The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1881-08-19

Ct1O UuU VI IOul
Gus kinds of snakes in North Amer
lea, of which the rattlesnake and the
copperhead are the worst. The re-
mainder of the crawling things in
this country are little to be feared.
But here comes the snake-keeper;
he can tell you more about beasts
and reptiles than you could publish
in week"
TIC. Sheppard, the keeper, came
up with a Colorado horned toad in
his hands and a couple Of lizards in
his vest pocket, while an inquiSitive
turtle poked its head out of his coat
pocket, as if meditating an assault
on the nearest lizard. There was
nothing Of the snake charmer about
him in appearance, although he has
been keeper in the Zoo for six
years and has had considerable ex-
perience in private gardens in Eu-
rope.
"Come into the snake house until
l put this turtle and that snake Mr..
Brown has into the case" said he,
land then | will be at liberty"
AMONG THE SNAKES.
The small bWilding was well filled
with visitors, mostly ladies and chill
dren. In the centre Of the room the
boaS, securely Gagged, were sur
rounded by an awo-strlcken crowd
of children, who looked aSkance at
the heavy folds and small glisten-
ing eyes of the tabled equatorial
monsters. Snakes and lizards and
frogs and all manner of creeping
things were ranged around the room
in glass cages, and more terror-in-
spring set of creatures never
haunted the dreams Of the too-ar-
dent disciple of the flowing bowl.
"This little broWn-skinned thing
with the big head is young rattle
snake" said Sheppard. at is the
last one of sixteen that saw light of
day in this ZOO All the rest are
dead, but this one, l am confident,
will live. The Tattlesnake feeds on
birds and birds eggs; so also do the
chicken and pine snakes. Tree
climbing snakes, while in the trees,
feed on nothing but birds, but when
they are on the ground they will
tackle anything from a field mouse
up to a rat. Snakes always kill
their own food. 1t is a rare thing
for them to eat dead food. They
can be starved into it, but they do
not thrive well on anything they do
not kill. An appetite in snake is
poor institution. Sometimes
snakes feed every other day and
sometimes every two or three weeks.
| have known them to 60 a year
without food. You see they are
captured in good condition, and
their fat keeps them long time.
They do not have to keep up tenn
perature at all. | never knew a
banded rattleSnake to feed after
being captured. Now you see this
bird? Well, watch while l put it
into the rattlesnake's cage.
The unsuSpectlng sparrow was
thrust through the glass door of the
cage. Two or three women saw
the action and Immediately went
into a mild form Of hysteria.
"Oh. my! Look at the poor little
thing! Oh. the cruel man; how
could he do such "a thing? Some
body take i away It will he swal-
lowed alive"
The bird paid not the slightest at
tentiOn to the snakes, and seemed
not afraid Tie snakes were not
hungry, or the bird would have been
killed and swallowed. Sheppard
laughed.
FRIGHTENED WOMEN.
women always go into fits over
4 little bird, said he. Il never knew
one of them to fail. If put a frog
in the cage they look on and say:
oh, the ugly toad. How wish the
snake would eat it right now
There's = difference in birds and
frogs, you see. Here are two pine
snakes brought over from New Jer-
sey-yOu may perhaps have heard Of
the place. The pine grows to
larger size than any snake in the
country, though there is a snake Of
the same species in Arkansas that
grows as large. The largest one IN
these parts was eight feet and eight
inches long, and was owned by a
man in Vincentown.
People have some queer ideas Of
snakes. Almost anybody can see
the green slime about them. Ineger
could, though, and then you have
heard about a snake covering Its
food with saliva to assist III swal-
lowing. That's all nonsense. a