GiiAP. 4. 



REPTILES OF VERMONT. 



115 



SEIIPENTS. THE STKU'ED SNAKK. 



THE RIBBAND SNAKE. 



birds, and is said sometimes to catch 

 cliickens. 



ORDER II— SAURIA. 

 LIZARDS. 



These have elongated bodies, covered 

 with scales, usually four feet; some v>'ith 

 claws and some without ; an elongated 

 tail ; month furnished with teeth. No 

 .«;pecies of this order has been observed in 

 \'erraont. The reptiles usually called 

 Lizards Irere all belong to the Salaman- 

 der family. 



ORDER III— OPHIDI/\. 

 SERPENTS. 



Serpents have a heart with tv\'o auri- 

 cles, an elono'ated, cylinilrical bo<ly, des- 

 titute of feet, and for the most part cov- 

 ered with scales. They move by means 

 of the folds and flexure of their bodies. 

 They are sometimes divided into venomous 

 and non-venomous. The Rattle Snake is 

 the only venomous or poisonous serpent 

 found in Vermont. 



Genus Coluber. — Linncrus. 

 Generic Characters. — Budy long, cylin- 

 drical and tapering, head oblong, covered above 

 with smoolli polygon,-*! plates ; above covered 

 with rboniboidal scales, imbricate, reticulated, 

 carinafed, or smooth ; abdomen wiili transverse 

 plates ; beneatli the tail whh double plates ; anus 

 transverse, simple ; jaws furnished with sharp 

 teeth ; without poisonous fangs. Some species 

 are oviparous, and others ovo-viviparoiis. 



THE STRIPED SNAKE. 



Coluber sirtalis. — LlN^fJEus. 

 Description — Upper part of the body 

 dark brown, w'ith a narrow yellow line 

 extending from the h^^ad along the back 

 to the tail, and a broader parallel stripe of 

 the same color on each side joining the 

 abdotninal plates ; belly greenish 3-ellow ; 

 abdominal plates marked on each side with 

 two black spots ; scales oblong, carinated, 

 small on the back and increasing in size 

 towards the abdomen ; head flattened, 

 covered with ten plates, one at the nose, 

 two pair back of this, three between the 

 eyes, and behind these two larger ones ; 

 pupil of the eye black, iris reddish ; small 

 sharp teeth in the jaws and palate Of 

 tliree specimens before me, the first, 2-2 

 inches long, has 154 abdominal plates, 

 and 7.5 pair of subcaudal scales, the sec- 

 ond, 21 inches long, has ]4G plates, and 

 G"2 pair of scales, and the third 27 inches 

 long, of which the tail measures (i, 141 

 plates and 60 pair of scales. 



History. — This is the most common 

 and generally diifused species of snake in 

 Vermont, and is universally known by 

 tlie name of Striped finale. It is perfect- 

 ly harmless, excepting sometimes to catch 

 a chicken, gosling, or young turkey or 

 duck, and rob birds' nests of tlieir eggs, 

 or young. They also feed upon toads and 

 frogs. Serpents do not chew their food 

 like quadrupeds, but whatever they eat 

 they swallow whole. Their jaws are so 

 constructed as to be separable at the joint, 

 which enables them to swallow animals 

 much larger than themselves ; and in- 

 stances of their swallowing stich animals 

 fall under the observation of every field 

 laborer. Often does a large shurcrish 

 snake lie in his way, with a ])ortion of'his 

 bod}' distended to near the size of his fist. 

 On killing and opening him, a 1 arse frog., 

 toad, or other animal is found, which the 

 gormandizer had caught, lubricated and 

 swallowed alive ; and for the digestion of 

 which all the energies of the animal were 

 now emplo3^ed. Often have we ourselves 

 been startled bj' the piercing and mourn- 

 ful cry of a poor frog, which had been 

 caught by one of these animals ; and how 

 indignant have we been, on going to the 

 spot, to see tiie horror-stricken sufferer, 

 with his hind quarters ingulfed in the 

 throat of a huge snake, vainly struo-frlino- 

 with his fore leet to extricate himsK^'lf, and 

 at the same time uttering a most piteous 

 moan. Under such circumstances it has 

 afforded us real satisfaction to destroy the 

 cruel aggressor and liberate his wretched 

 victim. For the purpose of robbino- 

 birds' nests tiiis snake will clin\b fences 

 and busiies several feet from the ground. 

 The usual length of this snake is about 

 two feet, of which the tail constitutes one 

 fourth. He sometimes attains the length 

 of about three feet. 



THE RIBBAND SNAKE. 

 Coluber saurita. — Linn. 

 Description. — Form more slender and 

 graceful than that of the striped snake, 

 which it resembles in the iirranffement of 

 its stripes. A bright yellowish white line 

 begins between the posterior plates on the 

 head and extends along the back to the 

 extremity of the tail. On each side of 

 this, commencing at the orbit of the eye, 

 is a shining black line which fades into 

 brown towards the posterior extremity. 

 Then comes a narrow yellow line on each 

 side, commencing half an inch back of 

 the angle of the mouth, wiiich also fades 

 into limber Iirowii towards tlie tail. Be- 

 low these, on eafh side, is a broad, well- 

 defined stripe of umber biown, slightly 



