130 THE SNAKES OF SOUTH AFRICA. 
THE SCHAAPSTEKERS, GRASS SNAKES, AND SAND SNAKES. 
The Schaapstekers, or Sheepstickers, are well known to all 
South African colonists. Their favourite haunts are the grassy 
stunted-shrub-covered districts, dry plains and veld. On the 
Karroo they are common. They are frequently found on the 
grazing grounds and about the sheep kraals, drawn thither by 
the lizards, beetles, larvae, and other living creatures which 
accumulate in and about the excrement of sheep and cattle. 
Now and again a villainous Cobra, or Ringhals, gets irritated at 
the presence of sheep grazing on his hunting grounds, and bites 
one or two. The cobra is a crafty fellow, and can take good care 
of himself. After doing all the damage he can amongst the sheep, 
he retires discreetly to his hole, or into the tangled bush. The 
farmer, or his herdsman, comes along, finds the dying sheep, and 
seeing Schaapstekers about, immediately concludes they are the 
guilty parties, hence the name Schaapsteker, which means 
‘« sheepsticker.”’ 
They are delicate snakes, and do not thrive well in captivity, 
unless the conditions under which they are kept are such as they 
were accustomed to in the wild state. 
The Schaapstekers, Grass Snakes, and Sand Snakes mai rarely 
attempt to bite unless roughly handled or trodden upon. More- 
over, being Back-fanged Snakes, their bite is not much to be 
feared, unless they take a full mouthful of bare flesh, and are 
allowed to retain their hold for a few seconds in order to worry 
the flesh. A bite from any of these Back-fanged Snakes through 
the sleeve or trouser would, in most instances, not develop any 
poisonous symptoms at all. Even if a barefooted person should 
tread upon a Schaapsteker, and it bit him, the chances are that he 
would only be slightly poisoned, for the first instinct of a bitten 
person is to jump aside, or instantly shake the snake off; so, it 
is apparent that in most cases of bites by ordinary Back-fanged 
Snakes, there is little real risk. 
My snake collector, Mr. James Williams, has such a contempt 
for them that he sometimes brings me a pocket-full, and pulls 
them out with his bare hand, one by one. Now and then 
he is bitten. He instantly sucks the wound, and makes a couple 
of slight cuts over the punctures and rubs in a few permanganate 
crystals. Sometimes he feels a slight headache for an hour 
