260 REPTILES OF THE WORLD 



excites but one idea, a determination to eradicate the 

 "plague" of reptiles. In reality, the presence of the 

 snakes is significant. They instinctively congregate in 

 places where rodents are becoming numerous — the wild 

 mice and rats, and the ground squirrels, each capable 

 of causing the farmer much trouble and loss. Traps are 

 of little avail when pitted against the sagacity of the 

 small, gnawing animals. Farmers fume about the dam- 

 age done to their grain and the ineffective work of the 

 traps ; meanwhile, they continue to slaughter every snake 

 they find about the bins or seeking seclusion under some 

 stray bundle of fodder, not caring to realize that every 

 one of these harmless creatures is equal to half a dozen 

 traps. It would be an easy matter for an intelligent 

 farmer to learn the gross differences between poisonous 

 and harmless snakes, then permit the latter to go unmo- 

 lested. The foolish prejudice against reptiles, however, 

 overrides all desire for argument. Frequent times, 

 when the writer has gone to some pains to explain the 

 subject to an inveterate snake-killer, he has elicited noth- 

 ing but a sarcastic attitude. During a collecting trip 

 he stopped on a farm where the rats were becoming an 

 alarming menace to the owner's scanty profits. Several 

 species of the larger, harmless snakes were common, 

 entering the barns, where they coiled on the girders. 

 The sight of a snake never failed to produce a commo- 

 tion, the gathering of clubs and immediate murder. 

 Poisonous snakes were not found in the neighborhood. 

 Knowing the harmless species to be of economic value 

 to his host, besides in every way inoffensive, the writer 

 ventured to expostulate. His remarks excited caustic 

 replies. Nettled at the result, he suggested each snake 

 killed be brought to him for dissection. This arrange- 

 ment elicited an interesting fact: — Nearly every reptile 



