i86 



REPTILES AND BATRACHIANS 



but two feet. The rattle is proportionately small, and 

 can only be heard at a distance of a few feet. Although 

 not aquatic, these snakes frequent damp or even 

 swampy meadows, where they feed on frogs and toads ; 

 those at the gardens would also accept lizards. 



Their bite, unlike in the case of the preceding genus, 

 is not regarded as at all dangerous, the effects having 

 been compared to the sting of a hornet. 



The Pigmy Rattlesnakes, of which there are three 

 species, inhabit North America, east of the Rocky Moun- 

 tains, and Mexico. 



