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AMERICAN FORESTRY 



OUR LIMBLESS LIZARD THE "GLASS-SNAKE" 



Fig. 7. A lizard with no legs might easily be mistaken for a snake by one unfamiliar with our common reptiles. This picture 

 of one of the species which lives in Central and Eastern United States was made from a cut in "Animal Life" by the writer. (Pub- 

 lished by Hutchinson and Comlpany, of London.) 



various species of garter snakes in confinement, and it is 

 wonderful to watch them at feeding time. After seizing 

 their prey, they have a way of violently thrashing their 

 tails, and otherwise behaving in a most frenzied manner. 

 Some of our garter snakes are spotted, as Marcy's 

 Garter Snake, of central Texas and Arizona. All garter 

 snakes are perfectly harmless, and if properly handled 

 will not even bite. Our common garter snake hibernates 

 during the winter, many often being associated in the 

 same lot. Without exception, they all bring forth their 

 young alive, and many of them are kept as pets from one 

 end of the country to the other. They bear captivity 

 well ; some even come to know their keepers, and take 

 small frogs and fish from their fingers sometimes com- 

 ing to the door of the cage to get what is offered to them. 



We have over a dozen species and subspecies of King 

 snakes in this country (Lampropeltis) ; they are all harm- 

 less, extremely gentle, and wonderfully beautiful as a 

 rule. The type species is the Common King Snake, also 

 called Chain or Thunder snake (L. getuhis). A beautiful, 

 living specimen of the Florida King Snake (L. g. flori- 

 dana) was recently sent the writer by Mr. Fred W. 

 Walker, of Orlando, Florida (Figs. 2 and 3), and this is 

 now living in the "Zoo" at Washington. 



In all the forms the scales of the skin are lustrous, 

 glassy, smooth, and show prismatic colors on movement. 

 Some forms are jet black with vivid white markings; 

 others are greenish, or brown, or olive and yellow mark- 

 ings. These serpents must be seen to be admired, and 

 different forms of them occur in all parts of the country. 



THE GOPHER OR INDIGO SNAKE 



Fig. 8. A specimen taken in New Orleans by the writer had a length of six feet, three inches. It was of a shiny, rich blue-black 

 or purplish black above, and somewhat lighter on the lower parts; it is a harmless species in all respects. 



