194 BULLETIN 114, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM. 



teeth lacerate the flesh sufficiently to bring the blood, although the 

 minute punctures are but very superficial wounds and heal at once, 

 like a scratch from a fine point." 



It is likely that this snake does much of its foraging at night, as then 

 it would have the best chance to find mice and the small snakes 

 and lizards that hide under boards, logs, and bark. Its occasional 

 presence in dwellings may be explained, as Surface has indicated 

 (1906, 177), by the attraction of a warm atmosphere when the air 

 outside is cold, or its prowling along crevices, into cracks and holes 

 may lead it into buildings. Without doubt it is often brought into 

 cellars and sheds under the bark or in the cracks of firewood. 



This snake is oviparous, depositing from 8 to 13 oval eggs (Ditmars, 

 1907, 344-345) with a leatherv shell, and presenting the same soft 

 and white appearance as the surface of a toadstool. Ditmars records 

 batches of 8, 11, and 9, laid on July 10, 12, and 28, and hatching on 

 September 5, 6 to 8, and October 1 to 3, respectivel}^ Mr. E. B. 

 Williamson took a batch of 13 eggs in Weils County, Indiana, in 

 August, 1917, 7 of which hatched September 15 to 17. O. P. Hay 

 (1892, 518) reports finding eggs of this snake in Indiana, in a pile of 

 manure, more or less glued together. Young snakes are about 6J to 

 8} inches in length. They molt very soon after hatching. 



Nothing definite seems to be known about its hibernation. It 

 probably burrows in the ground, as it is often turned out by the plow 

 in the spring. It appears to be rather late entering winter quarters 

 and early emerging, although probably less so than the garter snake. 

 Hay (1892, 518) reports taking it in Indiana on March 30, and of 

 having seen a dead one in the road still earlier. 



Range. — From Minneapolis south through northern Illinois, 

 Indiana (except the southwestern section), eastern Tennessee, 

 Georgia, and Florida, and north through all the eastern States to the 

 forty-sixth parallel. 



On the west from Tennessee to Minnesota it meets and inter- 

 grades with its only close relative, sijspila. In the southeastern 

 States, except in the mountains, it appears to be a rare snake. The 

 most northern record is for a specimen taken in 1917 at Cecil Bay, 

 Emmett County, Michigan, by Dr. J. H. Ehlers: in New England 

 it has not been reported north of Vassalboro, Maine; it is common 

 in Cheboygan and Emmett Counties, Michigan, but is not reported 

 for the Upper Peninsula; it should however be looked for on the 

 south shore of the northern peninsula of Michigan, as it has been 

 taken at Newport, Door County, Wisconsin. In Florida it has been 

 taken as far south as Candler, in Marion County. 



The most northern localities for Canada are Spence's Lake, Brace- 

 bridge, Ontario, and Aylmer, near Quebec. 



