HUNT FOR A SERPENT

New Zealand Herald, Volume XLIV, Issue 13396, 26 January 1907, Page 2 (Supplement)

HUNT FOR A SERPENT

BOA CONSTRICTOR WHICH SWALLOWED A CAT.

A boa foxsTiiicTOß which tunas a side attraction of Oliver's Living Picture Exhibition escaped from the carnival ground at Stratford early in the morning. The serpent, which, though incapable of poisoning anyone, is sufficiently large and formidable to crush a human being if it so desired, had been in the habit of sleeping in a strong-box in a special caravan, Owing to the coldness of the night, however, its owner had it removed in its box to bis own caravan, where it was placed under the bed, with a hot-water'bottle to keep it comfortable. During the night it managed to. raise the heavy' lid of its box and escape into the open caravan, whence it glided into the world at large through a window. The escape was discovered and proclaimed in the half-light of dawn, and there was at once a helter-skelter of men, women, and children from the other caravans on the show ground. For two hours, during which some men and boys sat oil top of the roundabout or climbed up the sides of swings, no traces of the errant hew could be found. Then came a cry from inside the tent where the serpent i's wont to be exhibited. His owner had discovered that the wanderer had coiled up as much of its sinuous body as it could inside the large lantern of the cinematograph machine, whither, without doubt, it had gone for warmth. The boa, however, was loth to leave its place of refuge. Every time a dash -was made to seize it at the back of the head it darted out a yard of supple body, neck, and head with forked tongue and glaring eyes, and hissed horrible threats. At last, however, the lady tamer got in a cunning ju-jitsu grip, and two minutes later the serpent lav in its old box again, with a freshly-charged hot-water bottle, under the heel in its owner's caravan. But not before certain furry traces round its mouth had been observed, and the subsequent discovery that a cat had disappeared showed how, the boa had spent part of its night ofL,

■A '.■>