However, as it is of an amiable disposition, it can easily be tamed; and then, having learned good manners, it becomes a favourite, and recompenses its protectors by killing the rats and mice which frequent their premises.
The Milk or House Snake.
The beautiful blue house snake—four feet in length, with rows of spots on its side—is often mistaken for the corn snake, its habits being very similar. The lower part of the body is of a silvery white, tesselated with oblong marks of black. The ignorant fancy that it sucks the milk from the udders of the cows, and hence its name; though, probably, it has no objection to a little milk, if it finds it in a pan. Its object, however, in entering houses and farms, is to search for mice and insects, on which it in reality feeds, never interfering with the cows or other animals.
The Black Snake.
In many parts of the country, the black snake, on account of its rapid movements, is called the “racer.” Though fangless, it often, in consequence of the way in which it rustles its tail among the dry herbage, making a sound similar to that of the rattlesnake, gives no small alarm to the wanderer among the brushwood near the edges of streams or ponds. It is also frequently encountered in the fields or on the roads.
It is generally from five to six feet in length; of a blue-black above, and an ashy grey below. It climbs trees in search of birds or their eggs; and if interrupted in its employment, will turn its rage against the intruder. Sometimes, it is asserted, it will, to his horror, leap down and give him a bite; though the only injury likely to arise is that to his nervous system from fright. Its bite is, indeed, perfectly harmless; and it does good service in hunting rats which live in the outbuildings, being able to climb walls and insinuate itself into the most intricate passages when chasing them.
The Coach-Whip Snake.
The last snake we will mention is the coach-whip snake, belonging to the family of Dryadidae. No serpent can surpass it in the rapidity of its movements, as, with its lithe, black body—between five and six feet in length—and whiplike tail, it makes its way amid the grass in pursuit of its prey. It seems literally to fly over the ground with the speed of lightning.
It is curiously like the thong of a whip, being very long in proportion to its girth, with a remarkably small head and neck; its smooth scales—so arranged as greatly to resemble
