and an occasional mouse. 'Then grasshopper's are plentiful, the garter snakes 

 often subsist largely on them. 



The blacksnake ( Coluber obsoletus ) and the pine snake ( Pituophis mela - 

 noleucus) feed largely on field a.nd meadow mice, chipmunks, rats and young 

 rabbits, and to a less extent on birds, frogs, and insects. 



The house snake, or checkered adder ( Lr:japropeltis triangulum ) , lives 

 in gardens and fields and although it is entirely harnless, there seems to 

 be much superstitious fear of it, The name "house snake" has been given it 

 because it enters, dwelling, especially in fall. More than half of its yearl. 

 food consists of mice. It has been known also to eat other snakes. 



The king snakes ( Lampropeltis .eetulus ) are able to kill rattlesnakes 

 and have been knov,Ti to e?.t them. Jhen the early settlers found these snakes 

 fairly common throughout the region infested by rattlesnakes and moccasins, 

 stories soon arose of their hunts for r'ttlers. The king snake does eat 

 other' snakes, but it does not deliber.tely hunt' the poisonous kinds. 



The little red-belliad snake ( Storeria occipito-maculata ) feeds to a 

 large extent on slugs, pests very destructive to garden crops. The DeKay 

 snake, or rock snake ( Store ria deka.-'.'l ) , also eats slugs, and in addition, 

 snails, earthworms, -and insect larvae. Insects constitute the main source 

 of food of the smooth-scaled green snake ( Libpeltis vernalis ) and of the 

 rough-scaled green snake ( Opheodrys aestivus ), but snails ^md spiders form 

 about one-fourth of tie total bulk. ' 



The pretty little ring-necked snake ( Diadophis punctatus ) feed mainly 

 on insects and to a lesser extent on salamanders, small frogs, and' earth- 

 v/orms. The rubber boa, or ball snake ( Charina bottae ), eats mice and small 

 birds. Bull snakes and gopher snakes ( Pituophis ) destroy large numbers af 

 injurious rodents in the course of a year. Even rattlesnakes are us3ful in 

 their feeding habits, because ground squirrels, young prairie dogs, and 

 other rodents comprise their main food,' ' 



The food habits of a few of the snakes are of such nature that .they 

 conflict with man's interests. The coimion water snake ( Matrix sipedon ) 

 feeds largely on small fish, but on examination in most cases the greater 

 part of its food has been found to consist of fishes not us^d as food by 

 man and the remainder include toads, frogs, salam.anders, insects, and small 

 mammals. The m©on snake, or queen snake ( Natrix septemvittata ) , subsists 

 largely on crawfishes and toads. The blacksnake ( Elaphe obsoleta ) and the 

 coach-whip snake ( Coluber flagellum ) destroy a certain number of ground- 

 nesting birds, particularly young quail, and eggs .in the nest, and have 

 been known to eat young chickens and even young pheasants. The spreading 

 adder ( Heterodon contortrix ) is destructive to toads, at least in the 

 Eastern States. In the Middle West, this species has a more varied diet, 

 for mice, grasshoppers, and other insects form a large part of its annu.al 

 food. 



In appraising the food habits of any animal, some allowance must be 

 made for local conditions. Snakes, like other animals, will satisfy their 



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