Wood County reporter. [volume] (Grand Rapids [i.e. Wisconsin Rapids], Wis.) 1857-1923, 1888-01-19
SNAKES THAT ARE SNAKES.
Varieties Found in the East Indian Coun-
tries and Their Peculiarities.

Varieties Found in the East Indian Coun-
tries and Their Peculiarities.
The latest number of the Singapore
Free Press to hand contains an article
by Rev. j. E. Tenison-Woo on the
snakes of the Indian archipelago. He
| observes that the cobra never exceeds
the length of about five feet, and that
the larger snake with which it is often
confused is of a different species, called
Hamadryas. ophiophagus. The hama
dryas, which resemble the cobra in
having a hood or dilatable neck, at
tains to the length of fifteen feet and
feeds chiefly upon lizards and snakes.
1t is arbOrial in its habits, but shows
a great Partially for water, to which
it will readily take. 1t is very fierce,
and is ready, not only to attack, but
pursue human beings. Its venom is
nearly as deadly in its effect as that of
the cobra. Mr.. Tenison-W Woods has
heard of many instances of its fero-
cious character-that is to say, of its
turning on those who attacked it and
showing fight. At picnic party Che
says) some officers of the 9th regi-
ment gave chase to large hamadryas;
but they had not gone very far when
| it turned on its pursuers and quickly
scattered them. 1t then took to the
water, where it was followed by two
of the party in boat; but it soon tried
the effect of boarding, and made the
rowers exert their powers to get away.
Mr.. Tenison-W Woods makes mention of
sea-snakes as being wonderfully num-
erous in all the seas of India and
China. 1t is difficult, he says, to ex-
aggerate the numbers one sees on the
surface of the water on a calm day.
''When off the coast of BOrneO in her
Maiesty's ship Pegasus we had some
very fine calm days, when the sea was
like glass or oil. On every side we
were surrounded by specimens of these
reptiles between two and three feet
long. l have seen the same thing on
many different calm days; in fact, l
don't know any place where they seem
more numerous than the Bornean
coasts. / frequently saw nearly as
large an assembIage in the Philippine
seas. | should say that bathing was a
perilOus business in these localities,
| for the serpents are very venomous,
and there are many authentic records
of disastrous results from their bites.
Mention is then made of the Python
reticulatus, or boa. This species is
| said to be very numerous, and has a
disagreeable habit of coming to live
in the thatch of houses, emerging at
night to take its prey, in pursuit of
which it is not particular whether this
is some of the rats and mice of the
house or the chickens and fowls of the
poultry-yard. Mr.. Tenison-W Gods
proceeds: ''Recent writer's have de-
scribed the fear which the natives have
of this reptile on account of its some
| times attacking man. This l can not
| believe, and wherever / have been in
the Malay peninsula, Java, Celebes,
and the Moluccas, have never found
| the natives much afraid of them. AS
| to their swallowing a man, or even a
| large child, the idea is too preposter-
Gus to be seriously entertained. Meth
er do | believe that its muscular
strength is so great as generally be-
lieved, though no doubt its crushing
power is considerable. There was an
| instance of this in the Raffles museum
at Singapore. A large living python
was kept in the show cases of that
| museum. 1t made its escape and was
| found on the floor by the attendant in
the morning. He tried to put it back
| into the case, and a long struggle en-
sued. The serpent wound itself
round the mans body and tried to
crush him; but the mans strength en-
| abled him to unwind the coils with
much effort and make his escape. !
think he said that the length of the
| snake was about eighteen feet. If it's
strength was of the usual kind it will
| be hard to believe those stories of its
prodigiOus crushing power. Among
many specimens brought to me at
Perak, the largest met with was 20
feet long. 1t had been captured with
scarcely any violence, so that as u
! specimen it was in beautiful preserva-
tion and full vigor. The Malays
brought it up to me in an excited and
vivid state, dragging it along by
mall bamboo loop fastened behind its
| head. The creature was active, and
constantly getting more of its head
through the loop than was safe for the
man who held him. Whilst was max
ing a bargain with its captors, it
writhed far out of the loop and saw
agely bit one of the Malays on the calf
of the leg. AS its teeth are all re-
curved, they could not Immediately be
disengaged, and so the Malays, excited
by their comrades cries, fell upon it
with their long knives and hacked it
to pieces. The head of this serpent,
though the reptile was of such great
strength, was not as big as a mans
nand. The result of my inquiries leads
me to believe that pythons invariably
| fly from the face of man, and are form
liable to no larger animal than the
deer and small wild boar of the jungle.
st JdneS'S Gazette