202 Handbook of Nature-Study 



in July and are about six inches long at birth; one mother may have in 

 her brood from eleven to fifty snakelings; she stays with them during 

 the fall to protect them, and there are many stories about the way the 

 young ones run down the mother's throat in case of attack; but, as yet, 

 no scientist has seen this act, or placed it on record. The little snakes 

 shift for their own food, catching small toads, earthworms and insects. 

 If it finds food in plenty, the garter snake will mature in one year. 

 Hawks, crows, skunks, weasels and other predacious animals seem to find 

 the garter snake attractive food. 



Garter snakes. 



LESSON XLIX 

 The Garter, or Garden, Snake 



Leading thought— The garter snake is a common and harmless little 

 creature and has many interesting habits which are worth studying. 



Method — A garter snake may be captured and placed in a box with a 

 glass cover and thus studied in detail in the schoolroom, but the lesson 

 should begin with observations made by the children on the snakes in 

 their native haunts. 



Observations — i. What are the colors and markings of your garter 

 snake? Do the stripes extend along the head as well as the body? How 

 long is it? 



2. Describe its eyes, its ears, its nostrils and its mouth. 



3. If you disturb it how does it act? "Why does it thrust its tongue 

 out? What shape is its tongue? 



