SERPENTS OF THE NORTHEASTERN STATES 27 



rated after eating, or if the reptile is angry and greatly flattens the 

 body. Coloration and pattern are quite variable. The stripes may be 

 more or less distinct. When the side stripes are present, they are 

 always on the second and third rows of scales, counting upward from 

 the abdominal plates. With some specimens the central stripe may be 

 ragged or broken, and with others from the mountainous areas of 

 New England, the stripe is usually very faint or absent. With these, 

 the tessellated pattern of the skin invades the scale coloration, pro- 

 ducing a checkered effect. The side stripes remain to assist in iden- 

 tification. 



The garter snake feeds only upon cold-blooded prey such as frogs, 

 toads, tadpoles, salamanders and earthworms. The length of a large 

 female adult is about a yard, while the males are seldom more than 

 two to two and one-half feet in length. This is a viviparous species, 

 bringing forth as many as thirty young in a litter. The markings of 

 the young are similar to those of the parent, although the tendency 

 toward tessellated pattern may be more pronounced. 



General range: Probably extending further north in easterly 

 Canada than any other species of serpent. According to Dr. Thomas 

 Barbour, it ranges up to the 50th degree of latitude. It is found 

 southward to Florida and westward to Minnesota and Missouri. Sub- 

 species carry the range to the Pacific Coast. 



Part II: Venomous Snakes 



The three poisonous snakes coming within the scope of this ar- 

 ticle are members of the Family Crotalidae. In non-technical terms 

 they are called pit vipers, owing to the presence on both sides of the 

 head, between the eye and the nostril, of a deep pit, appearing more 

 prominent than the nostril itself. Another external characteristic ren- 

 ders them unique among the local species. This is the form of the 

 pupil of the eye, which is elliptical. In the non-venomous species the 

 pupil is round. The arrangement of the plates or scales under the 

 tail is a third means of differentiation. They occur in a double row 

 from the vent to the tip of the tail in the non-venomous species, while 

 among the poisonous snakes the plates from the vent to the tip of 

 the tail are in a single row, except with the copperhead, where the 

 scales separate into two rows near the tip. 



The crotaline serpents are provided with a pair of long, hollow 

 teeth in the forward portion of the upper jaw. These are the fangs, 

 which have an orifice at the tip, like a hypodermic needle, for the in- 

 jection of poison when they are driven into an offending object by a 

 combination strike and bite, or by a deliberate bite alone. A tubular 

 connection from the base or top of each fang extends backward to a 

 poison gland on each side of the head. When the serpent bites, a con- 



