The Rat Snakes or Colubers 



Steady contraction of the swallowing muscles, the shell of each 

 egg is broken; the fragments are swallowed together with the 

 contents of the eggs, and are digested. Although all of the 

 colubers show a fondness for eggs and swallow them in this man- 

 ner, the present species is peculiar in being frequently discovered 

 in the neighborhood of the poultry yards; hence its name — the 

 Chicken Snake. In this habit of preying upon domestic poultry 

 and the eggs, the reptile is rivalled by the Pilot Blacksnake 

 {Coluber obsoletus), which, in some parts of the South is called the 

 Black Chicken Snake. 



Bold, and comparatively fearless as compared with most 

 serpents, the Chicken Snake will frequently move lazily away 

 if surprised, or if cornered, will turn and strike viciously, assuming 

 a position with head and neck raised some distance from the 

 ground, the neck in a close S-loop, ready for a long thrust of the 

 head in the direction of the creature's anger. At such times 

 the tail is so rapidly shaken that the tip appears blurred and 

 produces a distinct whirring sound. 



When overpowered and held by the neck this serpent emits a 

 strong, and to many a very offensive odour, coming from a secre- 

 tion in glands at the base of the tail and voluntarily ejected. The 

 secretion is white and viscid and at once suggests the strong odour 

 about the quarters of a captive fox. Many snakes have this 

 character in making themselves offensive to man, but it exists 

 among different kinds to a greater or less degree, the colubers 

 and the water snakes being particularly noteworthy. It is be- 

 lieved that these scent glands are primarily of use during the 

 breeding season, when one reptile may easily follow the trail or 

 scent of another. Captive specimens of the Chicken Snake 

 become tame and when accustomed to being handled never emit 

 the powerful odour described. They feed entirely upon warm- 

 blooded prey and eggs, always killing the former by constriction 

 before swallowing it. Very young specimens, are less particular. 

 They will eat small frogs, the grubs of beetles, and are canni- 

 balistic. A captive a few weeks old, swallowed several young 

 garter snakes. 



The species is oviparous, depositing about two dozen eggs 

 during June or July. A large specimen deposited twenty-two 

 eggs under a piece of bark in her cage, on the 27th of July. To 

 make a snug nest for the eggs, she crawled under the bark and 



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