Concord, Mass.
1912.
May 10
[May 10, 1912]

Black Snake & Deer Mouse

  As I was strolling through our berry pasture at the Farm
and near the pond about 2 P.M. I heard a shrill locust-like
zee-ing which at once suggested that of a Rattle Snake & indeed
was almost exactly like and positively startling in its sharp,
incisive quality. A second later I caught sight of the tail of a
Black Snake vibrating rapidly among dry leaves & wood stems
at the edge of a thicket of bushes within two yards of me.
Presently I made out the entire snake, a good-sized one perhaps
4' in length. His body was stretched out, his head towards me
In his jaws he held the head of a full grown Deer mouse still
alive & kicking convulsively with all four legs. After I had stood
still for a half minute the snake stopped vibrating his tail and
proceeded to swallow the mouse. At each successive gulp it slipped
further & further in and at the end of the fifth or sixth was lost
to sight, the total time it took the snake to accomplish this being
less than a minute. Soon after this the Snake yawned twice &