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Show FOOD OF SNAKES AND LIZARDS By H. J. Pack, Aslstant Professor Zoology and Entomology, U. A. C. The snnke and the lizard is the 'friend of the farmer surpassed only by birds in the destruction of Insect Hnd rodent pests. Our lizards are almost al-most wholly insectivorous, eating (Trent numbers of grasshoppers, caterpillars, cater-pillars, hettles and ants. Heading the list of lizards In Importance Im-portance is the race-runner. This is n large species, reaching a length of twelve Inches and further characterized character-ized by its slender form and the presence pres-ence of four or six longitudinal stripes on its gray back. From a careful care-ful study of this lizard It is learned that Its food consists of about 40 per cent caterpillars, 15 per cent grasshoppers, grass-hoppers, 15 per cent beetles and the remainder of miscellaneous Insects. The cannon sage-brush swift or blue-bellied blue-bellied lizard eats grasshoppers, ants nnd beetle. Horned lizards or "hrny-toads" "hrny-toads" are known to eat great numbers num-bers of anti. One observer noticed a horned lizard standing at the entrance of on ant nest nnd devouring the ant fust ns they emerged. Not only ore lliards beneficial but all except tin glln monster are harmless and arm poisonous. Among snakes the bull or blow-snnke blow-snnke prohirbly la the most beneficial. It feeds largoly upon mice, gophers and others noxious rodents. The writer writ-er knows of one blow snake which up-orn up-orn le!ng killed end examined was found to contain 30 field mice. The garter snakes s-o abundant along every ev-ery stream catch mice and frogs. Most other snakes also are beneficial and harmless. Unless we are to lose very important import-ant allies in the natural control of noxious Insect nnd rnoVnt pests people must tnke a common-sense attitude towards to-wards snakes and lizards, reogni7.ing their harmless nature and beneficial habits Dd afford them adequate pro-fv'tlon. |