HERPTILES OF PEI, 
     
    
   
   
    
     In this issue we continue the accounts of the herptiles of P.E.I. with the 
     
     third and last group - the snakes. 
     
    
   
   
    
     PART III - THE SNAKES 1 
     
    
   
   
    
     Snakes are members of the class Reptilia. Their chief characteristic is an 
     
     absence of limbs, but they also lack ear openings and movable eyelids. Snakes 
     
     are able to move by means of large scales on the underside. The sides of a snake's 
     
     jaws are separately hinged, enabling it to swallow larger prey than its mouth 
     
     opening would normally permit. The teeth are small and curved backward into the 
     
     mouth. The long forked tongue is harmless, used mainly as a receptor for sensory 
     
     information. 
     
    

    
     Snakes are cold-blooded so in this part of the world must hibernate in winter. 
     
     They either hatch from eggs or are born alive. Young snakes are not cared for 
     
     after hatching. Small snakes, such as the ones we have on P.E.I., mature in one 
     
     or two years. Skins are shed at least once a year to permit growth. Snakes feed 
     
     on eggs or live animals - insects, worms, frogs, mice, rats and rabbits. 
     
    
   
   
    
       
     
    
   
   
    
     The classification of the three snake species recorded for P.E.I. (after 
     
     Cook 1967) is as follows: 
     
     Class: Reptilia 
     
     Order: Serpentes 
     
     Family: Colubridae - 
     
     Storeria ocoipitomaculata occipitomaculata (Storer) - Northern Red—bellie 
     
     Snake ‘ 
     
     Thamnophis sirtalis pallidula Allen - Maritime Garter Snake 
     
     Opheodrys vernalis vernalis (Harlan) - Eastern Smooth Green Snake 
     
    
   
   
    
     1. Northern Red-bellied-Snake (Storeria occipit— 
     
     omac'ulata) 
     
    
   
   
    
     This small snake grows up to about 20 cm in 
     
     length. Its back is brownish or slaty in 
     
     colour and the belly is of some shade of red. 
     
     Three light spots are found on the back of 
     
    

    
     the head. The Red-bellied Snake hibernates in 
     
     dry locations such as rock piles. They emerge 
     
     in spring shortly after the snow disappears 
     
    

    
     and may stay active until late in the fall. 
     
    

    
     In the summer it lives under logs, stones, or 
     
     old boards where it eats worms and soft 
     
     insects. The young, of which there may be up 
     
     to twenty, are born alive in late July, August, 
     
     or early September. At birth they are from 
     
     six to sixteen centimeters long. This smallest of our Island snakes is retiring v 
     
     by nature, and is not frequently reported in the province. 
     
    
   
   
    
       
     
    
   
   
    
     2. Maritime Garter Snake (Thamnophis sirtalis) . 
     
    
   
   
    
     Prince Edward Island Garter Snakes are brown, olive or grey with three light . 
     
     stripes and two rows of dark spots between the stripes. The undersides are 
     
     lighter, although darkening toward the tail end. Garter Snakes average from 
     
    
   
   
    
     ‘20‘