THE OREGON NATURALIST. 



'35 



had been in the barrel for three weeks 1 of snakes eating until they would burst, 

 began to fear that they were starving, and but still I was astonished at this wonder- 

 concluding that they had been punished ful voracity. There may be some excuse 

 long enough for nothing, 1 turned them for Ted's gluttony, for eating was not an 

 out. At the same time 1 put three nearly every day affair with him and he did not 

 grown toads into the barrel. Ted did not touch food again for ten days, 

 offer to touch any of them while I was Of course my young friends were eager 

 watching him, but the moment that I to see the curious snake. When they saw 

 turned away I heard a pitiful squeak, the his threatening actions they always asked, 

 snake had caught a toad. "Is he venomous?" "Will he bite?" and 

 The poor toad made no resistance what- when 1 answered "no" to both questions 

 ever but still you might suppose that he -they said that he must be a "great bluffer." 

 would be a rather difficult object to swallow "How can he flatten himself out so, and 

 for he was bigger round than his captor how can he travel about so fast without 



and snakes have no teeth suitable for 

 cutting up their food. 



Having to swallow his food whole the 

 snake has a peculiarly constructed mouth. 

 The upper jaws are not firmly jointed to 

 the lower but are united by highly elasti( 



legs?" were questions put to me by almost 

 all my young visitors. A snake, I would 

 explain, has a great many pairs of ribs. 

 I never counted the ribs of but one snake 

 and it had one hundred and seventy five 

 pairs. The ribs of a snake are not 



ligaments so that they may be stretched fastened together, or to the backbone, 

 far apart and allow the reptile to swallow firmly and immovably as yours and mine 

 objects larger around than himself. In are, but are secured by joints almost like 

 like manner each side of the jaw is loosely our shoulder joints, so that the snake. 



joined to the other so that the snake can 

 open one side of his mouth and keep the 

 other shut. 



As Ted swallowed his toad I saw a fine 

 example of the snake's mouth at work. 

 Holding his victim firmly with one side of 



having no breast bone, can spread out his 

 ribs and flatten himself. When he travels 

 he moves them back and forth, using them 

 very much as the centipede uses his many 

 legs, except that the snake's ribs, being 

 beneath the skin, are not provided with 



his mouth he would open the other side, feet. There are no scales on the under 



push the raised side of his upper jaw sideof his body but he has a large number 



forward a little, catch a fresh hold, then of horny plates reaching from one side to 



he could raise the other side of his upper to the other. The back edges of the plates 



jaw, advance it and catch a fresh hold in are loose and sharp and as the serpent's 



the same way. As the toad was being skin is worked bacl\ and forth they catch 



drawn into his mouth the snake's head on the rough places on the surface over 



was stretched so completely out of shape which he is travelling and help him along, 



that you could scarcely have told what Many snakes can ascend trees, these 



the creature was, but as soon as the great plates catching on every little projection 



lump disappeared down his throat his head of the bark- 



reassumed its natural shape. One evening 1 put Ted in my pocket 



Ted had eaten nothing for over three and took him to town to show him to a 



weeks and even this very hearty meal merchant. When 1 took him from my 



was notenough to satisfy him, and incred- pocket and put him down on the glass top 



ible as it may seem, he caught and ate the of a large show case in the store he 



other two toads the same day. I had read squirmed and twisted but could not crawl 



