SNAKES SHEDDING THEIR SKINS. 



Editok Forest and Stream: — 



I once had the chance to see a snake shed his skin. F 

 think it was in the month of June. I was standing in the 

 field when I observed a striped snake going through some 

 strange contortions, turning first on his back and then on 

 his side, and all this time his head was kept in between 

 two small sprouts about half an inch apart. I thought at 

 first he was insane, or performing for the circus, but in a 

 few moments all was made plain; he was getting the old 

 skin started from around his mouth. At last it gave way, 

 and began to roll over his back, and he soon pulled himself 

 out of it, and left the skin turned completely wrong side 

 out. He then went on his way, acting as though he felt 

 very happy. 



Question: Do all snakes shed their skins? and if so, do 

 they shed them more than once in a year? and will snakes 

 freeze and then thaw out and live, as worms, ants, bugs, 

 etc. , do? I have found that striped snakes will drown under 

 water in a short time. Now, how is the water adder con- 

 stituted that he can remain under water? Will some of 

 your correspondents please explain? I found on examina- 

 tion that the snakes shed a covering to their eyes, and I 

 am inclined to the belief that they can see but little, if 

 any, for some days prior to shedding their skins, and lie 

 around inactive. J. L. Hersey. 



Editor Forest and Stream : — 



Mr. Hersey's letter is quite interesting, and I hope it will 

 induce others to send to Forest and Stream their obser- 

 vations on the subject. His queries, too, are very suggest- 

 ive, though they forcibly remind the reader that it is easier 

 to ask questions than to answer them. 



Do all snakes slied their skins, and if so do they shed them 

 more than once in a year? 



All snakes do shed their skins, the first moult occurring 

 soon after the young snake is born. The moults are re- 

 peated at intervals of a month or two during the warm 

 season, but in winter none occur. In captivity the shed- 

 ding of the skin is not so frequent, and is very laborious 

 and painful, sometimes resulting in death. 



The shed skin is usually turned completely inside out, as 

 in the case mentioned by Mr. Hersey. Whether this is 

 always so is a question on which we need more light. Mr. 

 James Simson, an enthusiastic correspondent of Land and 

 Water, insists that they are frequently left "as the snake 

 wore them." Frank Buckland is equally positive that thiUj 

 never occurs. I have in my possession the skin of a moun- 



