43 



doubtedly wishes that it might go twice as fast. It has 

 small teeth that are capable of ; scratching the hand but it 

 has no venom. They will fight when cornered and large 

 specimens should be handled carefully^ not because they 

 are snakes^ but because scratches of any nature may prove 

 serious. 



If a large individual is grasped back of the head, it will 

 at once coil about the arm but with only a slight pressure 

 for it has no power of constriction. Its food consists 

 chiefly of mice and frogs and, in summer, of young birds 

 and eggs ; in search of the latter, it often ascends trees and 

 b.ushes. It is therefore, both a beneficial and destructive 

 creature. 



During June, the female deposits from ten to twenty, 

 elongated, white eggs under a stone or in soft earth. 

 These hatch in about a month, the tiny snakes, about eight 

 inches long, being blotched with gray and white. 



Green and Striped Garter Snakes feed almost wholly 

 upon insects, with mice and frogs for variety and occasion- 

 ally bird eggs. They are most inoffensive creatures and 

 many farmers encourage them to remain on the premises. 



Both the Green and Garter Snakes have tiny teeth, too 

 small to make an impression on the hand, but designed to 

 assist them in swallowing their prey. Snakes when ex- 

 cited or alarmed have a habit of rapidly projecting and 

 retracting their forked tongues. The tongue is an organ 

 of touch, solely and, of course, is perfectly harmless, al- 

 though it is often regarded by mis-informed children as the 

 snake's "sting". 



Green Snakes are perfectly at home among the branches 

 of bushes; in fact one of the best ways to find them is to 

 shake the bushes in favorable localities and then watch for 

 movements ; they are very difficult to see for they match 

 the leaves perfectly in color. I had found a nest of a 

 White-eyed Vireo one day; it was in a thick tangle of 

 briers but I managed to make an opening and put my head 

 in to see what the nest contained. I was conscious of some- 

 thing swaying directly in front of me and, focussing my 



