The Tiffin tribune. (Tiffin, Ohio) 1868-1887, 1870-05-27
THE REPTILES AT THE GEOLOGICAL
GARDENS.
From NaturaIists, Note Book.

what TO disappOint the ordinary OBJ
server. Its occupants in many in.
tsalees are sfoHeI away coH1fortably
lbeDeath tlls. blankets with which they
are generally provided and those
which are visible are lying motion
less OH the gravel, or repOsing in the
branches of tree. Very little motion
is to be seen, unless il be among the
lizards, which are more active than
the serpents, but of whom the larger
kinds are i'm the habit of standing in
apparently the most uneasy attitudes
for a considerable time. III this, and
many other respects, they resemble
the Isepenfss and there areindeed
species VII hicI seem to form connects
ing inks b6tWeeIlt the two orders, /
The Opbidfd are, however, seen to
much greater advantage at their feed
ing time, which occurs once week;
not that they are all fed so often, for
many will take sufficient food at a
meal for several weeks, and some lin
particular the pythOns) have been
known to fast for months together
Having been present lately on the Oc-
casion of these creatures receiving
] their usual allowance, we purpose to
4 give a short account from careful Obj
/ servation, of the manner in which
they seized and killed their prey.
If we disregard the scientific divis-
ions of the order which comprises
these animals, we may divide them
into three classes firstly, those which
seize their prey with their teeth, and
crush it in their folds; secondly, those
which seize and swallow it alive, after
the manner of lizards; and thirdly,
those which bite, or rather strike ii
with pOison0Is fangs OF the first,
I the finest examples are the pythOns
and bOas, besides which there are the
yellow snakes of the West Indies,
and others. Those of the second are
fewer in number; they include the
red snake of Bengal, vipeFine snake,
English snake, etc. The present spec
linens of the third class include rat
tlesnakes, and Indian and Egyptian
eObTas, water Yipers, etc. asf
| These divisions are not strictly.
scientific, as Some of the poisOnOus
Iserpents have a structure closely re-
classed with them, but they will
serve our present purpose better.
The constructing serpents, rs We
may term them, are kept in large
eases, the entrance tOwhich is either
by glass door in the front, which
opeas by 9, sliding up, or BY similar
| IcOntrivance at the back, IN the wood
en- PARTITION. The cOlubrine snakes
are in some of these cases generally,
and indeed are so harmless that lit
tie fprecautiOn is needed. The ven-
OInous serpents have no opening but
q small one on the lid of the case,
about two or three inches square,
Through this their food is introduced;
and all necessary operations for the
| cleanliness and order of the interior
are performed with a rod Of stout
wire, to the evident disgust of the oc-
Ecupa1ts, whO,sif new cOmersystrike at
fit szfi soFodsly with their fangs. The
first to be fed were the yellow snakes,
and other species in the same case
The keeper, having HnceremOniOusly
removed the blanket, beneath which
most of the occupants of the COM
partments were huddled together, as
usual, quickly introduced under the
glass door about a dozen sparrows, and
one or two Guinea pigs. The former
Iiipnediately retired TO the darkest
edfners, seeming. however, to be
lluste uneOncerned as to the preSeh ees
of the snakes, as III some eases they
stood on the bodies of the latter.
which for the most part remained
moionless. The Guinea pigs were
more restless, moving slowly about rs
/ if in search Of food. They seemed to
be preferred by the snakes to the spar
rows and presently one of the rep
tiles. waiting his opportunity, seized
a Guinea pig by the neck, and, jerk
ing it nearer, threw two or three folds
roundit, killing itinsa feY. Y.see0llds, N
= srIlle0ther sllakess rapidly dispatciE~
ed the sI8arFoWs lin ashe sAIil wav
when seized; but they were appar-
emily in no hurry, rs there were a
number of the birds in one corner for
more than an hour, which had not
been touched during that time. 1t
may be well to remark that there is
nothing revolving in the spectacle of a
serpent taking its food. Its victim
suffers neither the mental or bodily
torture ordinarily supposed When
seized, It fsIilled witIioat aelayX e.
peeialyif itstfuggles to esdape and
before It's seiZHfe ft Is never conscious
of danger. Not only is this well
known to those in charge of the crea-
lures, but we can verify it from actual
and careful observation. a rabbit
will approach snake out of mere
curiosity, and, after shifting at its
head, and even being touched by its
tongue, will start to another part of
the inGosure5 and resume its COM
pOsure, returning agai : in the course
of its eXplOra tiOns to the same snake
without the least uneasiness, except
what arises from want of cabbage
leaves, and the indigestibility of the
gravel flooring. Guinea pigs show
even less concern, and are not so
easily startled by any moving object.
The snakes which had seized the
sparrOws, etc, waited till their prey
was quite dead before they uncOiled
and began slowlysto prepare for swal-
lowing it. The pythOns, which Occu-
py an adjoining case, and are the
largest serpents in the collection,
were next suppliedswith two or three
! ducks. The largest python instantly
seized one, and threw one fold
round it. He then remained perfectly
motionless, appearing to be Satisfied
with having secured the bird, and did
not at once kill it,, The duck did not
seem at first muclI concerned atsuch
unusual treatment, but soon became
restless, on which the python tight
cned the fold, and in about a minute
had quite destroyed it. Having wait
ed some minutes, as if to maze sure
that life was extinct, he slowly un-
Md.l1d his coil from the body, and.
Touched II with Ms 1naZzle,, ,mOvingft
about till it had found the head. The
idea of fabrication with saliva, now
quite exploded, evidently arose from
! this habit of feeling over the body
with the mouth. Having taken the
head into ,Ais mouth he BEGAN "a.
tsWal lIoH the earcasS lbs Avs stretdh-
| ing 10 an immense extent to allow of
its passage. When he found any diff
ficulty1 be used the part of his body
which lay nearest to it to push it
gently, and considering the apparent
! difficulty, was not long i'm completing
his meals The Supply of food is neV-f
er stifited, and We boiieve that tits
not uncommon for a python to de-
your six or eight ducks and rabbits in
one day. OfeeaFsea a full meal takes
a long period to digest, as is the case
in al reptiles.
.fE The .e6IulHine 50 axes, might with
prOpriety be termedfegless lizards, as,
with the exception of the want Of
! limbs, they are in most respects SIM
liar in structure to the saurians. A
fine lively specimen of the Bengal
rat-snake was fed with half dozen
frogs, which he pursued with great
speed rOunddhe 8t56l0sdre, and, tlftVs
ing them one by one into a corner,
10. \