4 io DAN BEARD'S ANIMAL BOOK 



unable to free myself, because I have strength 

 enough, and any ordinary man has, simply to pull 

 his hands apart and tear the body of the little 

 reptile asunder; but had its body been made of 

 metal instead of flesh no handcuff invented by man 

 could have held me more securely. 



TO KEEP THIS SNAKE FOR FUTURE OBSERVATIONS 



I threw him in a large receiving cage, which was 

 made of a piece of wire netting, bent into the form 

 of a cylinder, and covered top and bottom, and in 

 which I put any small live things which I captured 

 and needed for observation. It was what in olden 

 days the showman used to call a "happy family" 

 that occupied this cage, but the happy part repre- 

 sents only the showman's way of putting things. 

 There was a flying squirrel in this cage, and he 

 took a malicious delight in tormenting the black 

 snake. The serpent was a cautious hunter. He 

 would move around so slowly that the motion was 

 scarcely perceptible, in his attempt to gain a 

 vantage ground from which to strike and capture 

 his tormentor, and his care and woodcraft deserved 

 success, but the quarry was shy and wise with the 

 wisdom of the wood folks, and if the black snake 

 could strike quickly the squirrel could jump even 

 more swiftly than the snake could strike. Time 

 and time again the squirrel crept chattering down 

 the sides. of the cage until he had tempted the 

 black snake to spring at him if you can use such 



