Alma record. (Alma, Mich.) 1878-1928, 1894-04-13
TALL SNAKE STORIES
Some Curious Revelations by q
Reptihan Expert
Crawlsws That Possess Hut Little Brain
Power aud Are Very Tenacious OF
Iife-DepeiiciAi TO
Farmers.

"A snake has no means for separat-
ing flesh from bones and feathers"
said an expert 10 reporter for the
Washington Star. 1T swallows It's
prey alive. The latter usually dies of
suffocation. In the process of deglu-
tition the breathing of the serpent is
interfered with, so that after perform
ing it the reptile yawns widely in or
der TO take in air. Sometimes at this
moment the victim, though already on
its way 10 the stomach of its devourer,
has been known 10 turn about and
crawl out again in safety, effecting its
escape.
when two snakes are in cage to-
gether, and both get hold OF the same
frog or rat, they will advance upon 1t
until their heads meet, when one of
them will proceed To swallow the 9th
er. Keepers of serpents at geological
gardens have constantly TO be on the
lookout for such accidents. / have
known one valuable reptile 10 be res
cued after several feet OF him had
been consumed. When discovered in
this predicament only a foot of his
tail stuck out of the mouth of a com
rade.
''Cannibalism il very common in
snakes. A box OF imported serpents
labeled ten cobras' or fourteen vi
pers' will often be found short in the
number on this account. 1t is a curl
Gus fact that these reptiles, as rule,
seize animals bigger than themselves.
The structure of their ribs permits
great expansion of the body, and n
snake of superior size is disposed of by
doubling up in the stomach.
at is often asked what these crawl
ing creatures are good for. For one
thing, they are able 10 penetrate
where no larger carnivorous animal
could venture, into dense and noisome
morasses, boys, jungles and swamps,
amid the tangled vegetation OF the
tropics, where they feed on swarIns of
smaller reptiles. The hedgehog, weasel,
rat peccary, badger, hog, goat and
many kinds of birds keep snakes with
in due limits as TO numbers, while the
latter devour innumera Die lesser YER
min. Thus the balance of nature il
, maintained.
Snakes have small brains, slight in
telligence and little sensibility TO pain.
They can live for long time deprived
of their vital organs, while the heart,
if taken from the body, will continue
to beat for a considerable time. IL the
head be severed it will try to bite,
while the body will continue TO move,
coil and even spring
Many serpents which do not live in
trees will climb them in search of
birds eggs. They do much damage in
poultry yarls. When once the eggs
are missed from a hens nest and a
snakes track is discovered the farmer
knows that the thief will repeat the
offense so a watch is set and no mercy
| is shown to the culprit when caught.
son the other hand, snakes are of
important use to agriculture by con-
! Stunning the mice that devour the crops.
Snake catchers who pack serpents for
/ transportation across the ocean COM
monty supply them with food for the
| journey in the shape of eggs.
There is Northumberland story
of cobra that got through chink in
! a hen-house and ate SO many eggs from
under sitting fowl that it could not
/ get out again through the same crack.
! Next morning it was killed and cut
open, when, as the eggs were found to
! be unbrolen and still warm, the expert
ment was tried of replacing them I'M
der the mother, who, in due time,
Matched out the brood none the worse
! for this remarkable accident.
BLACK snakes, though not venom
Gus. are killed by farmers wherever
found because of the havoc they make
in poultry yards. This kind of serpent
climbs trees with ease and has been
described as the 'nimblest creature liv-
ing There is one very extraordinary
serpent called the 'anodon,' whose
business, according TO Prof. Owen, is
to restrain the undue increase of small
birds by devouring their eggs. Far
back in its throat it has certain pro-
jections which serve as teeth, though,
in reality, they are points of the spine
projecting into the gullet."