The Austin weekly statesman. (Austin, Tex.) 1883-1898, 1894-08-02
BATTLING RoAs.
Exciting Duel for a Mate in a Brazilian


tne professional snake hunter ana
dealer, known to circus and museum
managers throughout the country as
big Doc" and "Old Dollar Foot"
that being his market price for ordi-
nary snakes. ''0n my last trip to Bra
I'll after snakes didn't meet with the
success 1 expected to, but 1 brought
back one of the best snake stories, I
think, that ever came from that land of
serpents.
"Boas, both male and female, often
fight fiercely over prey that one snake
has captured and which another one
oovets, and at certain seasons of the
year deadly combats between male boas
are frequent, the fight being over the
possession of a female for mate. 1t
was sight such as this that wit
messed one day in the depths of Bra
lillian forest. / wasn't out after snakes
that day, either If l had gone pre-
pared to capture boas on that occasion
should have bagged two of the big
gest snakes that ever came from Brazil
or any other land of snakes,
81 was out taking business look
around after some rare specimens of
monkeys. had chased choice long
tailed fellow up tree and was trying
my wiles on him when l was startled
by loud kissing sound that came from
another part of the forest like gust
of wind escaping from some narrow
space. | looked in the direction of the
sound, and, to my surprise, saw two
enormous boas on the ground locked
together, and writhing and twisting in
such desperate struggle, that big
punches ofleaves were sent flying about
in the air as If they had been dis
turbed and lifted by whirlwind.
"The fierce struggle on the ground
lasted five minutes, and then the boas
suddenly separated. One serpent glided
to large tree near by and went up itS
trunk like spiral flash of lightning,
The other snake flashed in the same
way up into another tree fifteen fee.
distant from the first one. l feared
that the fight had come to an end, be-
cause one of the snakes seemed to be
afraid and the other one daresn't.
"But soon saw that was mistaken.
The snakes had hardly settled them
selves among the branches of their re-
spective trees, when the foliage OF
both trees began to shake and culver
as if wind were passing through and
agitating them.
Suddenly each boa, coiling its tail
around branch high up in it's tree,
dropped like a plummet toward the
ground and hung at full length, its
head raised but a few inches above the
ground. For moment their great
bodies swayed to and fro like slowly
moving pendulums. Their eyes gilt
tered like fire. Then each serpent
drew itself quickly half it's length
above the ground. Like an arrow each
head shot forward, and instantly the
two enormous reptiles were locked in
each others coils like immense cables
twisted together.
Sup and down, to and fro, the with
ing mass moved in quick undulation,
each serpent struggling for an opening
that would place the other at a disad-
vantage. Their forked tongues darted
in and out of their mouths like Jets
of flame, and their kissing was inces-
SAINT.
'The troops of chattering monkey
spectators had been joined by hundreds
of harsh-voiced but brilliantly plumed
birds, which flew frantically about,
and added their excited cries to the
deafening monkey chorus.
"The desperate mid-air struggle be-
tween the boas continued for several
minutes, when they separated again as
suddenly as they had rushed together,
and each drew itself back among the
branches of it's tree. For two or three
minutes the snakes lay quietly, each
glazing at the other.
suddenly in one of the trees hiss
like escaping steam was heard, and the
boa in that tree shot his great length
toward the ground again. The chal
longing hiss was answered by one still
louder from the other boa, and it
flashed down to its former position and
confronted it's foe. The boas did not
rush together at once. One would
strike at the other with the rapidity of
LiH iiphihE'
with equal quicixness that one
would avoid the rush by lodging to one
side or the other, and instantly make a
counter attack This interesting spar
ring match lasted for at least five min
utes, when one of the snakes drew
itself two or three feet above the other
and made quick downward feint. Its
antagonist ducked its head lower to
avoid the stroke, and that movement
was fatal The upper boa darted on
down, and so quickly was its deadly in
tention carried out that ] was not aware
it had been done until | saw the upper
snake with three of its coils around the
lower one.
There was dreadful crunching of
bones and in the twinkling of. an eye
the victorious snake had drawn the
vanquished one three folds further
within its fearful embrace. There was
more crunching of bones, and by de-
grees the tail of the defeated serpent
uncoiled from its hold on the branch Of
the tree, and at last the great reptile
dropped heavily to the ground, a
crushed and lifeless mass. For a mo-
ment the victor held the vanquished in
its coils and then released it. The vic