The Redwood gazette. [volume] (Redwood Falls, Minn.) 1873-1940, 1882-07-20
ABOUT SNAKES.


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ABOUT SNAKES. -
Pythons and ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS, Eggs and
How They Are Observation-Disclosures as
Food for Human Observation-Disclosures
With Reptiles.
There was brought to the Star office
by Mr.. G. o. Starr yesterday an enorm-
Gus egg. It was twice the size Of d
goose-egg, but was not as regular in
shape. The outer covering, instead Of
being hard and brittle like shell, was
so soft that it could be easily indented
by the finger This singular egg was
cold and clammy to the touch, and it
gave person who handled it an un-
comfortable feeling like that which
would result from contact with q snake.
toad or frog. 81 sssse ~+sa :
.This egg" said Mr.. Starr, ..was
laid by the three-hundred-pou python
which was brought to this city by Mr..
g. b. Bunnell few days ago. The
python is sitting upon nest fun of such
eggs, and in short time lot Of little
snakes will be Matched out. They will
be nice pets for people who have an ad-
miration forreptiles The mother snake
is twenty-five feet in length, and she is
coiled upon her nest and patiently await
ing the advent of her young Her tenn
per is just like that of setting hen.
She is very ugly. and if she is disturbed
she manifests her 7isp'easdre IN n grsav
that gives ali meddiers 10 understand
that she wishes TO be let severely alone. =
"What shall / do with this thingp''
was the inquiry made by the represents
ative of the Star, to whom the python S
egg was handed.
'You can have it Matched artificial
ly," was the reply of the donor. Just
keep it in cotton in place which is
neither too warm nor too cold, and the
first thing you know you win be the
owner of a real, live python. Then if
snake, it win grow SO large that it will
be able to coil about You and crush you
in its vice-like folds.n
Mr.. w. A. Conkling, Superintendent
of the Central Park Menagerie, speak
ing of reptiles, said: There is scarcely
any animal that commands so much
aversion as the serpent and yet, in spite
of this, it is one of the most interesting
of all that come before the naturalist.
Yet little attention has been paid to
the snake. as compared TO others
of the animal kingdom. The ancient
writers speak in respectful tones of SER
penis of size and power. Aristotle tells
OF the. immense Lybian serpents, so
large that they pursued and upset some
of the voyagers' boats that visited that
coast. The story Of the gigantic snake
that threw the army of Regulus into dis
order by killing and devouring several
of his soldiers, and squeezing few hun
bred to death in his folds, viii be re-
membered. Regulus finally killed the
monster by aid of the engines used to
assail fortified places. The skin of this
python was 100 feet in length, aud for
years adorned one the temples Of
Rome" ~. "A fsn i,s.s a.s =, ~ 8
Mr.. Conkling added. .sThe story
that snakes cover their prey with saliva
is an error. Sir Robert Ker Porter saws
the python does not first cover its prey
with saliva. The mucous does not pour
out of the glands unless the prey is large
and it is required to lubricate the jaws
and throat for the seemingly dispropor-
tionate feast. Pythons win cling by the
tail to some tree growing in the water;
and then f1oatup the surface and walt
for animals that may come TO the water
to queneh their thirst, They often feed
upon each other. i'm the Geological
Gardens in London, one who had lived
for years on friendly terms with q
brother nearly as large as himself, was
found one morning sole tenant of his
den. As the cage was secure. the keep
err was puzzled to know how the serpent
had escaped. At last it was discovered
that the remaining inmate had swollen
remarkably during the night, when the
truth came OUT But ii you want a good
up and down snake story, let me intro
duce you to Prot. Hutchings."
Can 1 tell you anything about
snakes? i should say SO, said the Rev.
Mr.. Hutchings. lightning calculator and
lecturer upon Bunnell's wonders. "Sir!
/ could tell you facts, sir--facts in rela-
ton to the betrayer of our common
mother that would .overwhelm YOU with
amazement. II remember one in the
year 1864. / was at Gilbert Museum.
Market, near Second, San Francisco,
Cal Fifty in gold and all expenses.
Those were glorious days; gold way up,
and myself generally in & like condi-s
ton. / noticed for several DAYS 4 man
they called Reynolds hanging about the
place. He wasga man about fifty, no
taller than myself. gray locks hanging
over bis shoulders. a bent form Ike &
tree that had been brought up wrong.
Eyes with PARKWAY look. He had >