A Snake in the Grass. 299 



distance lie often meets with an obstruction, and has 

 to remain half in and half out till he can force his 

 way. He usually takes possession of a mouse-hole, 

 and does not seem to be able to enlarge it for ad- 

 ditional convenience. If you put your stick on his 

 head as he slips through the grass his body rolls and 

 twists, and almost ties itself in a knot. 



I have never been able to find a snake in the 

 actual process of divesting his body of the old skin, 

 but have several times disturbed them from a bunch 

 of grass and found the slough in it. There was an 

 old wall, very low and somewhat ruinous, much over- 

 grown with barley-like grasses, where I found a 

 slough several times in succession, as if it had been a 

 favorite resort for the purpose. The slough is a pale 

 color there is no trace on it of the snake's natural 

 hue, and it has when fresh an appearance as if var- 

 nished meaning not the brown color of varnish, but 

 the smoothness. A thin transparent film represents 

 the eyes, so that the country folk say the snake skins 

 his own eyes. 



A forked stick is the best thing to catch a snake 

 with : the fork pins the head to the ground without 

 doing any injury. If held up by the tail that is the 

 way the country lads carry them the snake will not 

 let its head hang down, but holds it up as far as pos- 

 sible : he does not, however, seem able to crawl up 

 himself, so to say ; he is helpless in that position. If 

 he is allowed to touch the arm he immediately coils 

 round it. A snake is sometimes found on the roofs 

 of cottages. The roof in such cases is low, and con- 

 nected by a mass of ivy with the ground, overgrown 

 too with moss aud weeds. 



