mature at the age of one year and can breed during the following spring. 
The fully developed adult is about thirty inches long. 
Garter snakes live for a long time in captivity and grow quite tame 
and affectionate. Some have lived for more than ten years in cages. When 
first caught, however, they give off a strongly offensive odor from glands 
situated near the base of the tail as well as feces discharged from the anus. 
An almost universal belief among country people is that garter snakes 
swallow their young at the approach of danger. When Ditmars published 
an article, exposing this superstition, it was greeted by a storm of protest. 
Many wrote that they had actually seen the phenomenon. A possible ex¬ 
planation of this belief is that some snakes, such as the king snake, often 
swallow the young of other snakes, while if a dead female garter snake 
is cut open at the proper season, the unborn, but fully developed young 
may be found inside. 
RIBBON SNAKES 
The ribbon snake is found throughout southeastern Canada and the United 
States east of the Mississippi River. 
Subsisting entirely on small fishes and amphibians, the ribbon snake 
dares not leave the immediate vicinity of water. This slender, dainty snake 
makes its home in meadows and swampy lowlands or along the edges of 
streams and ponds where fishes, frogs and tadpoles are plentiful. 
Should danger threaten, it plunges into the water if any is handy and 
takes refuge in the aquatic growths at the bottom until it believes it is 
safe. The ribbon snake swims and dives with all the agility of a water 
snake. 
The ribbon snake seems to have difficulty in spotting stationary prey. 
As soon as there is a slight motion, however, the snake lunges forward and 
seizes its victim before it can make another move. 
This sensitivity to movement is said to be used by ribbon snakes in 
captivity as a means of deceiving each other. When food is dumped into 
their cage, they seize the morsels with their mouths and begin to eat. 
116 
