54 GLEANINGS FROM 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 w T holly without foundation. The young 

 are hatched from eggs which are usually deposited in 

 soft earth or the humus of decayed w r ood. 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 lie took a young racer 

 ten and one-half inches long. 



As to the many stories concerning the size to which 

 the black snake gfows, 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 



