WILD CREATURES OF GARDEN AND HEDGEROW 



English grass snake has no apparatus of this 

 kind, but merely catches and swallows alive 

 the creatures it wishes to eat. It lives almost 

 entirely on frogs, and once a snake has grabbed 

 one, the unfortunate frog has little chance of 

 getting away. The snake's teeth curve back- 

 wards, so that it is practically impossible for 

 it to let go. Once it has seized a frog and 

 begun to swallow it, that frog has got to go on 

 down its throat however big it may be, for the 

 curved teeth make it impossible for it to come 

 up again. However, a snake has an elastic 

 throat, and a very curious arrangement of its 

 jaws which enables it to swallow almost any- 

 thing. The lower jaw is not fixed firmly to 

 the upper, but only attached by very elastic 

 muscles, so that when the snake begins to 

 swallow an extra big mouthful its jaws become 

 unhinged, they are out of joint, and stretch 

 farther and farther apart as the frog or mouse 

 passes down. Once the meal is safely stowed 

 inside, the lower jaw shps back into place 

 and into working order ! 



As the grass snake does not worry to kill any 

 frog that it may be able to catch, but merely 

 swallows it straight away, the unfortunate 

 victim passes into its inside alive. I shall 



252 



