. The American natural history; a foundation of useful knowledge of the higher animals of North America. Natural history. THE GOPHER SNAKE 87 laid hold of it and picked it up, which the serpent did not resent in the least, even when it was passed from hand to hand for close examination. When finally released, it leisurely crawled under the house, quite as if nothing had happened. This is one of the best of all serpents to keep in captivity. It is next in hardiness to the water moccasin. It is an om- nivorous feeder, and, named in the order of choice, its food con- sists of rats, mice, birds, s
. The American natural history; a foundation of useful knowledge of the higher animals of North America. Natural history. THE GOPHER SNAKE 87 laid hold of it and picked it up, which the serpent did not resent in the least, even when it was passed from hand to hand for close examination. When finally released, it leisurely crawled under the house, quite as if nothing had happened. This is one of the best of all serpents to keep in captivity. It is next in hardiness to the water moccasin. It is an om- nivorous feeder, and, named in the order of choice, its food con- sists of rats, mice, birds, snakes, eggs, frogs, fish, lizards and even raw meat! (R. L. Ditmars.) The Gopher Snake is not a constrictor, it does not climb fre- quently, and does not care for water except to drink. It is strictly a warm-country species, and inhabits our Gulf states, from Florida to Mat- amoras, Mexico. The typical Pine Snake^ inhabits the sandy pine woods along the Atlantic coast from New Jersey to Florida; but other species of this genus are found throughout nearly every other portion of the United States except New England. This species is quite harmless, even to other snakes, but, for all that, it is a powerful constrictor. It lays eggs, and feeds upon birds, small rodents and eggs. In devouring eggs ' Pit-y-o'phis me-lan-o-leu' PINE Please note that these images are extracted from scanned page images that may have been digitally enhanced for readability - coloration and appearance of these illustrations may not perfectly resemble the original Hornaday, William Temple, 1854-1937. New York, C. Scribner's Sons
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Keywords: ., bookcentury1900, bookdecade1910, bookp, booksubjectnaturalhistory
