PLATE II   Hose, first read as snake.

NOTE 01 · CHAPTER I

The hose in the grass

HABITAT    Backyards, parks, the edges of trails

A coiled garden hose can stop someone mid-step. Eyes seem tuned to catch snake-like shapes early: in one study, preschoolers and their parents picked out snakes faster than flowers, frogs or caterpillars, whether or not they feared them.2 A false alarm costs a second. A missed snake once cost much more.3