. The American natural history; a foundation of useful knowledge of the higher animals of North America. Natural history. WATER-SNAKES, AND THE PIOG-NOSED SNAKE 347 its neck with air, and hisses until it can be heard twenty-five feet. In spite of all this bluffing, however, the Hog- Nosed Snake is really a harmless creature. It strikes viciously, but always with its mouth closed! Mr. Ditmars says it is almost impossible to induce one of these snakes to bite. When greatly annoyed, or tickled on the back, it will. HOG-XOSED turn over on its back, ojjen its mouth, allow its tongue to hang
. The American natural history; a foundation of useful knowledge of the higher animals of North America. Natural history. WATER-SNAKES, AND THE PIOG-NOSED SNAKE 347 its neck with air, and hisses until it can be heard twenty-five feet. In spite of all this bluffing, however, the Hog- Nosed Snake is really a harmless creature. It strikes viciously, but always with its mouth closed! Mr. Ditmars says it is almost impossible to induce one of these snakes to bite. When greatly annoyed, or tickled on the back, it will. HOG-XOSED turn over on its back, ojjen its mouth, allow its tongue to hang out, and permit the experimenter to hang it over a stick, as if dead. If thrown upon the ground on its back, it will slowly turn back again, take in its tongue, and crawl away. When a small boy I once had a thrilling en- counter on a bare prairie with one of these snakes, which sought to take refuge in its hole while I fought it off with my hat. At last the snake fled, and I blocked up the mouth of the hole. While I was ploughing the next round, the snake returned, and with its nose dug a new opening running diagonally down into the old one, and entered. This snake is flat-headed and thick-bodied, and varies in length from 30 to 37 inches. Its colors are a mixture of brown, yellow and black, with no definite pattern, and are almost impos- sible to describe successfully. This species lays eggs, which are about one and one-half inches in length, covered with a thick, tough, flexible shell. When hatched the young are from 7 to 8 inches long, and they hiss very soon after they emerge. The embryo serpent possesses an "eggrtooth," for cutting the shell of the egg, but it loosens and drops out within a day or two after the serpent is hatched. THE POISONOUS SNAKES OF NORTH AMERICA. Fortunately for us, all save one of our species of poisonous serpents are so peculiarly marked it is possible for any inteUigent person to know them all, and recognize their dangerous charac- ter
Size: 1856px × 1346px
Photo credit: © The Book Worm / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No
Keywords: ., bookcentury1900, bookdecade1900, bookp, booksubjectnaturalhistory
