Frostburg mining journal. [volume] (Frostburg, Md.) 1871-1913, 1894-02-24
PYTHONS SHEDDING THEIR SKIN.
How the Zig Reptiles in the philad"l
phia Zoo Accomplished the Feat.

How the Zig Reptiles in the phiIad'i
phia Zoo Accomplished the Fen,.
The two large pythonS which WU"C
imported from India for the philJl /
phia geological Garden have III IL,
themselves ut home in their urIlrirr
They are said to be the largest rrpti
in this country, and naturally attr ri
considerable attention. They had an
been there two weeks whom bIu
snakes underwent II change. IurN n'
came droopy and it was seen th"i III
began to shed their skins The III ,ild
in which the snakes accomplished Tie
greater part of the job is described -!
II correspondent of the GlHh.-liC'n ,.
crat as wonderful The largest p.th n
measures sixteen feet and the "Inul
twelve. They are mates, ANA 4, VC
mouths like ccllar-dOorS. that ar" IT,, Il
with terrible fangS. ON MOni = asst
the big snake. which had eaten no il
ing for three weeks because he WAS
shedding his coat. got Il NOV" on Inn
self and climbed one of the tall trees
and cooled all around til" limbs. Then
he rubbed his head and neck violently
against the branches in every direct on.
and gradually looScnCd his old eat .cl"
from around his head, mouth ana neck
III II' meantime inc Quiet Silthf WIS
not idle II. too. coilcd aroun | the
tree and. raising its head. took h"'d of
its biz brothers neck. and by careful
manipulation looScncd the skin from
the head and neck for about II foot
down Then it took hold of the loosen
ed skin. and the keeper and spectators
who We're watching the proceedings
saw what was going to happen. with
its head and neck free. the bg snake
could help in the shedding during the
operation. and ii twisted around the
tree near the top and began To pull
away from the smaller snake III top
speed. Inch by inch the old skin WAS
released. and the bright color of the
new cuticlc came in view II took
nearly an hour to get about half of the
body free from the old covering, ANA
then both snakes rested. The u Il skin
WAS pulled back just rs one wu'!!d iu!l
Il glov" inside out. and gay" the rep, l."
Il peculiar appearance. When the
snakes resumed their job they employ
ed different tactics. Th" larger snake
climbed higher. and the other mad" it.
self fast lower down the tree Thr
smaller one took hold of the skin ami
pulled for all il WAS worth. An ur
the covering with the exception of
about two feet from the big snakes
tail was loose. Then Il most wonder
full thing happened. The big snakes
head was ut the top of the tree. and
he had not been paying much attention
to the GoingS on 1T the other cal of
his body When the smaller S;iH e
topped pull ne the big one look Il 20 II
and saw that something WAS WrpVy
His eyes gliStrncd, and reaching down
he grabbed Il moulhful of his uWn GOV
cring and proceeded to finish the Job
1t was done with dispatch and cLSc
The big snake seemed proud of his
new suit, and wrigGlrd all around the
case and admired himself for som"
time. Then to the aStoniShmcnt of the
watchers the smaller snake climb Il thv
tree and went through the same pr
formHncc. assisted by the larger on .
After both reptiles were free from the
old skins they made Il meal of tnom
and each drank about Il gallon of water
to wash down the rcpASt. The Keepers
say that it is no unusual thing for
small snakes to get rid of their old
skins in this way. but they never heard
of large snakes like the python or boa
doing it.