REPT1LIA 221 



been seen more than thirty feet long. Among the true 

 Boas, found in Madagascar and tropical America, the best 

 known is the Boa constrictor of South America, about 

 thirteen feet in length. 



The epidermis or outer skin of snakes is shed two or 

 three times a year and usually in a single piece. The 

 young of some species, such as the rattlesnake and moccasin, 

 are born alive, while others, such as the black snake, grass 

 snake, and milk snake, are hatched from eggs deposited 

 in the ground. Snakes pass the cold weather in a sleep- 

 ing state beneath rocks and logs or in holes in the ground. 



Crocodilia 



The crocodiles are represented by only two species in 

 this country: The Alligator Mississipiensis and Crocodilus 

 acutus floridanus. Both dwell in the lowlands of the South. 



FIG. 257. Photograph of a young alligator four feet long in the Philadelphia 

 Zoological Gardens. 



Their food consists largely of fish, but the larger alligators 

 from ten to fifteen feet long sometimes attack mammals, 

 dragging them into the water where they are drowned. 

 There are about twenty species of crocodiles and alligators 

 living in other countries. Some of them attain a length 

 of twenty feet and are dangerous to man. 



