eat other snakes, but only when these are smaller than itself. When it 
meets a human being, it will use its astonishing speed to leave the neigh¬ 
borhood as quickly as possible. 
The black snake does not constrict but kills its prey in the manner 
of the gopher snake by holding it to the ground and then swallowing it. 
The racer haunts stone walls or bushes at the edges of dry meadows where 
it preys on the nests of birds and wild mice. It climbs trees with agility 
in its hunt for eggs and young birds. 
When captured, the racer will often turn and strike repeatedly at any 
nearby object including the hand that holds it, but after a short while 
in captivity it loses its nervousness and has been known to climb up on 
its master’s hands to feed. If kept near certain tropical varieties of snakes, 
it will succumb to mites harbored by the other snakes. 
The slaughter of the black racer in rural regions deprives the farmer 
of a natural ally in his fight against harmful rodents. 
The racer is smooth and satiny without being shiny. Black racers are 
black above and milky blue beneath, with white chin and throat. 
WATER SNAKE 
The stout, dark brown water snake is sometimes confused with the 
venomous water moccasin. In many regions it is even called “moccasin” 
and is unreasonably feared. 
When angry or cornered, the water snake flattens its head and body 
and strikes out viciously. Though not poisonous, it can draw blood or even 
inflict a tearing bite. Yet it is extremely timid and will always go in 
peace, provided an avenue of escape is left open. Diving into the water, 
it can remain submerged for many minutes. 
Sportsmen are always quick to blame some outside agency for the 
bad fishing. The water snake, coming in for its share of the blame, is ac¬ 
cused of devouring the game fish. Herpetologists consider this unlikely, as 
the snake does not swim quickly enough to overtake the swifter fish. It is 
thought to restrict itself to frogs, tadpoles and the more slow-moving fishes. 
When not pursuing their prey, water snakes like to sun themselves 
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