230 Pbofogmphy for the Sportsman Naturalist 



will strike with all the animosity of a poisonous 

 species, even going so far as to take hold with 

 their teeth, they have no fangs, secrete no poison, 

 and therefore their bite is to be no more feared 

 than that of a mosquito. To illustrate the neces- 

 sity of knowing which snakes can be handled 

 without danger, I will relate a little story which 



Garter Snake. 



reflects somewhat upon my own good judgment 

 and common sense. Some years ago, when I 

 was younger and knew more, or thought I did, 

 than I do now, I happened, in Florida, upon one 

 of the coral snakes mentioned above. It is a 

 beautiful little creature and one that would attract 

 anybody's attention as the one I found did mine. 

 I picked it up, for I had never had much fear of 



