OUR ANCIENT ENEMY THE OPHIDIAN. 59 



wildernesses of the northeastern States. In the 

 vicinity of Lake George, on one of the shores of 

 Xake Champlain, and perhaps in the southern Cats- 

 kills, he is occasionally found ; but in the Adiron- 

 dack and White Mountains I believe he does not ex- 

 ist. In all the years that I have traveled among 

 these northern hills I have never met one, and I am 

 of the opinion that iew, if any, are to be found to- 

 day even in those localities where they were once 

 reported to be plentiful. 



Of the other harmless snakes, the racer, the water 

 snake, and the blowing adder are the most formidable 

 so far as appearances are concerned; but they are 

 only aggressive, and fight without doing much dam- 

 age when angered. Not one of them can bite as 

 hard as the red squirrel, and they are not large 

 enough to seriously constrict a person. The racer 

 might possibly choke a child if he set about the task, 

 but I have only read of one instance where the rep- 

 tile had sufficient courage to attempt anything on 

 quite so large a scale. As for our innocent little 

 green snake, he is the mildest and most defenseless 

 little animal on the face of the earth ; the ringdove, 

 who is a creature to dread among the small birds, is a 

 monster compared with him. 



Yet it is a fact only too familiar to us all that the 

 cry of " Snake ! " on the highway is the immediate sig- 



