Iron County register. [volume] (Ironton, Iron County, Mo.) 1867-1965, 1886-01-21
BATHING THE SNAKES.
A Keeper Who Was Subjected to the H
races of a Fourfeen-Eoof Bon

|
meanwhile gossiping with the attendant
In the collection were several fine speci
mems of the beautiful gold and black
boa. and also of the black and white
spotted boa. found the keeper very
intelligent man, and some little informa.
ton was able to give him led him te
ask me whether I had ever seen the
snakes bathed. Now, knew that it was
customary to give these creatures an oc-
casional bath. to keep them healthy and
preserve the skin plant and the colors
fresh and clear, but had never had an
opportunity of witnessing the operation.
Gladly, therefore, 1 accepted the offer
In little time a moderately large tub,
half-flled with warm water, was placed
upon the ground, and my attendant and
another man, stripping off their coats
and waistcoats, turned up their shirt
| sleeves to prepare for action. The first
case contained four boa-constrictors,
varying from eight to sixteen feet long.
The keeper opened small door in
| the end OF the case, and then.
| sliding back the glass panel at the top.
put his arm boldly in and ran his hand
down the back of the nearest reptile,
| which moved from beneath his touch
toward the open door. AS the head of
the snake passed the door he seized it
with his right hand firmly round the
neck. and drawing the body quickly out,
caugh it five feet or so lower down with
his left hand, the other man taking the
remainder and closing the little door.
The reptile ''squirmed' a good deal, as
if Directing to such handling, but was
quickly deposited in the tub, che keeper
retaining his hold of the head and fore
part Of the body. AS the water touched
the snake a perceptible culver ran
through it; for a few seconds it coiled
and uncoiled itself forcibly, dashing the
water about. and then seemed to settle
down to placid enjoyment of the bath,
struggling no longer, but allowing it
self to be slowly moved about the tub.
Ticklish work, it seemed to me, and
the keeper rather assented to that opin-
ion. You see one is apt to get care
less; but so long as you are cautious it
is simple enough. remember well the
first time tried it. Twas then at M,
and the regular keeper was taken sick
and died. The day for bathing the
snakes came round. and no one could
be found to do it. Two days went over,
and then thought would have a try
had been feeding them year or more,
and was pretty well used to them.
Well. we filled the tub, and I got
through with the job all right. and was
soon appointed head-keeper of the
snake-house. Time went on; I fed and
bathed the creatures regularly and got
little careless over it; and so it happened
that one day 1 did not look after my
Il E. i II.
door properly after we had one in the
bath. On this particular day, too, he
forgot to bring the change of blankets
with him, and never noticed it until l
had one of the snakes in the bath. AS
soon as l did notice it I sent him post
haste to the house to fetch them. The
one in the bath was only about nine feet
long; so when he had been in the water
long enough lifted him out, intending
to put him into spare case and wait
l felt something round my right leg,
and, looking down, found the little door
was open and that a fourteen-foot boa
was out and had got half-turn round
my thigh. OF course, he had to
be stopped; so let go of
the body of the one l was holding,
and by fortunate shot grasped
the other just below the head. The one
in my left hand had coiled his body
round my arm, and. soothed by his bath,
was quiet and comfortable; but the other
was taking up all my spare time. He
wriggled and twisted until could scarce
hold him, straining the coil round my
thigh very tightly. He had also given a
turn of his tail to my other leg, so that
l could not move a step. However,
there was nothing to prevent my calling
out, and did it; more especially because
the door of that case was open, and that
there were three more inside. My man
might be five minutes gone; and l had to
keep it up as best l could. The worst
of it was, while the beast got his hold
nearer and nearer to my body, he would
shoot his head away almost out of my
grasp, turning and twisting without
ceasing My fingers ached. and my
wrist felt like breaking, while the circu-
lation in my leg nearly stopped. Pres
emily the feeling came over me that
did not mind much how it ended, and
felt inclined to give up then and there.
In fact, my fingers were relaxing, when
l heard step outside, and my man came
in A glance told him the state of affairs
He had the one off my arm and into the
case in the twinkling of an eye, and then
between us we got the other gentleman
loose and boxed him, and then-well,
there were no more snakes bathed that
day. We kept it very quiet, and up to
my leaving M it never oozed out;
then my man was made keeper, and he
let it out. You can imagine it was a
lesson to both of us that will last some
time
The keeper looked meditatively at the
reptile in the bath, no doubt recalling
the sensations of that afternoon. Eff |
teen minutes, sirr' said his assistant,
breaking in upon his short reverie. The
keeper rose and lifted the snake from
the tub, the assistant taking the hinder |
half. The reptile seemed quite torpid,
and when they laid him on his clean
blanket allowed them to wrap him up
md deposit him in the case, where after
, lazy look round, he withdrew his head
lnder the folds. A slight rise and fall
could be seen, as he finally settled HIM
,elf, and then all was motionless.
l stayed and saw the rest of them go
through their additions, but there was
title variation and no excitement; and
70. thanking the keeper, came away
st. James Gazette.
n