4i 8 DAN BEARD'S ANIMAL BOOK 



cheaper to cultivate snakes in your garden than 

 waste your salt upon the slugs. The little 



RED-BELLIED BROWN SNAKE 



shown on the colored plate is a pretty little creature 

 very nearly akin to the De Kay snake; is abso- 

 lutely harmless and also makes a valuable addition 

 to your flower garden. 



THE SENSELESS HORROR 



which so many people have of all snakes is almost 

 as foolish as the habit that some others have of 

 frightening nervous people with these creatures. 

 Little children and even nervous grown people 

 have been made seriously ill, sometimes with fatal 

 results, caused by unthinking boys running after 

 them with snakes in their hands or 



THROWING THE REPTILES AT THEM, 



which reminds me of an amusing incident which 

 occurred to myself. A friend of mine brought me 

 from South America 



A BABY CONSTRICTOR, 



which I kept for some weeks in my studio, but 

 each man who visited the studio seemed to delight 

 in tormenting the poor snake, so one cold winter 

 day when I started for home I put the 



