HOUSE AND GARDEN 
12 
July, 1914 
A Southern fox snake and her eggs, which she buries in the warm sand during the incuba¬ 
tion period of about eight weeks 
of poisonous snakes—particu¬ 
larly in the South and the West 
—the fatalities from the entire 
great area barely average tzvo 
fatalities the year. 
The snake occupies an im¬ 
portant place in the balance of 
life. It is a carnivorous crea¬ 
ture, and in tbe search for its 
food becomes of economic 
value to man. This is clearly 
the case with the rodent-eating 
snakes. To eliminate them 
from an agricultural area 
brings an increase of rats and 
mice. The rodents have other 
natural enemies, too, in the 
shape of owls and hawks, but 
the snake is suited to prowl 
into the burrows of the smaller, 
injurious mammals and destroy whole litters of them. 
It is well to understand in getting to the truth of the matter that 
This scene does not imply that the garter snake loves her numerous family, for if 
danger threatens she immediately deserts them 
no snake is slimy, but these graceful creatures are particu¬ 
larly cleanly in a coat of soft, velvety scales, or scales as 
polished as burnished metal, according to the nature of 
their covering: for dull-velvety specimens are usually the 
keel-scaled snakes, while the shiny members of the tribe 
have scales as smooth as glass. There is a common notion 
that a snake is cold and clammy to the touch, but this is also 
untrue unless the reptile has been thoroughly chilled by 
long exposure to a low temperature. Snakes readily become 
tame and apparently enjoy being handled. The greater 
number of poisonous snakes after a few months in captiv¬ 
ity become comparatively quiet, although venomous reptiles 
are far more nervous than their harmless allies. 
The prime point of interest about the snake is the 
method of swallowing the prey. Serpents can swallow an 
animal four or five times as big around as their neck, and 
always engulf it entire. The lower jaw is not single, but 
is composed of two nearly straight bones that are loosely 
connected in the front by an elastic ligament. The upper 
jaw is also split into two movable bones, so that the jaw 
mechanism may not only be opened as with ordinary ani¬ 
mals, but the sides of the split jaws pushed forward and 
drawn back. With the exception of the top of the skull, 
the head bones are connected by soft ligaments which per¬ 
mit great stretching. Upper 
and lower jaws are armed with 
thin round teeth that curve 
toward the throat. The process 
of engulfing the prey is simple 
and ingenious, though little un¬ 
derstood. 
Let us suppose a snake with 
a neck as thick as a man’s fore¬ 
finger were about to swallow a 
large rat. The prey is grasped 
by the snout and one of the 
upper jaw bones and the corre¬ 
sponding lower jaw bone reach 
forward, the bones close upon 
the prey, inserting the recurved 
teeth, when this side of the 
head is pulled back, drawing 
tbe animal a short distance into 
the mouth. The operation is 
repeated with the other side of 
the head, each side working in alternation while the rat is pulled 
into the mouth and forced into the elastic throat. As soon as 
The black snake ranges over the entire Eastern States and attains a length of six 
feet. It lives entirely on rodents and is harmless 
Although the flat-headed adder looks dangerous and spreads out its neck when 
annoyed, it is without fangs. Frequently it feigns death 
