THE HAMILTON ASSOCIATION. 99 



weather of July or August, in Ontario, it shows a penchant for 

 frequenting the heated dust in the middle of the pubhc roads, where 

 we have frequently seen them. They are then in no hurry to escape 

 when approached by an enemy, but seem to be in a state of drowsy 

 enjoyment of the dust and the sun's scorching rays, and they often 

 come to their death by being crushed by the wheels of passing 

 vehicles. Some idea of the size of these snakes may be formed 

 from the statement, that while often seven or eight inches are cut off 

 or crushed by the wheels at one side, from the head end, as much 

 of the opposite extremity is cut off by the wheels in the opposite 

 ruts. This species of snake preys much on small birds, and persons 

 engaged in raspberry picking, in July, in this neighborhood, are 

 liable to unpleasant surprises by the movements of these snakes 

 when twining about the shrubbery in quest of the birds, which come 

 in numbers to feast on the berries at that season of the year. An 

 acquaintance, a few years ago, while engaged with his sister in berry- 

 picking, had an encounter with a black snake over six feet long. 

 When first seen it was descending from among the branches of a 

 Juneberry tree, Amelanchier, that grew amidst a dense clump of 

 raspberry bushes. By cudgelling and shouting, my friend drove the 

 snake out of his ambush, and when on clearer ground, encouraged 

 his large dog, Bounce, to assist in the battle. The dog, nothing 

 loth, closed on the fierce looking antagonist, who had erected him- 

 self on his nether extremities, but Bounce, with his teeth, grasped the 

 snake savagely by the neck, when in an instant. Boa Constrictor 

 like, it twined its body in several folds around the chest and ribs of 

 the dog, which soon began to show signs of embarrassment and even 

 panic upon finding itself thus tightly enfolded. He then began to 

 jump up, bounding from the ground all four feet at once, but the 

 snake refused to relax his spiral entanglement until the dog's jaws 

 had loosened, when, in its attempt to regain the shelter of the 

 bushes, it received a crushmg blow from a stout stick in my friend's 

 hands, which rendered further resistance feeble and of little effect. 

 Men who have been employed in the Hemlock woods in this 

 township, bark-peeling in the heat of summer, tell of meeting with 

 black snakes of incredible size, as thick as a handspike and between 

 eight and nine feet long. Not a summer passes without my having 

 brought to my notice one or several which measure over six feet. 

 They are supposed to winter in burrows made by the marmot or 



