The Lamar register., 1893-07-22
THE puFE ADDER.
some OF His cspcrs Among tho People
and Animals of south Amertcx

and Animals of south America
South America is what herpetolo-
glsts call .'rich in snakes,- and es-
pecially in puff adders, which. on ac-
count OF their size. are among the
most dangerous AT this season
scarcely day passes without puff
adder incident being recorded. And
in consequence OF the towns spread
ing sparsely over wild districts, with
detached residences and extensive
gardens, 1t Is no uncommon occurrence
to see puff adder meandering down
the street" Happily, in the ma
lority OF cases, the people know how
to avoid them or deal with them,
but. Notwithstanding presence OF
mind and good courage. fatalities do
occur. says the Philadelphia Press.
An intelligent school-boy. near where
| was staying last November. was in
vestigating an ant hill. and put a
stick into n hole, when a puff adder
An unsupported occupant-struck
at and bit him on the arm. The
boy. II years of age, was nearly a
mile from his home, whittier he
hastened, sucking the wound as he
went The wound was promptly scar
ited and ammonia was applied. but
the poor fellow died in a few hours.
The delayed treatment in this case
aggravated the danger.
The reptile even gets into houses
sometimes, rs do the cobras OF India
\ gentleman, Mr.. j. B. Bower. was
walking across his diningroom when
he felt something knock against HIM.
and. looking down, he found n puff
adder hanging on to his trousers
II had struck at him. but most
proyidentially the fangs had caught
only the garment The astonished
wearcr. to shake of the reptile. per-
formed, as he afterward declared.
''the most vigorous hornplpe that
ever was danced" until he got free
OF the snake. which was then quickly
despatched Dogs become frequent
victims through their keen sense of
smell and their determination to in
vcstigats. One splendid large dog
and two iox-terriers met with their
death last summer near Port Eliza
beth through the bite of puff addars-
Though there are other highly ven
omous and equally abundant snakes
at the Cape, they are more of the
active cobra kind. while the puff
a1ders arc extremely sluggish and
inactive reptiles, which do not get
ont OF the way. but lie half hidden
among the herbage or among roots
and stones, with which they assimi-
late in color BY their hiss they be-
tray themselves when danger
threatens. and that is all. A very
remarkable circumstance occurred
ct Port Elizabeth. where a puff
adder was actually in the bed OF u
sleeping lady. That it did not bite
her can only be accounted for by the
fact that it could not do so 1t was
under the bed clothes and had no
space for action. The lady had
pot cat who was allowed to sleep in
her room
One night. when too much asleep
TO arouse herself. she vas yet con-
but supposing II was only her cat.
she did not bestir and arouse herself.
but fell of again into deep slumber-
In the morning she saw puss asleep
on a chair. where she had settled
herself the previous night, aud
pun adder in her bed. Happily.
these great deadly serpents are not
aggressive and do not attack unless
provoked The sleeping lady was
also unaggressive, which fact. added
to the cramped-up position of the in
truder. insured her life