New skins for old
A shiny garter snake wiggles through the grass. Its wrinkled old skin
hangs from the tip of its tail. The snake comes to some rocks. It slides
between them. The old skin catches on one of the rocks. With a twist of
its tail, the snake crawls on. The old skin stays behind.
Every few months a snake grows too big for its skin. Each time, it gets
rid of its old skin by crawling right out of it.
When the old skin is ready to come off, it dries up and becomes loose.
Then the snake rubs its mouth against
When a snake crawls out of its old skin, its new skin is very shiny.
Pilot Black Snake
Tokay Gecko
This lizard has pulled off all but a few pieces of its old skin.
something rough. The skin around its lips splits and opens up. This
doesn’t hurt the snake.
The snake starts to crawl. As it crawls, its old skin turns inside out
and slides down the snake’s body. At last, the old skin just hangs from
the snake’s tail. The snake crawls between some rocks or some branches.
Off comes the old skin. Away crawls the snake in a shiny new skin that
grew beneath the old one.
Lizards take off their old skins, too. But because of their legs, they
can’t get the skins off in one piece as a snake can. The lizards tear
off their old skins in pieces. And some lizards eat the pieces.
