Woodsy neighbours of Tan and Teckle . min-nows, and behave so much like water-snakes 274 WOODSY NEIGHBOURS that the ordinary observer cannot tell themapart. Most people take a foolish pride in beingafraid of all snakes, and in killing every onethey can. It is little use to tell them howsilly and how cruel it is to kill such a harm-less creature. Their only reply is a snakesa snake, and there is no answer to such un-reasonable argument. There are really very,very few kinds of poisonous snakes in thiscountry, and most of them have been killed. The three boys of the Bradley farm soongrew to know
Woodsy neighbours of Tan and Teckle . min-nows, and behave so much like water-snakes 274 WOODSY NEIGHBOURS that the ordinary observer cannot tell themapart. Most people take a foolish pride in beingafraid of all snakes, and in killing every onethey can. It is little use to tell them howsilly and how cruel it is to kill such a harm-less creature. Their only reply is a snakesa snake, and there is no answer to such un-reasonable argument. There are really very,very few kinds of poisonous snakes in thiscountry, and most of them have been killed. The three boys of the Bradley farm soongrew to know that nearly all snakes are harm-less, and they never killed one except for anexperiment, as when they allowed a snake toswallow Old Croaker, and then cut the snakeopen to see if the toad were still alive. Theyoften caught and played with garter-snakesand blacksnakes, and laughed at their effortsto bite. And when the snakes learned thatthey were not harmed, they ceased trying tobite, and even seemed to enjoy having theirheads WINTER AT LAST AFTER weeks of mel-low, hazy, dreamydays and cool, crisp nights, winter laida heavy hand on the old Bradley farm, onwoodland and meadow, on field and swamp,on hill and river-bottom. It came on asmany storms do in that section, with a chillrain from the southwest. After a downpourof a night and a day the wind veered to thenorthwest and blew cold, the rain changedfirst to sleet and then to snow, and when an-other day dawned there was a thick blanketof white over all the land, the streams rangurgling as if half choked under bridges ofsnow-covered ice, and a bitter north wind lashed and stung all who dared face it. 275 276 WOODSY NEIGHBOURS Yes, winter had come, but it had not sur-prised one of the little wild creatures. Excepta few hardy ones like the red-headed wood-pecker and the robin, who never leave untilthey are driven, the birds that journey southfor the winter were already on their and swallow, nightjar and swift,k
Size: 2029px × 1231px
Photo credit: © The Reading Room / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No
Keywords: ., bookcentury1900, bookdecade1910, bookpublishe, booksubjectanimals
