The Mt. Sterling advocate. (Mt. Sterling, Ky.) 1890-current, 1894-09-04
SNAKES IN CAPTIVITY.


Row the Reptiles Are Caught, Tanned and
Cared For In Cirouses and Museums-
Nearly all the snakes you see in
museums and circus exhibitions were
sent to this country from Africa or
South America The boa constructor
comes from Africa and some very
large specimens from Brazil. 1t is
seldom that we can secure an ana
conda. y
In both Africa and South America
the snakes are captured by the ma
tives, who very often, however, are
afraid of them, and do not under
take to secure them unless they are
accompanied by an American or Eu-
ropean who will take the lead in the
expedition.
In Brazil the large snakes are some
times captured with nets, which are
thrown over them. The smaller ones
are caught with big stick, shaped
1T one end like two pronged pitch
fork. The man approaches the snake
after the animal has partaken of a
good meal and when he feels heavy
and sleepy. The fork is placed over
the snakes head, and he Is thus
pinned to the ground. Then he coils
himself around the stick, and in that
manner is carried away and put in a
strong box, ready to be shipped to
some foreign country. Even large
snakes are often captured in this way.
Boa constructors are obtained IN
the forests near the Amazon and
Platte rivers. They are sometimes
20 feet in length and weigh from so
to 100 pounds. Tree boas are cap
tured from IL to IA feet long, but the
majority of them are or feet long.
The Indians Of Brazil capture this
variety of snake while they are en-
gagged In their vocation of gathering
rubber. They put the rubber and a
lot of snakes In canoes, take them
about 1900 miles up the Amazon
river, where they sell them to the
traders, who In turn ship them In
steamers which take the raw rubber
to the coast.
Anacondas also come from Brazil
They are highly priced because they
are SO handsomely marked, but the
specimens we are able to get here
are smaller than the boas.
Snakes will not eat dead food. We
feed them on birds, chickens, pigeons
and rabbits and white mice. But
the large snakes will not be content
with meal Of mice. The bait is en-
tirely too small for them, and the
little creatures could run around
their cage without being harmed.
Large snakes demand a chicken, a
rabbit or large rat, and they take
particular delight in killing the food
they are to eat. They do not eat SO
much in captivity and consequently
are not so long lived. Some of them
will not live over a year, while q
snake who is a good feeder will live
10 or IL years.
This question of food would be q
very expensive item in keeping q
snake if it were not for the fact that
he only eats once month, and some
times not that often 1t is rare to
find one that will eat oftener than
once a week. Snakes are very quiet
and docile after they have been fed.
The fat in snake is in layers, and is
found in greater quantities than in
any other animal l know of. One
reason, suppose, why they can &c
without eating for such long periods
is because they can live off their own
fat. Some say that snake oil or fat
is a cure for rheumatism. / know
many people who have faith in this
remedy, but I do not believe in its
efficacy myself. and cannot say
that ! have ever heard of cure by
its use, Washington News.