102 THE AMERICAN MIDLAND NATURALIST 



The ribbon snake can crawl very quickly and its habit of entering water, 

 if any be near, and its ability to thread its way rapidly through vegetation 

 make it difficult to capture. Freshly caught individuals usually resisted by 

 striking repeatedly but some were phlegmatic and made little attempt to 

 escape; caged ones usually remained alert and nervous. The fluid from the 

 musk glands, freely secreted when the snakes were first seized, had a sweet 

 odor. 



Ribbon snakes frequently were found in association with the common 

 garter snake, DeKay's snake and the common water snake. Specimens were 

 collected in every month from February to November inclusive. 



The food consists of cold blooded prey with amphibians and fish appar- 

 ently forming the greater portion. A specimen disgorged a wood frog (Rana 

 sylvatkd) in a collecting sack in the field and a few minutes later swallowed 

 it again. A salamander (Desmognathus fuscus ochrophaeus) was found in the 

 stomach of another. Insects are also eaten (Surface, 1906, 143) but it is 

 possible that many of these were in the stomachs of the amphibians which the 

 snakes devoured. Surface (loc. cit.) records earthworms, but repeated at- 

 tempts to feed these to captive ribbon snakes met with no success. Zoo speci- 

 mens thrived on chopped fish, tadpoles, small frogs, and occasional Plethodont 

 salamanders. 



A female collected in Lucas County during May, 1931, gave birth to 7 

 young, 3 of which were dead; the lengths varied from 8 to 81/2 inches. An- 

 other female 27 inches in length, collected near Andover, Ashtabula County, 

 May 26, 1934, bore 5 young, August 20, 1934. These varied from 8% to 

 91/]^ 6 ^"<^ averaged 8% inches in length. Ruthven (1908, 112) states that 

 the embryos he found in ribbon snakes averaged about a dozen. 



Thamnophis sirtalis sirtalis (Linne) 

 Common Garter Snake 



Description. — A medium-sized snake attaining a length of a yard or more, 

 but averaging one and one half to two and one half feet. Largest adult Ohio 

 specimen (an unusually large female), 44 inches; smallest newly born juve- 

 nile, Sy^ inches. Head medium in size and distinct from neck; eye medium. 

 Head plates normal. Two nasals; the nostril lateral and between them. One 

 loreal. Body slender in juveniles to medium stout in adults. Tail medium 

 slender and tapering to a point; in males 23% to 25%, average 23.8% of the 

 total length; in females 18% to 24%, average 20.8%. 



Dorsal scale rows 19-17; the scales keeled. Upper labials 7, occasionally 

 8, rarely 6. Lower labials 10, occasionally 9, rarely 8 or 11. Oculars 1-3, 

 occasionally 1-4. Temporals 1-2, occasionally 1-3, and 1-1 in 2 specimens. 

 Ventrals in males 145 to 160, average 153.7; in females 142 to 158, average 

 149. Subcaudals in males 69 to 80, average 73.8; in females 55 to 71, average 

 63.4. Anal plate single. 



The color and markings are variable. Normally there is a pattern of three 

 light stripes on a darker ground; a dorsal stripe on the median and halves of 



