WILD MICE. 79 



gathering of his food, and the building of his house, costs 

 him " mony a weary nibble," and he must constantly be on 

 the alert, for dangers haunt him on every side. One of his 

 enemies is the snake, all the larger sorts of which pounce 

 upon him in the grass, lie in wait for him in his highway, 

 or steal into his burrow and seize his helpless young, in 

 spite of the frantic fighting of the father, and the stout 

 attempts of the mother to drag her little ones away into 

 safety. A gentleman in Illinois once saw a garter-snake 

 pass rapidly by with a young meadow-mouse in its mouth. 

 Presently an old meadow-mouse came out of the tall grass 

 in pursuit of the snake, which she finally overtook and in- 

 stantly attacked. The snake stopped, disgorged its prey, 

 and defended itself by striking at its assailant, which ap- 

 peared to be beating it, when both animals were killed by 

 the gentleman watching. I am sorry the incident ended so 

 tragically. The courage and affection of the little mother 

 deserved a better reward, and even the garter-snake was en- 

 titled to some sympathy. 



Probably our snakes depend more upon catching mice 

 than upon any other resource for their daily food, and they 

 hunt for them incessantly. Most of the mice have the bad 

 habit of being abroad mainly at night ; so have the snakes ; 

 and the mice thus encounter more foes, and fall an easier 



