Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1893-12-30


~ writer for The Star.
"why, of course Lots
OF people buy them.
In that glass tank
LS in the window are
<SN not less than fifty
- serpents of different
:: J !: !; !:
HI ~ kinds. No, you can
MWAA q not see them. because
NW$lk-R~ they have crawled
\WlfY II under the sand and
NWWV II moss for warmth and
FM u concealment. Let me
see-in that little collection are garter
snakes, grass snakes, water moccasins,
and chicken snakes from Florida.
Those chicken snakes 1 got hold of In
rather queer way. In Florida recently
trapper in my employ was engaged in
catching hooking birds. He had one of
his traps hanging under a tree with sew
eral young birds in it, in order that the
mother might feed them. You see they
were very little and still needed the ma
ternal care. But one morning my man
came to look at the trap and found that
three OF the nestlings were gone. Inside
the trap, which was made like cage, was
chicken snake. The trapper captured
him and sent him to me, together with a
few more Of his species.
Chicken Snakes Valuable,
Chicken snakes are valuable I charge
$40 apiece for them. They are yellow, with
brown spots. In Florida they do a great
deal or damage by eating young chicks
henee the name. These water moccasins
are quite different species from the real
serpent OF that name. which is said to be
more dangerous than the rattlesnake. They
come from the neighborhood of Washing
ton. In color they are yellow, with a spiral
stripe. Garter snakes are also found In
TINS vicinity, as we'll as grass snakes. The
former are grayish, with yellow stripes
running lengthwise; the latter are all green
ana very long and wiry. For any Of these
snakes the retail price is 81
res 90 assure you that many people
purchase them for pets. don't know why;
II Is just fancy. On the day before Christ
mas there was lady in here who was
very much afraid Of snakes. But her little
poy was quite fascinated by them and
begged so hard to have one that finally abe
bought IT and ordered 1t sent home though
with a shudder. One of my best customers
Is iema.e snake charmer. She has bought
from me boa constructors, black snakes and
King snakes. She makes them docile bv
handling them constantly and by feeding
them plentfully. In this way she tanned
a very cross black snake in a week. One
oI the ooa constructors bit her severely but
tnat species Is not poisonous
small Boys Furnish Them,
Nearly all or my snakes get from small
boys, who catch them with their hands on
the Potomac flats. Sometimes an enterpris-
ing urchin will bring in as many as fifty at
time. They fetch me turtles also. One
day early in last spring told little fell
low that would give him cents apiece
Tor all the tortoises he could furnish me
with. That was on a Saturday afternoon
The next Tuesday morning at O'Clock he
made his appearance with basket contain
ing three hundred and sixty-five small tur-
ties. he had caught them all between
washington and Alexandria. The boys
oring me frogs also. In fact, they furnish
a a, large part OF my stock at all seasons
MY pigeons. rabbits and guinea pigs 1 OBJ
tain mostly from them. When they grow
up they get tired of keeping such pets or
no longer have the necessary time. So
they sell them to me. Then, too l supply
market for the overflow of the pigeon
cotes and rabbit warrens
Boys bring me all sorts of birds, as well
as opossums and raccoons-every sort of
animal, in fact, that is to be found in this
region. Frogs and snakes the doctors often
buy for the purpose of vivisection. Medi-
cal and other scientific men also purchase
rabbits and guinea pigs. to serve as sub
jects for incubation with various bacterial
diseases. There is comparatively new
kind of guinea pig which is supposed to
come from Abyssinia, though 1t Is probably
n freak perpetuated by breeding Its hair
grows toward its nose all over the body
instead of toward the tail in the normal
fashion. The price Is 81 pair. Angora
rabbits with long and fuzzy hatr. the result
of artificial selection, are worth from 81 to
IS pair. My fancy chickens l get from
breeders in Maryland. Most of them come
from the neighborhood of Hagerstown.
Fancy Pigeon breeding.
1.-The breeding of fancy pigeons is be-
coming more popular than it has ever been
hitherto. over in Baltimore this week and
these birds-one of the most important
exhibitions of the kind ever given. Among
the pigeons shown will be thirteen .tur-
bits for which the owner paid So, Ooo. They
are the property of Mr.. lowering, the coffee
millionaire. who is a famous amateur fam
cier in that kind Of stock Next in point
of expensiveress to the 'turbts' come
pouters,' which cost $50 a pair for first-rate
ones. After them follow the 'satinettes'
and 'blondinettes,' SO called on account of
their peculiar piumage. During the last
few years the homing pigeons have been
propagated to such extent that they
can now be bought for as small a price as
common pigeons. OF course, pigeons which
have records of 800 miles or more fetch
exceptional prices. But it is an actual
fact that more than half of the birds now
used for shooting matches are homers
Seems a shame does it not?
The animals of all sorts which are COL
lected near Washington by boys and sold
10 ME, dispose OF partly by sending them
to other cities-Philadelphia New YORK.
Chicago and elsewhere. Mocking birds /
get from Texas mostly. Parrots are about
the riskiest goods that i have to handle
Not long. ago I employed a man to pur-
$500 worth of yellow-headed parrots
in Mexico. So many of them died that |
only received $40 for the SURVIVORS The
greatest difficulty with them is water For
some reason not very well understood.
the water to be had in this country does
not suit imported parrots and commonly
1t is necessary to avoid giving it to them
altogether for while. using soaked food
as a substitute If one parrot in a con-
Signment dies, the whole lot is likely to
perish within a few days. and nothing can
be done to stay the mischief. A good talker
is worth 500.
Why Canaries Get Sick.
zone reason why canaries get sick is
that the canary seed sold in the market is
adulterated to. a large extent. Bird-food
companies and seed-jobbing concerns which
know nothing of the care and mana cement
of birds, put up wretched compounds con-
sistng of domestic hemp. turnip and millet
seed, and label the boxes canary food or
mixed canary seed Dealers in seed and
bird food buy them because they are cheap
and bring a good profit A bird, after be-
ing fed on such stuff for a while is apt to
become droopy and to stop singing One