THE LADY OF THE DRAGONS.

Auckland Star, Volume LIX, Issue 249, 20 October 1928, Page 17 (Supplement)

THE LADY OF THE DRAGONS.

FRIEND OF THE KOMODO GIANTS.

The handling of dragons would naturally seem to be a business for St. George, or at least for members of his sex. But times have so changed that when a dragon has now to be tackled it is woman who takes on the job. London has its dragons, and they are housed in the Zoor-a couple of Komodo dragons from the Dutch East Ladies, not so huge perhaps as the fire-spouting" creatures found in fairy , 'tales, but hardly the things-for domestic pets in spite of that. They are "in fact eight feet long, are extremely lively, and havejaWs capable of snapping off an arm as quick as look at •t. ■

They are much beloved*by Miß8 T Procter,: the woman curator of reptiles at the Zoo.. It is an umlsualjob for a-woman, but then Miss Proctor js an-unusual woman. She handles boa constrictors as though they were feather boas, and she has won the hearts of the hamadryads and the affections of the adders. -As a schoolgirl she slept with* snakes under her pillow, and carried them about in her muff. And she feels a siidilar warmth towards dragons which seems to be thoroughly reciprocated. The other day one of. the dragons developed abscesses, and Miss Procter decided to remove them. She had won its confidence by constant handling and petting, and she felt no qualms in enticing it on to an operating table with a piece of cotton wool, which the creature j appealed to mistake for tie customary ineAl of rat or rabbit. The dragon was given an occasional raw egg, and Miss Procter now, and then encouraged it with » friendly pat what time with probes and forceps she proceeded with her surgery. She cleaned out the. wounds, cauterised them with nitrate 7 of silver— the creature winced badly then —and plugged them with cotton wool and iodoform. The dragon bore it all without ill-will-4-indeed throughout the proceedings ft showed its affection for its lady friend by continually shooting out its forked tongue, and licking her arms and face. Certainly St. George and Androcles combined would never have done better.