SNAKES THAT START EARLY.
There was an interesting, if possibly somewhat unwelcome, addition to the London Zoo population lately, when a Russell's viper, which had recently arrived from India, gave birth to over 100 youffg.
The Russell's viper is one of the most dangerous snakes in the world, not only because it is very poisonous, but because of its fierceness. Indian snake charmers, who think nothing of handling cobras, will not touch the Russell's viper.
The young of the species are both active and aggressive, and though they are little larger than earthworms when newly born, they will
(bite if they get a chance—and the bite will produce distinctly unpleasant results. Once before, when baby Russell's vipers appeared at the zoo, a keeper was bitten by one of them and suffered considerable pain. There are other species of snakes whose young are just as pugnacious. The baby ringhals, or spitting cobra, of South Africa, sits up with expanded hood and tries to bite as soon as it is born.
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Ellesmere Guardian, Volume LII, Issue 91, 12 November 1931, Page 6
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169SNAKES THAT START EARLY. Ellesmere Guardian, Volume LII, Issue 91, 12 November 1931, Page 6
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