588 SNAKES. 



reptiles are in a partially torpid condition, their sensations are 

 slow ; when hibernating, they are reduced to a minimum. 

 At such times, the creatures being half dead, they may be 

 maimed or injured without any apparent effect. Rats have 

 been known to attack and nibble snakes under these 

 circumstances, and even to eat bits out of them, the snakes 

 being at the time unconscious of injury, though possibly 

 dying from the after effects. 



A good deal of very interesting matter might be added on 

 the economics of the reptilian menage, the mode of ventilating 

 and warming it, the cost of its larder, and the best means of 

 preserving the health of the inmates. There are, besides, 

 some incidental experiences not devoid of sensationalism in 

 connection with snake guardianship, but my own herpeto- 

 logical experience does not extend beyond the keeping of 

 pet lizards, including blind-worms. I may add a word, how- 

 ever, in reply to some often-heard lamentations of disappointed 

 spectators who object to the coverlets, after sometimes waiting 

 in vain to see the snakes emerge from beneath them. 



'Those horrid blankets! Why not give the snakes moss 

 or hay in their cages } or turf and sand and dead leaves "i 

 Much more natural for them than those woollen rugs.' 



I, too, may have echoed such plaints until a better 

 comprehension of ophidian nature showed the wisdom of 

 what is certainly a somewhat disappointing arrangement. 

 And those who have honoured these pages with a patient 

 perusal, and discovered the nervous timidity and sensitiveness 

 of these reptiles, their proneness to reject or to disgorge their 

 food, to injure themselves or each other when molested, 

 not to mention the danger of meddling with the venomous 



