There should be a strip of land at least two feet wide all around the tank, as a runway. When this is all arranged spread a layer of sand all over the bottom of the tank, fill it with water, and place the cage over all. You should have
An Old Piece of Canvas,
or some similar covering, for the cage, to be used when your sand is in danger of being washed away by a downpour of rain.
Everything is now ready, and you can turn loose in the enclosure
Your Whole Collection
of frogs, toads, lizards, and snakes, and they will soon make themselves at home. You must not be surprised if your pets in this cage feed upon one another. I once owned an old bull-frog who would attempt to swallow anything that moved, with the exception of snakes. This frog swallowed two live mice in one day, but he did not get hungry again for two weeks.[5]
There are but few poisonous snakes in our country, and in the Northern States we have but two kinds—copperheads and rattlesnakes. Neither of these will add to the interest of your collection, and must be left out and let alone.[6]
There are many beautiful and harmless little snakes to be found in every field. They abound within the city limits of New York.[7] I saw two sunning themselves on a neighbor’s lawn, and discovered their home in the gate-post.
You will be surprised at the many varieties of frogs you can find when you start to collect these comical little creatures. Some of them are very difficult to catch, and they often turn up in the oddest of places. I found a big toad in the top of a tree which I had climbed after young crows. It was a common hop-toad, not a tree-frog.