The Magnolia gazette., 1883-03-01
STRANGE SNAKE STORIES.

Furious stories of Big Serpents and of Tiny
Ants that Rout the biggest Reptiles
stoinachs Capable of Getting Away with |
Horses, Deer, Etc.
al took that fellow with lasso,n
"a d naturalist who had recently re-
turned from cole ting tour in South !
America, to San reporter, point ng
10 a magnificent snake skin m re than
twenty 1.-TWO eet in length that hung
from The wall OF his study, ''and in this
wise" he continued, observing the look
of incredul ty upon his visitors face.
a was way up the Amazon, and being
anxious to get large snake, | offered a
reward for one, and soon heard of a
bic fellow that had been seen about
three miles from where | was. l i'm
mediately moved in the neighborhood,
and after we had secured the country
several days the by l had with me
came running through the bush in great
excitement, saying hat big boa and the
saubas ants) were having a fight. The
saubas, BY the way. are foraging ants that
put to flight man and beasts. When they
enter a house the owner steps out and
runs for his life, and when | came up
4
II was a magnificent specimen. II had
swallowed some exceedingly large ami
NAL, and while almost unable to move,
had been attacked by the ants. The
grass, bushes, twigs and leaves were
black with the insects, and every mo-
ment or two the great reptile would lift
itself in the air and sway about savage
ly, but only TO fall back again. saw
that the ants would destroy it in an
hour, so | sent my boy back to the
village to get q rope, and took to the
trees myself.
'ln half an hour he returned with
twenty men made lasso, and, get
ting near the snake, succeeded in
throw ng it over his head, but became
fairly covered with ants, so that | had
to rush away and roll in the brush to
rid myself of them. However we all
rallied, manned the rope, and managed
TO drag the snake out OF his retreat and
away from the ants. 1t was so sluggish
under this rough treatment that | was
able to place my pistol within six inches
OF its bead when | shot it. / soon had
1t in camp and the skin taken off. |
wanted tie skeleton also, but the natives
stole it in the night, and my specimen
went for stews the next day. Boa meat
is not bad and is very generally eaten
in many localities.
1t is great mistake to think that
snakes are useless. They are, in the
first place, extremely valuable as
scayengers. The meat OF the larger
Kinds is eaten. The skins are invalu
able as sleather, and even here are con-
sidered fashionable when made into
bags and pocket-book covers Then
the OIL OF rattlesnakes and nearly all
other serpents is valua To- Crotalin
comes from the rattlesnake and copper
head, This ckin on the wall is by no
means one OF the largest. Very few
people can be made to believe that
snakes attain the sizes mentioned bv
haturallsts. Nevertheless, gigantic
snakes do exist, In Borneo, Mr.. st.
Jonn measured snakes twenty-six feet
IN length. Mr. Bates, the naturalist,
measured in South America many water
noas that were twenty feet long, but the
largest snake ever reported to have been
seen py an European of uuquest;oned
Neraclty was that vouched for by the
Well-known botanist, DIR. Gardner
lhe monster had swallowed a horse
ahd had soon aiterward been drowned
nl,y felng swept down a river by an over
Tow, and when found after the settling
u tle water was hanging in tree.
~ presented most remarkable spec.
tacie, beng. forty feet long and dis.
lehued to an enormous bulk. These
serpents are o.ten called Temacnilcah-
a''la, meaning lighting with five men. ;
A q SKIN OF one formerly in the British
.Museum IS thirty five feet long
Andanson observed snake n Sene
Sal 'iiat was fifty feet in length an
,Wo and "a half in diameter. while
naerton tells us that a Spaniard
showed nm a skin at Angostura. the
sapltal Of the Crinoco, that 1. ON IFS
~ ,HioAhess he Judged to have been that
{, serpent seventy feet long al
Sse1s, me author, found serpents in
lon thirty-six feet in length, and in
gasa ne saw one that had swallowed a
Is IIias entlre Owen. in his Natural
siis ory OF Serpents, gives the lenoth
=, ohe as ility feet, and Father Gunilla.
y us History OF Orinoko. refers to
agtpents 10 ty feet long so that il
Mouid seem fair to suppose that snakes
~ aua what might be called oio antic
-. y nlehslons; On the Rio Franco the
maIers and natives report that snake
swauow full-sized cattle. and this can
- leadl y conceived. The horns. Of
i: curse are not swallowed. The snake
ass,l H. ~ q q lethargic condition until thew
i,n.-, 4 ease came to my hearing, con-
sens sn,eSa the naturalist, of curious
sraiie s,mei.A 9ccasioned by asnakc that had
1ss"sinlo@ed deer A native pinchino
tae . bo " and thinking the rentile s dead
aaem1pted to cut il, when the monster sses1
mnsLhed ''.i.,hed and hur ed its head al the man
ho.u Hl.n 50 much force that the projecting
) h;,s hD.ns penetrated his lungs and killed
tor9. h,,1 M, Mel cod. who was the his.
Wa Van oi the Voyage OF the Alceste.
p,ss'. msS captured and kept q prisoner for
n months AZ Whidah, on the coast
sergad ii'eM anu be states that he oh.
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