The prime reason that every person should know the poisonous snakes of his region by sight and know something about their habits, distribution, and abundance is that it will ease the mind of the average individual in all of his outdoor pursuits. Most persons have heard so many false stories about snakes that they develop a fear of _all_ snakes. _This fear is unfounded!_ A person who knows what poisonous snakes he can expect to encounter in a given area need only learn to identify these and realize that _all other snakes_, _lizards_, _frogs_, _toads_, _salamanders_, and _turtles_ do not have a poisonous bite, and, therefore, he need not fear them. With a knowledge of the poisonous snakes, a person can avoid places where these snakes might be found. Another aspect is the _conservation_ of snakes. Too many people kill snakes just because they happen to be snakes. This is uncalled for destruction—a non-poisonous snake should no more be killed than a song bird. In many cases, the harmless snakes are of direct economic value. In general, all snakes are similar in habits. In Kansas, they retire for the winter in places where the temperature will not get below the freezing point. These may be in rocky ledges, beneath the soil, below the roots of trees, or in protected places of human design, such as grain bins, cisterns, cellars, and silos. With the warm days of spring, the snakes emerge from their winter quarters and set about finding food and mates. After mating, the sexes separate and each individual snake goes its own way to forage for food for the rest of the year. Some snakes lay eggs and others produce the young alive. There is about an even division of these types in Kansas. The king snakes, rat snakes, bull snakes, racers, and many smaller snakes lay eggs in early summer. These eggs are deposited in a spot suitable for hatching, generally beneath a rock or in the soil. When they hatch, the young fend for themselves. In Kansas, water snakes, garter snakes, poisonous snakes, and some smaller snakes give birth to living young in late summer or early fall. Again, the young are on their own after birth. With the coming of cooler weather the snakes leave their summer feeding grounds and travel to places where they will hibernate for the winter.