Wild Life in Water 131 



in its mouth struggled a small sunfish. Now, 

 what was the snake's purpose ? It knew very 

 well that the fish would drown in the air, and 

 not until it was dead could it be swallowed 

 with that deliberation a snake loves. The 

 creature was cunning enough to kill by easy 

 means prey that would otherwise be diffi- 

 cult to overcome, for while crosswise in the 

 snake's mouth it could not be swallowed, 

 and if put down for an instant the chances 

 of its recapture would be slight. 



To suppose that a turtle, as you watch it 

 crawling over the mud, has any sense of 

 humor in its horny head seems absurd ; yet 

 naturalists have recorded their being seen at 

 play, and certainly they can readily be tamed 

 to a remarkable degree. Their intelligence, 

 however, shows prominently only in the 

 degree of cunning exhibited when they are 

 in search of food. The huge snapper " lies 

 in wait," and truly this is a most sugges- 

 tive and comprehensive phrase. I believe, 

 too, that this fierce turtle buries surplus food, 

 and so gives further evidence of intellectual 

 activity. 



To realize what wild life in the water 

 really is it must be observed where Nature 



