62 Trans. Acad. Sci. of St. Louis. 



shot. In spring farmers often plow up snakes, lizards 

 and salamanders. 



An old style fish bucket with a perforated inside pocket 

 is the best thing to carry home the catch alive. There 

 should also be separate receptacles for emergency. 

 Toads, frogs and salamanders must be moistened occa- 

 sionally to keep them alive. Specimens that have been 

 shot and killed should be placed in the preserving fluid 

 at once. A pair of pinchers or tongs, made of two half- 

 round sticks about three feet long, with a screw as a 

 fulcrum about six inches from one end, is very service- 

 able in catching poisonous snakes. All the Pit Vipers, 

 such as Copperheads, Cottonmouths, and Rattlesnakes, 

 may be picked up by the tail and dropped into a bucket, 

 which, of course, must be closed very quickly. These 

 snakes are too clumsy to reach the hands quickly. 



The preserving fluid. — Either alcohol or formaldehyde 

 (also called formalin) should be used for preserving. 

 Mix one pint of clean water with one ounce of formal- 

 dehyde. This mixture is strong enough to preserve 

 snakes, lizards and turtles. For frogs, toads and sala- 

 manders mix % ounce of formaldehyde with one pint of 

 water. If alcohol is used, take it as strong as you can 

 get it for snakes, lizards and turtles, but for salamanders, 

 toads and frogs use only a mixture of half alcohol and 

 half water. Two tablespoonsful of formaldehyde is equal 

 to one ounce. 



How to kill the specimen. — The easiest and quickest 

 way to kill a turtle, lizard, snake, toad, or large frog is 

 with a 40% solution of formaldehyde injected hypoderm- 

 ically near the heart. Even a four or five feet snake will 

 be dead in five or ten minutes. For salamanders and 

 small frogs an 8% solution is sufficient. 



How to prepare and preserve the specimen. — After the 

 animal is dead it should be placed in a flat-bottomed re- 

 ceptacle, such as a soup plate, in the desired position. 



