54 GLEANINGS FEOM NATURE. 



year their numbers are becoming less, for " death to 

 the black snake whenever and wherever found " seems 

 to be the watchword of all boys and most men. 

 Another cause for their lessening numbers is undoubt- 

 edly the rapid disappearance of the old Virginia rail 

 fences, beneath the bottom rail of which they were 

 formerly sure of a safe retreat from all attacks. 



At certain seasons of the year, as in spring when 

 mating, and in late autumn, when seeking a hiding 

 place for the winter, the black snake is vicious, hiss- 

 ing and striking at a person who is several yards away. 

 At such a time it will occasionally pursue a person 

 whom it recognizes as more cowardly than itself, and 

 in this way has probably gained the name of the "blue 

 racer.'' When seized by the neck it quickly throws a 

 double coil about a person's arm and gives a grip with 

 its powerful muscles which the captor has no .little 

 difficulty in breaking. The stories which one often 

 hears of its attacking persons and squeezing them to 

 death are wholly without foundation. The young 

 are hatched from eggs which are usually deposited in 

 soft earth or the humus of decayed wood. These eggs 

 are an inch and a half long by an inch in diameter, 

 and covered with a tough, thick skin. According to 

 Dr. Hay, as many as nineteen eggs are laid at a time, 

 and from one ready to hatch he took a young racer 

 ten and one-half inches long. ' 



As to the many stories concerning the size to which 

 the black snake grows, mention has been made on a 

 previous page. A little over six feet is doubtless their 

 maximum length, yet they are often said to have been 

 seen eight and even ten feet long. In regard to the 



