The Republican. [volume] (Oakland, Md.) 1877-current, 1894-07-19
BATTLING BOAS.


the professional snake hunter and
| dealer, known to circus and museum
| managers throughout the country as
| Big Doc" and "Old Dollar a Foot"
that being his market price for ordi-
| nary snakes. ''On my last trip to Bra
I'll after snakes | didn't meet with the
success | expected to, but | brought
| back one of the best snake stories. |
| think, that ever came from that land of
serpents.
''BoaS. both male and female, often
| fight tiercely over prey that one snake
has captured and which another one
| covets. and at certain seasons of the
year deadly combatS between male boas
| are frequent, the fight being over the
possession of female for mate 1t
was sight such as this that | wit
| messed one day in the depths of a Bra
lillian forest. | wasn't out after snakes
that day, either. If | had gone pre-
pared to capture boas on that occasion
i should have bagged two of the big
gest snakes that ever came from Brazil
or any other land of snakes.
Il was out taking a business look
around after some rare specimens of
| monkeys. | had chased a choice long
tailed fellow up tree and was trying
my wiles on him when | was startled
| by a loud kissing sound that CAME ffon4
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 We're sent flying about
in the air as if they had been dis
turbed and lifted by "a 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 a spiral flash of lightning.
| The other snake flashed in the same
| way up into another tree fifteen feet
distant from the first one. | 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 a wind We're passing through and
| agitating them.
Suddenly each boa, coiling its tail
around a branch high up in its tree,
dropped like a plummet toward the
| ground and hung at full length, its
| head raised but 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 its 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
1T 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 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 its tree. For two or three
| minutes the snakes lay quietly. each
| glaring 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 its foe. The boas did not
| rush together at once. One would
| strike at the other with the rapidity of
| lightning.
with equal quickness 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. It's
| 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 a dreadful crunching of
| bones and in the twinl<ling 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 mo-
ment the victor held the vanquished in
| its coils and then released it. The vic
! toriOus serpent glided from its tree.
moved rapidly several times around the
! crushed body of its lifeless foe with
I loud and anUrv misses SHOOTING It's rod