The Columbian. [volume] (Bloomsburg, Pa.) 1866-1910, 1882-03-17
Snake Destroyers.


destroyers, especially certain families of
them. Even small insectivorous birds
will devour tiny reptile as readily as q
worm when they find one, and storks,
falcons, pelicans, cranes and some yul-
lures are always on the lookout for this
special favorite The secretary bird,
SerpentdriuS reftHicOrOuS owes its scien-
tific name to this habit the cassowary
and sunbittern are said to entertain
similar partiality, while peacocks are so
fond of snakes that they will actually de-
sert the home where they are fed in dis
trict where these reptiles are plentiful.
A well known LondJn banker purchased
small island on the west coast of Scot
land some time ago: no attempt at cult
walton had been made there, and it was
uninhabited save by sea birds and vipers.
That the latter should have swarmed in
such abundance in situation so far
north and isolated from the mainland is
certainly remarkable; but there they
were in force 50 strcng that the banker
found his newly acquired territory quite
unavailable for the purpose he had in
tended it-a shooting and fishing station
in summer Acting under advice, he pro
cured SIX pairs of pea fowl and turned
them loose on the island, which they
very soon cleared of its unwelcome ten
ants, or at any rate reduced their number
to such an extent that the remainder
could be evicted without much danger
or difficulty. Almost any bird will IT.
tack snake of suitable size (of course it
is not to be expected that lark will swal.
low boacOnstrictor,) and it is curious
thing that they eat venomous or non
venomous species indiscriminately They
appear TO first disable it by a sharp blow
with the beak on the spine, then kill it
by successive pCcks and shakings which
dislocate the vertebrp, and finally trans
fix the head then gobble it down. The
presence of the venom in the birds unin-
jured stomach would do it no harm, but
one would have supposed that the sharp
fangs or broken bones pro oiectiGg through
the mangled skin in its passage down
must sometimes cause eXcoriations of the
mucous membrane, and thus provide a
means OF incubation even if the aggres-
sOr did not get bitten in the combat.
Neither accident, however, has been OBJ
served to occur by those who have re.
peadedly watched the operations. Pigs
are tremendous fellows for snakes too.
They, as well as peacocks, have done
good service in ridding entire islands of
dangerous pests; and it is said that
Maurilius was cleared of poisonous rep.
tiles by the wild hogs which were i'm
ported there in the first instance, and
have now spread over the island A lit
tie tame silver fox, belonging to the
writer, got hold of a dead whip-snake
which was hung mp in the shade of the
veranda awaiting dissection; it was
about eight feet long, but no thicker
than an ordinary lead pencil, and the
bushy little gourmand was meditatively
absorbing it lengthwise, like an Italian
sgherro swallowing his string of macca-
roni This fox had been brought up on
farinaceous diet and bread fruit, of
which he was very fond, and this expert
ment of his in ophiophagy was seized
upon as proof of the hereditary instinc-
tive craving of his carnivorous nature
for the animal food he had never known,
| Il theory which was abandoned shortly
afterward when it was discovered that
he had been in the habit of stealing
chickens from his birth The mongoose
is noted serpenticide, and effects its
purpose solely by the agility it displays
in rushing in and gripping its adversary
by the neck while dexterously avoiding
the blow, not by any immunity from the
consequences of venomouS bite which
it has been supposed to enjoy, nor from
the antidotal results of eating herb OF
root of its own seeking, which the popu-
lar preference of mysticism to common
place explanation has decided ought tc
be-and therefore is--the case. Mon
gooses have been sub jected to the fang,
of serpent and have died with precise
ly the same unromantic train of ofsymptom
that would manifest themselves in othe
animals, and have more than once beer
killed, while under observation, in tn,
course of fight with deadly snake, il
their wild state and surrounded by tn
vegetation among which they exist,-Al
the Year ROund