General Habits of Snekes 
thcir havits are nearly as varied as those of birds and mammals. Some 
AY is to be borne in miné that there are many kinds of snckes and that 
fe 
20 ~ 
burrow into the ground and are rarely scen; others are gliders ana move swiftly; 
some are swimmers end spend most of their lives in swamps, ponds, or streams; 
fow climb trees. There are certain kinds that are found only in desert regions,@ 
others only in marshes, and many that live in the fields and woods around 
hunen aavitations. 
Most snekes aro "gliders." Large transverse scales or shields are pr 
cnt along the entir e length of the body on the ventral surface —- as many as 
there are pairs of ribs. In gliding, the fore part of its body is'’fiyst ade 
vanced; the ventral transverse scales on this part are then partially erecte 
the weight’ of this part oftae body thrown on these erccted transverse scales 
and © rather firm hold obtained on the surface; the rest of the nody is tamed 
@rawn forward by the contraction of muscles. This proccss is ropicly ves 
Peaved. and) asi ume rips preMactive agents in Sie! peculiar method of propuls 
snakes are sometimes referred to as "rib-walkerse" 
5 ey 
es- 
ad, @ 
9 
ion,: 
Snakes that climb are more 2¢ile than terrestrial speciese Some wind 
their bodies around the. tre 
trees by progressing in wide sinwous curves. 
In swimming, a snake depends as mucn upon undulating movements of the 
bocy as woon short strokes of the tail. 
In temperate climates all snaxes hibernate. Their chance of survival 
northern latitudes depends upon their evading frost.. Snakes are exuremely 
sensitive to cold, many of the common North Amcrican forms not ranging much 
farther north than the Canadian. border, and others stayine south of the w@mite 
Rivere. The exceptionzlly wide range of the garter sneke is known to extend 
northwarc to thc region eround Great Slave Loke, and there are recores Gm ar 
e; others, like blacksnakes, can climp rougn—barked 
tha 
epodear to be authentic from the Yukon région. In relatively mild climates bilack 
snakes hove been found hibcrratine in cavities in trees several feet from the 
erournce Rattlesnakes, copperheads, and certain other snakes have dens in Zo 
eks 
in wnich they hibernate during the coldest part of winter. At times large num- 
bers of snakes congrezate in a single cavity, where they pass the wintere 
References are found in literature to "oundles" of snakes found by workmen 
blasting in regions underlIaicd by a rock formation. Various species burrow 7 
the soil to escape the cold. 
Except certain species adapted to extremes in aridity, snakes, especially 
n 
the subaquatic types, succumb also to intense heat. It has been revorted that 
even the rattlesnakes freduentinzs the Mohave Desert can be killed by 20 minutes! 
exposure to the direct rays of the mid-day sune A mumber of our snakes esti 
uspending their normal activities curing the hottest part of summer. 
Sheddin ge Skins 
All vertebrates slough off the epidermis from time to time. In human 
beings the change is gradual and imperceptible; other mammals, as rabbits, 
as AL 
vate 
micc, 
