Leaping Snakes 273 



such extraordinary statements, evidently believing what 

 they say, as about snakes. A man told me once that he 

 had been pursued by a snake, which rushed after him at 

 such a speed that he could barely escape ; the snake not 

 only glided but actually leaped over the ground. Now this 

 must have been pure imagination : he fancied he saw an 

 adder, and fled, and in his terror thought himself pursued. 

 They constantly state that they have seen adders ; but I 

 am confident that no viper exists in this district, nor for 

 some miles round. That they do elsewhere of course is well 

 known, but not here ; neither is the slow-worm ever seen. 



The belief that snakes can jump — or coil themselves 

 up and spring — is, however, very prevalent. They all 

 tell you that a snake can leap across a ditch. This is not 

 true. A snake, if alarmed, will make for the hedge ; and 

 he glides much faster than would be supposed. On reach- 

 ing the ' shore' or edge of the ditch he projects his head 

 over it, and some six or eight inches of the neck, while 

 the rest of the body slides down the slope. If it happens 

 to be a steep-sided ditch he often loses his balance and 

 rolls to the bottom ; and that is what has been mistaken 

 for leaping. As he rises up the mound he follows a zig-zag 

 course, and presently enters some small hole or a cavity 

 in a decaying stole. After creeping in some distance he 

 often meets with an obstruction, and has to remain half in 

 and half out till he can force his way. He usually takes 

 possession of a mouse-hole, and does not seem to be able 

 to enlarge it for additional convenience. If you put your 

 stick on his head as he slips through the grass his body 

 rolls and twists, and almost ties itself in a knot. 



I have never been able to find a snake in the actual 

 process of divesting his body of the old skin, but have 

 several times disturbed them from a bunch of grass and 



T 



