in a bush or on a tree limb overhanging the water. From this vantage point 
they can survey the stream to see if anything edible chances by. 
Water snakes can be caught by suspending a small fish on a line. The 
snake swallows the fish, and when the line is hauled in, the snake must be 
seized before the bait is disgorged. These reptiles have a highly developed 
sense of smell. If a fish is rubbed along the floor of a cage containing water 
snakes, they become frenzied in their efforts to locate the food and may 
even bite one another in their excitement. In the wilds, they are preyed upon 
by herons and other snake-eating birds. 
In August or September the female brings forth a brood of living 
young, which may number more than forty. 
GOPHER SNAKE 
In the southern United States, the eight-foot gopher or indigo snake is 
often found near houses, spending its whole life in a restricted area. The 
sharecroppers appreciate its value as a rat-killer and do not molest it. In 
addition to rodents, the snake eats frogs, birds and other snakes. It does 
not kill by constricting, but holds its victims to the ground by superior 
weight, swallowing them when they are sufficiently weakened. 
The indigo snake has different colors in different localities. In South 
America it is black on the forward portion and yellow behind; in Central 
America it is a light olive color; in the eastern United States it is blue-black. 
This snake becomes exceedingly docile in captivity after the first diffi¬ 
cult days. It is very hardy, seems to enjoy being handled, and is clean in its 
cage habits. One specimen, caught full grown, lived for eleven years after 
its capture. 
EGG-EATING SNAKE 
The eier-vreter’s claim to distinction is not that it eats eggs; many snakes 
include eggs in their diet. Egg-eating snakes of South Africa, however, eat 
eggs exclusively when adult. It swallows them whole, saws them open within 
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