It is a rare person who doesn't jump when he comes suddenly upon a snake. And that is hardly surprising for a snake is the world's strangest animal. It has no legs, yet it can crawl, swim and climb. It has no paws to grasp with yet it can capture prey much larger than itself.

It has no external ears yet it is not deaf, for it can feel noise vibrations through the ground. It has no nose in the usual sense, but picks up odors with its forked tongue. It has no eyelids and so it sleeps with its eyes open.

Because of these peculiarities and because many snakes live a secret hidden life, tall tales have grown up about the many varieties of snakes scattered throughout the world.

In All About Snakes, Bessie M. Hecht, herpetologist formerly on the staff of the American Museum of Natural History, tells the true story of snakes and their ways. She also recalls some of her own remarkable experiences with many kinds of snakes ... collecting snakes in the West Indies, Florida, New York, New Jersey and Canada ... milking venom from moccasin snakes ... raising and studying boas, Garter Snakes, blind snakes, Fox Snakes and many others.

This is an exciting and thoroughly scientific report about one of the most fascinating animals in the world - an animal that has been stamped with an evil reputation but which is extremely useful to man.

From the dust jacket