THE SNAKES 271 



King Snake toward man when it is such a notorious 

 fighter among all kinds of serpents. 



A large King Snake is two inches in diameter and 

 six feet long. In the lower Mississippi Valley is Say's 

 King Snake, O. getulus sayi, blackish, with a pale green 

 spot in the center of each scale. In the southwest United 

 States may be found another variety — Boyle's King 

 Snake, O. g. boylii; the coloration is attractive: — dark 

 brown or black, with chalky white or pale yellow bands 

 crossing the back and widening on the sides. 



As an object of ridiculous stories, we may take the 

 Milk Snake, O. doliatus, variety triangulus, alleged to 

 steal milk from the cows. The length is about a yard, 

 the color gray with chestnut saddles on the back. 

 Throughout the northeastern portion of the United 

 States it is abundant. 



A farmer once told the writer one of the cows had 

 been giving a small quantity of milk. On an evening 

 just before milking time, the "cause" of the trouble, a 

 large Milk Snake, was seen gliding from the yard and 

 immediately killed. From that time, the farmer ex- 

 plained, the cow was giving her expected quantity. 

 When the man was asked how a snake a yard long and 

 less than an inch thick could steal enough milk from a 

 cow to produce a noticeable effect, he paused in some 

 embarrassment, when a happy thought caused him to 

 exclaim that snakes were queer things and capable of 

 performing strange feats. Suffice it to say, the capacity 

 of a reptile this size would be not more than an ounce 

 of fluid if it were to feel comfortable, which amount 

 should not produce any great effect upon the poorest 

 cow that ever grazed on sterile soil. In reality, the 

 presence of "Milk" Snakes about farms and the like 

 comes from the prevalence of mice in such places. 



