356 THE BIRD WATCHER 
If, therefore, we putg@rat, or a guinea-pig, into a cage 
so small, or so bare, that its reptile occupant is con- 
spicuously visible, then, if the sight is fraught with 
any meaning, or disagreeable sensation, for it, we do 
not treat the creature fairly. We are modifying 
nature, to the great increase, possibly, of its suffer- 
ings, for it may be some time before the snake acts, 
and if it were not seen, or noticed, till it did, its action 
might be so sudden as to leave little or no room for 
previous disquietude. In some way or another, there- 
fore, either by the spaciousness of the cage, or the 
cover which it provides, or by giving it something to 
eat, the prey should always be made happy and com- 
fortable during the interim between its being put 
inside, and the attack, or first offensive movements, of 
the snake. It should never be allowed to sit shiver- 
ing, as it were, in the expectation of some dreadful 
thing—not, that is to say, before the snake obliges it 
to do so. Another most important point is this. 
Under nature, and in their own homes, snakes are in 
possession of their full muscular and vital energies 
during the time of year at which they are abroad, and 
take their meals. If they are not so, also, in captivity, 
then we do a grave wrong to an animal in exposing it 
to a death which, for this reason, is both more painful 
and more protracted. As to the poisonous snakes, 
their poison, I suppose, retains its strength in cap- 
tivity, and if so—but not otherwise—I can see 
nothing more dreadful in the death, by this means, of 
a rat, or guinea-pig, in a cage, than in that of a marmot 
