SACRED SNAKES

Evening Post, Volume CVII, Issue 22, 26 January 1929, Page 18

SACRED SNAKES

TEMPLE VIPERS FROM PENANG

Mr. Walter Goodfellow, tho natural-, ist, has returned,from a collecting expedition to the Far East on behalf of Mr. Spedan Lewis, who'has presented a number of the ■animals collected to.the London Zoological Society (states' the '' Daily. Telegraph V);; Of. special interest are a. pair iofijturquoiae blue and yellow temple ,: vipers .from Ponang. , The temple'viper, an arboreal species.attaining a length of three feet, is worshipped by-.,-the natives and encouraged' to reside in'their gardens. In the snake' temple at Penang hundreds of' these highly poisonous reptiles are guarded and fed by the priests, and the pampered vipers ; cover the altar and even the altar-steps, where the natives offer up gifts and prayers. . As no case has been recorded of these serpents inflicting bites ijl on their worshippers, it may bo assumed that they. are either doped or have suffered at the hands of their holy guardians the indignity of having their fangs removed.

The temple viper is usually: bright grass green in colour, its;scales developing black, edges with age. In- old specimens, the whole colour may become blackish. It has been suggested that the ■ colour is protective, and .that the older snakes are more inclined to take

up a position on larger; and consequently darker boughs^thaii the young. A Chinese starling included in the collection converses in Chinese. Certain species of starlings and their relatives, themynah birds, have very receptive minds, and are gifted with the power of reproducing '. human speech. It will, therefore, probably not be long before the 'newcomer, makes irrelevant observations '■■} in English.; A specimen .of. a mynah,.which-was:-recently living in the Zoo< and had- previous to his arrival _,at ;Begent's Park been in the possession, of an undergraduate at Oxford, changed its accent within a month from "Oxford" to Cockney, 'faithfully impersonating the voice of his hew keeper. . .... '..... .....■'