HOUSE AND GARDEN 
Ju 
LY, I 9 I 4 
It is among the con¬ 
stricting serpents 
that we find those 
species of greatest 
economic value to 
man. 
Snakes produce 
their young in two 
ways. Many of the 
harmless species lay 
eggs. A consider¬ 
able number of the 
poisonous serpents 
give birth to perfect 
young, which need 
no care or nursing, 
but at once shift for 
themselves. The 
country lad is famil¬ 
iar with the eggs of 
the common black 
snake, but the inter¬ 
esting development 
of these eggs remain 
a mystery. The boy 
probably finds the 
eggs under a flat 
stone while he is hunting for “fish-worms.” They are about an 
inch long, in the form of a slender oval, creamy white and appear 
as if sparsely sprinkled with grains of coarse salt. They are soft 
and easily dented with the fingers. To begin with their history, 
we should understand that the mother has deposited the eggs 
under the flat stone, as a stone when warmed by the sun cools 
slowly, and the eggs are thus kept moderately warm through the 
night. The sun’s warmth through the stone hatches the eggs in 
about two months’ time. For a few days the mother snake has 
remained with them, often shuffling her coils so as to push away 
the earth and make a cosy nest for the eggs. Then she bores her 
way from under the softly bedded stone and glides into the 
meadows in search of mice. Her subsequent gorging is altogether 
deserved, as for a month prior to laying the eggs she has quite 
given up the idea of eating in seeking all opportunities for sun 
basking, that produces eggs of vigorous development. 
When the eggs are hidden under the stone, they already contain 
a tiny snake, white and as thin as a whisp and coiled like a hair¬ 
spring of a watch. The motionless embryo floats in a solution like 
deep-tinted, rich cream. It immediately begins to grow. Within 
two weeks it is as thick as the shaft of a small 
feather, has a proportionally enormous head, 
is white and translucent, and a large red heart 
appears to shake the fragile 
form with its pulsations. The 
snake is now about four 
inches long. After five weeks 
not only has the little snake 
increased in size, but the egg 
itself begins to stretch and grozu. It has 
absorbed moisture from the damp soil, 
lost its symmetrical, oval form, and ir¬ 
regular bulges at the sides The young¬ 
ster is five inches long, and on its glistening 
white body is a row of well-defined blotches. 
The texture of the scales may be seen at 
close examination, and the vigorous heart, 
deeper seated, flashes alternately red and 
white as it speeds the blood into new and 
dilating channels. 
The head of the rep¬ 
tile is now less of a 
deformity, but the 
eyes, staring and 
sightless as yet, 
cover the side of the 
head. A spasmodic 
twitching of the 
body indicates the 
awakening. 
At seven weeks 
the body of the 
young black snake 
fills the bulging 
shell. The creamy 
yolk has gone to the 
building of the sinu¬ 
ous infant, now 
eight inches long. It 
is slaty gray, with a 
series of blackish- 
brown saddles on 
the back. It now 
commences to rub 
the snout against 
the pliable egg cov¬ 
ering as if in practice for the day of release, and even as it tests 
the walls of its prison it learns that Nature has provided the 
implement of escape. A keen, sharp scale has developed on the 
snout, and during an experimental movement the snake cuts a 
clean straight slit in the shell, admitting light and air. The effect 
is startling. The reptile ducks to cover and remains quiet for 
several days. Then in a restless moment it tries again. The 
egg tooth has grown and the movement cleaves the shell like 
sharp steel. The force of the movement has involuntarily thrust 
the head and neck from the egg and the snakelet gazes about the 
dim-lit cavern under the stone. Narrow points of sunlight surge 
through crevices and are veritable magnets. The snake crawls 
to the glory of the August sunshine on the meadow. 
There is some little trouble getting untangled from the ana¬ 
tomical attachments of the egg, but finally the soft moist body 
threads its way into the grass and pauses to rest. A few hours 
later and the youngster is again uneasy. It wriggles and rubs its 
snout against the reeds and discovers that its stiff and uncom¬ 
fortable skin turns back from the head and under the chin, and 
that it is an easy matter to turn the entire garment wrong side 
out and slip out of it. About ten minutes’ wrig¬ 
gling accomplishes this, and a shining, satiny rep¬ 
tile once more flattens to the sun. It is quite un¬ 
like the slaty black mother, but will gradually 
change the mottled coat during the coming year. 
As this altogether independent baby of less than 
a day flickers its forked tongue and sinuously 
struts through the grass jungle, a shadow blots the 
sun. Lightning-quick come instinctive impulses to 
threaten — though fangs or defense are utterly 
lacking with the black snake The body springs 
into a ceil, the head darts in a mimic strike, 
but instantly the futility of “bluff” is realized 
as a hawk dashes groundward. Quicker than 
the plunging bird and outstretched talons, the 
snake hurls its body into the burrow under 
the stone. The motion is as facile as the 
lash of a whip. 
(Continued on page 3) 
Although highly poisonous, the rattlesnake causes few accidents because of its warning signal. These two 
timber specimens have just left their old skins on the ledge behind 
