The Benton weekly record. [volume] (Benton, Mont.) 1880-1885, 1883-09-08
MOVING THE SNAKES.
The Reptiles of the London Zoo
logical Gardens Given New
Quarters.

One OF tile most important eNeALs III III
annals Of the London Geological Garden
was the transfer which took place Of tn
reptiles and snakes from the various de
partments in which they have been hithe1
to located to the new reptile house, com
menccd about 3 year ago. The task O
transference commenced one day thi
month at a little before eleven, and wa
completed in the afternoon without hitcl
Of any kind. The Standard gives an &C
count Of the transfer The first movet
were the smaller alligatOrs and crocodiles
which were placed in the western ova
pond and seemed to enjoy their new resi-
dence immensely. The pond is an oper
one, without ratings Of any kind, but tht
amphibious reptiles are prevented from
escaping by the oyerhanging of the rim o
the basin. The first snake removed was
the very poisonous hamadryad (Ophtopha.
Q1iS Jatngaris), a native of India and an in
mate of the gardens since 1875. This snake
can dart height of five or six feet, and its
transfer was prudently effected by getting
it into box, which, when placed in the
new abode, was opened by a sort of trap
door, and the snake hooked out by a long
iron wire forked at the end.
THE PYTHONs.
To eXtricate the large pythons from
their old habitations, of which they had
been inmates for many years, the fronts of
the old cages had to be taken out altOgeth-
er, and in doing this on the previous day
one Of the reticulated pythons managed to
escape. 1t was found, however, under
the hot water pipes and was safely captur-
ed in canvas bag. This proved happy
incident, and the creature was conveyed
to the new house with ease and liberated
with facility into its noble quarters. This
is one Of the largest, and its companion is
the largest snake in the menagerie. 1t is
d fine reptile, over fifteen feet in length,
and remarkably active. Thompson and
Tyrrell carried the bag into the cage, and,
untying it, shot the great creature out, and
then retired By the rear door. Left to it
self, it moved rapidly forward, touching
with its bifurcatcd tongue the glass front,
the walls, everything as it went along. 1t
then mounted one of the two oak trees,
and wound and twisted itself over every
branch, resting its head every now and
again upon one or other of them for a few
seconds and then moving Oil afresh. At
tcrWard its huge companion was similarly
brought into the cage and shot ont Of its
sack. when it commenced to move along
the graveIled floor, its CLASSY skin and its
retjculated markings being shown off to
the greatest advantage as the sun shone
down through the skylight of the roof up
on it, bringing out purple sheen and a
golden CLINT truly marvellous AS it slowly
drew one fold over another of its massive |
body.
THE Alligator.
The most exciting incident in the days
work was the transference of the great
American alligator, particularly savage
beast, at least nine feet in length. Its des-
tinatiOn was the central tank of the new
house, where two other smaller alligators
were already basking in the warm water,
with noses and eyes just above the liquid
surface. Having secured his long vicious
jaws with broad bands of stout webbing,
he was captured in the canvas bag and
brought into the new house. Of course,
he had to be got out of the bag, which was
not an easy operation, but to get the band
age off his mouth was the most ticklish
business of all. The first was simply to
lift him and drag him out. No sooner
was this done than the beast twisted itself
over on its back with a suddenness and
power completely startling. The mouth
bands holding on, however, the animal
was lifted bodily by half dozen men and
put head foremost into the water, in
which he splashed with vigor. The mouth
bands were then cut with knife, and the
monster, damaged only by few scales
knocked off and a sore nose, quietly set
tied to the bottom of the pool and gave no
more anxiety to any one.
WATER vIPERS.
The final operation was the transference
OF the NOftn American WdIeT FlpefS, very
dangerous creatures the bite of which is
said to be fatal. Each had been captured
in Il wood box, and, so tar, We're well
secured They had been driven by sticks
from their former den by the side door in
to the boxes easily enough, but not so easy
was it to get them out of the boxes again.
This, however, was very cleyerly accom-
plshed. Thompson entered the cage and
received the closed boxes from his COM
panion outside. He placed them carefully
over the waterproof in the cage and then re-
tired by the rear door, through which he
leaned over, opened the sliding lid of one
box about six or seven inches, took the
box up by the end, turned it over and shot
the snake well out to the front. Opening
the second box in a similar manner he {
hooked the snake ont by a forked wire and [
then removed the box, closed the rear door
and all was successfully accomplished.
The interior of the Reptile Court is rem
dered pleasant by flowers and foliage
plants, and will undoubtedly be popular I
promenade. !. Herald.
The Chinese government lately received :