119 



of all our snakes. It is fouud everywhere over the couutry, iiud every 

 country school-boy has possibly carried specimens of it in his pocket to 

 the terror of his girl playmates, and has almost certainly killed the 

 snakes bj^ the dozen. This species is not so active as some others, but 

 they are not usually so sluggish as some authors describe them. Hol- 

 brook says that it is exceedingly gentle and can be handled without fear 

 of injury ; indeed, he states that he has never known them attempt 

 to bite. DeKay, on the other hand, says that they will bite and some- 

 times leave troublesoine, but not dangerous, wounds. Both statements 

 seem to exaggerate the usual disposition of the snakes. It is certain 

 that they will at times strike and bite, but it must be rarely, indeed^ 

 that they produce anything worse than a few slight scratches. 



These snakes are frequently found in moist situations, either near the- 

 water or even swimming about in it. They can not, however, be called 

 aquatic. They are likely to be found in or near the water because 

 there they can find abundant prey. They are often seen far away from 

 the water in dry fields. Drs. Coues and Yarrow say of parietalis, that 

 it is common in the clear, cold waters of lakes and streams of Dakota- 

 and Montana, and was often seen swimming freely in deep water at some 

 distance from shore. This snake lives on frogs, toads, insects and small 

 mammals. All observing persons have probably seen in this snake illus- 

 trations of the great size of prey that a serpent can swallow. The frog 

 is often of a considerably greater diameter than the snake itself One 

 writer (22, ii, 50) relates an instance of a Garter-snake chasing and 

 catching a mouse. Immediately the snake enveloped the mouse in its 

 coils, crushed it boa-constrictor-like, and then swallowed it. Another 

 writer (22, '84, 88) tells of seeing the Garter-snake in a pool catching 

 small fishes. Shortly afterwaixl in passing the pool it was dried up, and 

 this snake was eating the dead fishes. On the other hand, the snake is 

 preyed on by hawks, owls, hogs, ducks, and turkeys. I have seen a cat 

 eat a Garter-snake. 



These snakes, like others of the genus, are ovoviviparous. The num- 

 ber of young produced at a time is considerable. Prof. F. W. Putnam 

 (22, ii, 134) informs us that on July 1, in a female 35 inches long, he 

 found 42 nearly developed young, each of which was 5.5 inches long. 

 Dr. J. Schneck, of Mt. Carmel, 111., says (22, xvi, 1008) that from a 

 female 35 inches long he took 78 young from 3 to 7 inches in length. 

 They were pressed from the vent. The first twenty were free, the others 

 confined within the egg-coverings. In a female 33 inches long, taken by 

 Dr. Alex. Jameson near Indianapolis, about August 1, I find 39 young 

 snakes not yet ready to be born. The food-yolk is not all used up. The 

 egg-tooth is present. A female from Paris, III., contained 35 young, 

 each 7 inches long. The food-yolk was all gone and the egg-tooth shed. 

 It appears that the young are born late in the summer or early in the 



