MIGRATION 119 



other; and one raised a pet may show a disposition 

 to play with its master, like a pet squirrel. Play in 

 aU animals is largely a mock fight or chase, though 

 this is not always the case. 



While we have already noticed weapons, and thus 

 incidentally fighting methods, a few more words here 

 may be proper. Chameleons in their fights root each 

 other about and bite, though their teeth are too small 

 to inflict serious injury. The battle is long kept up. 

 , Sometimes the tail of the vanquished is snatched off 

 and eaten by the victor. While this may be the case 

 among some lizards, others take a grip and hold on 

 with bulldog fierceness, as do most turtles. The fights 

 of the tortoise-forms are ridiculously clumsy and inef- 

 fective. One may seize another's foot and hold on 

 for a long time — the boys say " till it thunders " — but 

 much of the battle consists in biting at each other's 

 shells. Alligators dodge in front of each other head 

 to head, each trying to get past the side of the other, 

 so the tail may be used. When one has hit the other 

 a few thwacks, the beaten one retires. To make this 

 terrible stroke, the back-bone has the lateral spines 

 long, as noted, to which great muscles are attached. 



As mentioned, snakes of the same species do not 

 seem to fight together, but one has been often known 

 (where the species differ) to swallow the other. This 

 has occurred where the victor was only two inches 

 longer and the head of the victim had probably to be 

 digested away before the rest could be taken in. In 

 some cases this has happened when two snakes seized 

 at once the same prey. Both held on and the larger 

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