Southern standard. (McMinnville, Tenn.) 1879-current, 1881-09-10
The Garter or alDbon.snake.

The garter-snake (Eutenia Sirtdlis)
Astounding, as it does, in every State
of the Union, and, indeed, throughout
North Americas too common to need
description.
In the latter part of March or early in
April the male is in his best spirits and
finest condition. If at this time you at
tempt to capture him, he will fatten
himself out so as to appear twice his u.s.
ual size, and strike with amazing vim
and rapidity for so small an animal. l
have had the blood drip from finger
lacerated by their sharp little teeth.
Toward the end of summer the female
brings forth alive from twenty to thirty
young, They exactly resemble their
parent at birth, and are about seven and
a half inches long. They are covered
with a thin, transparent membrane,
out of which they soon force their way.
The young snakes feed on angle
worms and soft-bodied insects. AS they
increase in size they adopt their adult
food--viz., frogs, toads, salamanders
and small reptiles of all kinds, young
birds and field mice, and, when obtain
able, small fishes In captivity / have
succeeded in getting them to devour raw
beef by moving it about with a fine wire.
The snakes, believing it to be alive,
seize and swallow it, -. .-....i,
Now word about this swallowing
process. Strictly speaking, snake
does not swallow" but crawls over its
food. Both upper and lower jaws are
freely movable and controlled by appro-
pirate muscles. Having seized its prey,
one upper jaw is moved forward, and
the teeth, which all point backward,
firmly fixed, then the jaw ,of the oppo-
site side in the same manner, then the
two lower jaws act in the same way,
until the object is swallowed, the mus
Giles of the neck meanwhile forcing the
serpent's body forward over that of its
victim.
Snakes, it is well known, are able to
60 long time without food; not so
long, however, as is usually thought. l
think none of our common species could
exist through even a single season with
out eating. The locomotive apparatus
of serpents is very beautiful. Each YER
zebra Except the caudaD is supplied
with pair of freely movable ribs, the
lower extremities of which are attached
to the broad, movable belly-scaleS
(Scutd), each of which slightly under
lies the preceding one. Each rib is sup
piled with set Of muscles, too complex
to describe here. When the ribs are
pulled forward, of course the Scuta
move with them, their smooth surfaces
taking no hold on the ground. When,
however, the muscles act in q counter
direction, their sharp edges take firm
hold, and the body is propelled for
ward.
Garter-snakes, like all ophidians,
change their skins; not once year, as
is generally supposed, but three, five, OF
even more times in season, according
to age and condition.
have many times witnessed this pro-
cess of undressing. By stretching the
jaws wide open and violently working
the labials Zip scales) the skin is broken
from about the lips. Then, by rubbing
the head against the ground or con.
venient object, it is forced backward to
the neck, whence it is unrolled from the
rest of the body by the snake crawling
like an earth worm Il. c., contracting
and extending the body completely out
of its old dress, assisting the operation
by rubbing against stones and twigs. By
blowing into the "neck" of this empty
"slough," it may be for a moment in
flated, looking like the ghost of its for
mer owner.
What the term of life in the Eutenia
may be is, in the nature of things, some
what hard to determine; but, judging
from their slow growth, l think tina
thirty or forty years would be within
limits. ... ..........
The principal diseases to which they
seem to be subject are fungoid growth
of soft, mucous character, which
grows around and in the mouth, soor
causing the animal to waste away anC
die, and a disease of the skin and super
fetal muscles, which gives the poor an
imal the appearance of being caked
with white clay. This also is sooner o.
later fatal.
Nor does the ribbon. snake want TO
enemies. Frogs and toads will readil,
devour the young. l think both mole
and shrews prey upon them, and severa
species of hawk feed upon the large
individuals. - sAf sts--.a- . .
This snake is entirely harmless and i
even to certain degree capable of bein;
tanned. Indeed, | have had severa
which would take food from my hand
crawl into my coat pockets and up m,
arm, without showing the slightest fear
the species being usually, except tn
males in the breeding season, extremel,
timid.
In conclusion, 1 would say that tn
wholesale killing of every species O
snake is not only cruel, but worse tina
useless, the greater number of specie
feeding largely on field mice, thus rid
ding the agriculturist of these Annoying
and destructive little pests. All specie
will get out of the way of man, if posi-
BILE, and the two venomous varietie
found in the New England and Middl
States--the rattlesnake and copperhea
are, popular opinion to the contrary
| rarn n w SoiSS in N Y J,JfIcDeDn