THE NATURALIST.

Otago Witness, Issue 2915, 26 January 1910, Page 76

THE NATURALIST.

(By W. Henry ■ Sneak in, the Scientifio American.)

Pythons and their Prey.

The ability of snakes to perform feats of swallowing their prey is astounding. Recently a small boa, scarcely four feet in length, with a head no larger than a man's thumb, swallowed a. full-grown, pigeon,. We put.fhie pigeon in the cage at night, thinking that an Indian python 7ft or Bft long would ta.ke it, but a great swelling in the body of the little boa showed what had become of the bird. As no snake chews or rends his prey we knew that it passed his head and throat entire. The enlargement did not disappear for a week. "Long Tom," a giant reticulated python, fed on a pig weighing 451 b. We wanted to g«t some photographs of the monster reptile taking large prey, so the pig was put in the e'en aliive; but as his prey had been killed for Mm in captivity, the snake got frightened when the pig began to move about and squeal, and backed away. When the pig was killed and foe smelled the blood he took the animal at once, and in 25 minutes it had disappeared. The pig is, however, an easy object to swallow, oompared with a dense pelage of fur or feathers. For two or three days the stomach was enlarged to almost the size of a beer keg, but on the third day the swelling began to diminish, and by the end l of the fifth the body had returned to its normal diameter. Contrary to common belief, these big snakes will generally soon learn to take their prey after it has been killed. We usually feed them chicken® or rabbits killed, but while still warm. We have, however, fed them with cold-storage rabbits that were killed in Australia. Miss Grace Clark, the snake charmer, rays that she once had a snake that would take a chicken after it was dressed and cut into pieces, receiving the pieces one at a time. A few months ago we wanted to feed a very large pigeon to a very. small Indian l python. In order to save him the trouble cf working over the shoulders we cut off the wings. After gorging the bird we offered him the wings, which he took and swallowed. The python which swallowed the pig Was received from Carl Hagenibeek, of Hamburg, Germany, In July, 1907. He has a photograph of it in tne act of sallowing an Indian antelope weighing over 901 b. He bad another retioulated python, which Swallowed a 971 b iib?x. A python in «fche Cincinnati Zooloarica.l Gaxdens swallowed a goat weighing 421 b, Cur small snake* ieSd largely on froga.

toads, arnc" fish; the anacondas feed extensively on 'fish! : king snakes and king cobras cat other species of snakes ; hut X have never known a boa or pyhton to take a cold-bloodied animal. We often keep email snakes and iguanas with the >bc.aii and pythons, but they never take any notice of them. In ?- state of Nature their prey consists largely of small deer and antelopes, lambs, kids, pigs, other mammal's, weighing- loss than, a .hundred pounds, and any bird that may bo large enough to attract their attention. That their prey dees not always submit without a fight is shown from the number of broken ribs that are found in the skeletons. Tho teeth of the python arc numerous. In tho upper jaw there is a row of teeth in the maxillary, and a second, row, set at considerable distance inside tho first and imbedded in the palantine .bones. In the lower jaw there is but one row of teeth, that of tho inferior maxillary, but it is really double, as. there is a. line of tiny teeth' just inside tho larger ones. In seeking his prey the python depends much more on his eons* of smell than on that of eight. It is always dangerous to go near thes© big snakes with the smell of any bird or mammal on the hands or clothing. When they are hungry and ©cent their natural food they will etrike at the first thing they see moving. They will even strike at inanimate objects which have oome in: touch with their natural prey. One evening we were feeding a big python. For some reason it dropped tho prey, and to get him to return to the chicken a. woollen duster was pushed towards his head. Instantly he struck and seized the duster in his teeth. His jaws had to ha pried open to make him let go. Under similar circumstances a. python- seized and swallowed a blanket. After retaining it for two clays he disgorged the article, rolled into a compact wad. The sense of taste in the serpents is very keen. If chickens are kept in a dirty box these reptiles will refuse to feed on them. If a python bites into the crop of a chicken containing bad-tasting -matter ho will drop the chicken. To test the sensibilities_ of the serpents, a black snake was orcco given a stale esra - . This species is very fond of eggs, but ,no sooner had the sihell broken in hi.? stomach than be commenced vomiting, and continued till the stomach was completely evacuated. Aii Alligator Kully. One very hot day, when everything seemed sleepy and inert, Old Mose was fairly quiet and peaceable, seeming inclined to sleep himself. Ho had beer' lying pienfectlv motionless, in the way alligators have, for some time, and Number Two was lying just behind lym, directly facing his tail,- a.nd always evidently on the lookout for the slightest movement on his enemy's part. Now, whether it- w&s because Number Two's wrongs had accumulated 'to the explosive point, or because of the close proximity of his enemy's tail, will never be known, but.-» without the least warning Number Two suddenly caught hold of Old Mose's tail, fixing his teeth firmly injto the part where a notch, had been mad* 'fay a shark and hung on for dear life. Old Mose was powerless. It was useless turning round; he simply swung his enemy away from him, and no matter how much he turned and twisted Number Two would not let .go. Alligators do not pull and strain at the objee's they catch hold of, like most of the animals: they turn round and round in the water like a swivel, and keep up until the part they happen to have in their mouths comes away by sheer forco of twistinor and wrenohing. There followed one of the most terrific Struggles ever seen between two reptiles in captivity—indeed, I doubt whether suoh another irstanee has ever been heard of. Tho water was and thrown up high in all directions, turning srraduailly towards the orad of the stnige, 1 .".* to -a deep red colour, l»*t Number Two did, not .once loosen his hoi' 4 until he had torn off fully 14in of/ Old Mose's tail! AM when he had accomplished this Old Mcse was a different He did not attempt to go after Number Two, or hurt h'm in. anw tot : he Atent to one corne l ' of the *-©nl and staved there, a comnletelv vanquished ard subdued tvrant, and iust .rs me°k t>& his namesake is suDposed to hav* been. Few can rea.liee what .".normous strength i.- .necessary *o tear off t.He tail an alligator, and such a large alligator A famous taxidermist once told mo that even he had never realised how tough an albVator's skin was until he mounted on?. He then .found that i»i closing up the opening in the stomach. ' ,v order to* H»w»rt thp r.enpseary stio l he was oivlicrod to drill holes in tily» "kin, "oth.i-.-r else being found strone - enough or forcible enough to do it. And y-etthis young alligator had bitten off Uin of th« tail «« a. full-ir.-owr. "Kncii-mal''" W<r. s tror>f "Hvw+oT.— Ellen Velvin. in "Wild Animal O^b'-ities."