SNAKES' EGGS.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XLV, Issue 13583, 12 September 1908, Page 2 (Supplement)

SNAKES' EGGS.

HOW THEY ABE HATCHED. Because of the popular aversion to the serpent family, there is a surprising amount of ignorance about even the simplest of snake habits. It is doubtful if many correct answers could be given to the question whether snakes lay eggs or bear their young alive. As a matter of fact, some species are viviparous and others oviparous. Most of the poisonous snakes, as well as many of the harmless varieties, belong to the former class. In the case of the viviparous specie*, the eg<?s remain in the oviduct so long that the young are hatched therein, while in other species the eggs undergo a partial incubation in the oviduct and are hatched soon after being laid.. Such snakes are sometimes classed as ovi-viviparous. The European ring snake is closely allied to the common water snake and goes by tne scientific name Tropidonotus natrix. Curiously enough, all other members of the genus Tropidonotus are viviparous, and this species alone lays eggs. Furthermore, according to Gadow's "Amphibia' and Reptiles,' the new-laid eggs usually show not the slightest visible sign of an embryo, unless oviposition is delayed, when the embryos are more or less developed. The eggs are laid in a soft bed of loam or decaying vegetation, or in a heap of manure. Ihe older snakes sometimes lay as mam- as a dozen eggs or more, and they usually stick together so that the entire cluster can be picked up at once. Sometimes, however, if the process of laying is slow, they will be separated. The eggs are about an inch long and of a whitish vellcw colour. The shell is thin and flexible like parchment. The young batch in late summer or autumn. Before hatching, they develop a sharp calcareous growth on the tip of the snout known as the egg tooth, with which the shell is slit open. Unlike hutching chicks, which are suddenly dispossessed by the breaking of their brittle shells, the young snakes may make man,* incisions in the parchment envelopes and take ma'-v peeps at the outside world before venturing forth into the new environment. Shortly 'after hatching, the egg tooth is lost.

At iirst, the young live on insects and worms, but within a few weeks they are strong enough to attack and devour young frogs. Strangely enough, although the adults a.re strong swimmers, and spend much time iu ponds and streams hunting the fish and frogs on which they subsist, the younj are unable to swim and they wnl soon drown if they fall into the water. The European ring snake, as well as the A: lerican water snake, makes an excellent pet; it is perfectly harmless,becomes very tame, and learns to know the difference between friends and strangers. Gadow tells of a pet ring snake that would eat from his hand, craw! up his coat sleeve and ceil itself contentedly on his arms.