THE REPTILES OF OHIO 91 



County: 4 ml. W of Bryan (TZS 1759). Wood County: W of Bowling Green 

 (BGSU); Grand Rapids (Cope. 1900); Tontogany (TZS 395); opposite Waferville. 



Habitat and Habits. — In many localities DeKay's snake is an abundant 

 serpent. While it is common and well distributed in many parts of the state 

 it is seldom seen abroad except in early spring. At this season, in common 

 with other snakes, the breeding instinct appears to be paramount to every 

 other and specimens may show practically none of their accustomed caution. 

 Many were found moving about in open fields and by roadsides, and they 

 were also discovered along shallow ditches into which they dove and swam 

 away. Males were apparently the most active and in spring collections they 

 outnumbered the females. In summer when the females were heavy with 

 young this sex was taken more commonly and numerous collections made at 

 that time of year showed the males to be in the minority. 



Under ordinary circumstances DeKay's snake is a secretive serpent and a 

 large majority of the specimens were taken in such favorite hiding places as 

 under stones, boards and the bark of rotting logs. Moist woods, wet prairies 

 and meadows, the environs of bogs and swamps, farmlands and city parks are 

 included among the habitats occupied by this species. Moisture appears to be 

 more or less a necessity and none were taken in actually dry situations. Their 

 ability to keep well hidden is no doubt responsible for their abundance in 

 many urban areas, even in small parcels of unoccupied land surrounded by 

 human habitations. 



A more inoffensive snake is difficult to imagine. None of the many col- 

 lected attempted to bite and aside from the efforts to crawl away or wriggle 

 from between the fingers the only defense activity was a tendency to flatten 

 the body and use the musk glands. The flattening was not carried to such an 

 extent as in Kirtland's snake, but the action helped to brighten the pattern by 

 spreading the scales apart and revealing the skin between them. The secretion 

 from the musk glands had a sweet odor which was not particularly unpleasant. 



DeKay's snakes were collected every month in the year. November and 

 December were lowest with three specimens each but April was by far the 

 highest with over a third of the entire catch. October was second with slightly 

 more than half as many as April, and May was third with somewhat less. A 

 graph of the seasonal distribution would show a sharp peak for April with a 

 drop in May, a tapering downward during the summer months and a second 

 lesser peak in October. Specimens taken during the winter were out on warm 

 days or were discovered in barns or houses. DeKay's snakes were found in 

 one locality or another with all the other species of snakes known to occur 

 over a considerable portion of glaciated Ohio. 



The food consists largely of earthworms and slugs. A Hardin County 

 specimen was discovered in the act of swallowing a small slug. It lay at length 

 upon a weed some six inches from the ground and when it was picked up it 

 disgorged another slug. The vegetation was wet and examination revealed 

 that slugs were numerous in the immediate vicinity. Several others disgorged 

 earthworms when captured. Surface (1906, 139) gives the food as slugs and 

 snails 67^/c, insect larvae 16% and earthworms 17%- Captives fed well on 

 earthworms. 



