FEEDING HABITS OF SNAKES 



243 



Feeding Habits of Snakes. 



The Curator of Reptiles at the New 

 York Zoological Park points out that 

 our common venomous serpents have 

 two quite different methods of hand- 

 ling their prey. Those which live on 

 smooth-skinned, cold-blooded, and de- 

 fenceless creatures like frogs have their 

 poison teeth short and at the back of 

 the mouth. These bite hard, send the 

 poison down a groove into the wound, 

 and hold on till the prey is dead. 



Those snakes, on the other hand, 

 which live on warm-blooded, active, 

 fighting creatures, have tubular fangs 

 long enough to stab through fur or 

 feathers, and set forward in the mouth. 

 These snakes give one quick stabbing 

 bite, immediately let go, and follow the 

 stricken animal at a safe distance till 

 he succumbs. A few snakes that eat 

 both sorts of animal hold one and stab 

 the other. 



This trick of striking and letting go 

 seems to be the only foundation for 

 all the old yarns of serpents fascinating 

 their victims. Somebody happens 

 upon a bird, evidently in sore straits, 

 with disheveled feathers and wabbling 

 legs. Pretty soon it falls off its perch 

 to the serpent waiting below. It looks 

 as if the latter had held it with his 

 glittering eye. But if the observer had 

 been on hand five minutes sooner, he 

 might have seen the same serpent 

 strike the same bird and let it go again 

 to save its own skin. The "charm" 

 of the watching reptile is only the 

 poison of the previous bite. Neverthe- 

 less, snakes do apparently use their 

 red forked tongues to arouse the bird's 

 curiosity and lure it within striking 

 distance. 



Curator Ditmars describes the ordi- 

 nary water snakes as swimming along 

 the bottom of ponds for the sake of 

 getting under the schools of small fish. 

 Whenever they see these against the 

 light they turn up suddenly, with open 

 mouth, and grab whatever fortune 

 brings them. A single reptile, hardly 

 more than a yard long, disgorged when 

 captured three sunfish and eleven 

 suckers running three and four inches 

 in length. Naturally, such creatures 

 play sad havoc in ponds stocked with 

 game fish. 



One function of the somewhat mild 

 venom of certain of these water ser- 



pents is to paralyze the muscles of the 

 fish so that the finnrays lie flat and 

 harmless while the mouthful is being 

 swallowed head first. 



"Sap" by the Pailful at Any Time. 



Every boy on an isolated country 

 farm, and dependent upon his own re- 

 sources for enjoyment, knows especi- 

 ally well the delight of tapping certain 



trees and of going every day to take a 

 pailful of the delicious natural water 

 that the tree has poured out at his 

 bidding. 



It may easily be imagined that Mr. 

 Fitch A. Hoyt of Stamford, Connecti- 

 cut, has had such experiences or has 

 been greatly attracted by accounts of 

 them, for with considerable Yankee in- 

 genuity he has placed near a wayside 

 well a pump within a tree. This orig- 

 inal device that ornaments the roadside 

 in front of his daughter's (Mrs. Paul 

 Lockwood's) home is not intended for 

 the use of the family only, but the 

 "sap" that flows from the tree is free 



AN ORNAMENTAL AND USEFUL PUMP. 



