 

 of striking it will swing the head about suddenly and grasp the 

 hanj, when it deliberately clews in such a manner that the fine, 

 recurved teeth lacerate the flesh sufficiently to bring the blood, 

 although the minute punctures are but very superficial wounds 

 and heal at once, like a scratch from a pin point. 



The breeding habits of this species represents those of the 

 typical oviparous egg-laying snakes. From the notes that 

 follow these characters are well illustrated. 



A specimen taken near Englewood, New Jersey, and measur- 

 ing 31 inches in length, deposited eight eggs, on the loth of July. 

 The eggs were oval, with a leathery shell, and presented the same 

 soft and white external appearance as the surface <;f ;i toadstool. 

 This batch of eggs was placed in damp wood-pulp. At regular 

 intervals one was taken from the lot and opened, in order to 

 observe the growth of the embryos. During the process of 

 of incubation care was taken to keep the eggs from "drowning" 

 absorbing too much moisture. They solidify if kept too 

 damp. A list of the results is given: 



344 



