WILD CREATURES OF GARDEN AND HEDGEROW 



in the majority of cases, merely a matter of 

 prejudice and not knowing anything whatever 

 about the creatures. 



To go back to the wee baby snakes ; they 

 live on small things such as insects, but they 

 have many skins to shed before they too begin 

 to hunt for manure heaps in which in their 

 turn to hide eggs. Snakes, like lizards, and 

 indeed all reptiles, change their skins periodically. 

 Before the old coat is cast they are dull in hue, 

 slow, and sleepy, but once it has split down 

 the neck and they have wriggled and scraped 

 it off, they come out smarter and brighter 

 than ever. In the moult even the skin over 

 the eyes is shed, for it is indeed a complete 

 change in which every part of the covering is 

 removed. How old snakes live to be is a very 

 doubtful question, but some of them grow 

 to a fair size, grass snakes as much as thirty 

 inches long having been met with, though 

 eighteen to twenty inches is a more usual 

 length. Unlike most animals, they do not stop 

 growing at a certain age, but can keep on 

 increasing in size as long as they live. 



In conclusion, I would beg any boy or girl 

 who finds a snake hidden in the cucumber 

 frame, the vegetable - marrow heap, or any 

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