74 NATURE'S STORY OF THE YEAR 



anything ; and they were untameable. Sunning 

 themselves as though contented, they betrayed a 

 sort of vicious alertness when approached, and 

 watched, in a suggestively expectant attitude, any 

 one who was near. Inert and helpless when 

 chilled, they were always ferocious when warm. 

 Useless as captives, they were returned to those 

 spots in which their venom might be of more 

 service, namely, in the runs of field-mice. 



