[Stefan-A]

"The large garter snake which you saw, my dear lady, is comparatively
harmless. It lives on toads and frogs, and robs the nests of young birds,
and also pilfers the eggs. Its long forked tongue enables it to catch
insects of different kinds, it will even eat fish, and for that purpose
frequents the water as well as the black snake.

The snake will swallow her young ones," said Mrs. Frazer. "I have seen
the garter-snake open her mouth and let the little ones run into it when
danger was nigh. The snake also lays eggs: I have been and handled them
often. They are not covered with a hard, brittle shell, like that of a
hen, but with a sort of whitish skin, like leather: they are about the
size of a blackbird's egg, long in shape; some are rounder and larger.
They are laid in some warm place, where the heat of the sun and earth
hatches them. But though the mother does not brood over them, as a hen
does over her eggs, she seems to take great care of her little ones, and
defends them from their many enemies by hiding them out of sight in the
singular manner I have just told you.

In the Forest - Or, pictures of life and scenery in the woods of Canada
by Catharine Parr Traill, 1802-1899

Originally Posted by anji1971

3 and 4 am is not a good wake-up time, Stefan!

The hell it isn't.