SNAKES. 231 
thought was far too small to receive their bodies. However, they 
got away, and I learnt a lesson. 
Care should be taken not to give them the gaily-coloured 
worms alluded to in a former article, as they seem to act as a 
Xu 
poison to all reptiles and batrachians which happen to eat them. 
Young Snakes slough more frequently than their older relatives 
do, and the process does not seem to try them so much as it 
certainly will do should they reach maturity. 
The Grass Snake when gently and regularly handled soon 
becomes quite tame. It is, however, even for a Snake, a nervous 
animal, and should be treated accordingly. The late Mr. Thomas 
Bell, in his “‘ British Reptiles,” says that this creature “may be 
made to distinguish those who caress and feed it. Ihad one many 
years since, which knew me from all other persons; and, when 
let out of his box, would immediately come to me and crawl 
under the sleeve of my coat, where he was fond of lying perfectly 
still, and enjoying the warmth. He was accustomed to come to 
my hand for a draught of milk every morning at breakfast, which 
he always did of his own accord; but he would fly from 
strangers, and hiss if they meddled with him.” In the ninth 
volume of ‘‘ Chambers’s Miscellany,” the writer of an article on 
‘“ Anecdotes of Serpents” says that ‘‘ We have ourselves known 
the Common Ringed Snake of our heaths so tamed by a herd-boy 
as to coil and uncoil itself at his desire, to follow even in the 
fields for a short distance, and to retreat to the box in which it 
was usually kept on his giving a peculiar signal. The specimen 
was the largest of its size we have ever seen, being more than 
24ft. in length; it lived for several summers, and died, we 
believe, from being over-fed, and not being allowed the necessary 
duration of torpidity during winter.” 
T once possessed a large Grass Snake which was so unusually 
tame (he was also a great eater) as to leave his fellows, and to 
come to me when the door of his case was opened. Some friends 
seeing him do this one day exclaimed: “ Why, how fond that 
Snake is of you.” I think, however, that his affection for me was 
doubtful, but I believe he appreciated the warmth of my hands. 
T. natriz does not require much heat during winter when not 
hibernating. The temperature of a greenhouse, or that of an 
