Clinch Valley news. [volume] (Jeffersonville, Va.) 18??-2019, 1895-03-01
DOAS In COMBAT.
ENORMOUS SNAKES Pr96r TO
THE DEATH INA FOREST.
Trees In tho Ncighborl,ood Are
Filled With Chattcrin2 and
Screechtng Monkeys : Tor
49,, rife and Exciting Duel.
.(6H RAIL is tho home OF the
* most gigantic boa con-
strictors in tho world"

e 6nlu henry CLOSER, oil Ne
cropolis, Ohio, the professional snake
hunter and dealer, known to circus
and museum managers throughout the
country rs "I}ig Doc" and cold Dol
lar n Foot" that being his market
price for ordinary snakes. "On my
last trip to Brazil after snakes I didn't
meet with the success L expected to,
but brought back one OF tho best
snake stories, think, that ever came
from that land of serpents.
"Boas, both malo and female, often
fight iiercely over prey that one snake
has captured and which another ono
covets, and ut certain seasons OF the
year deadly combats between male
boas are frequent, the fight being over
the possession of n female for mate.
1t was sight such rs this that wit
messed ono day in tho depths of q
Brazilian forest. / wasn't out after
snakes that day, either. If had gone
prepared to capture boas on that oc-
casion ] should have basged two of
the biggest snakes that ever came from
Brazil or any other land of snakes.
81 was out taking. "A business look
around, after some rare specimens of
monkeys. l 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 q
gust of wind escaping from some mar
row space. looked in tho direction
of the sound, and, to my surprise,
saw two enormous boas on the ground,
lockcl together, and writhing and
twisting i'll such desperate struggle
that big lunches of leaves were sent
| flying about in the air rs if they had
been disturbed and lifted by whirl-
wind.
There are many varieties of mon
keys in tho Brazilian forests, and ey-
cry one OF thom is toothsome morsel
to tho bon. Usually a person may
know that one of these great reptiles
has como to hunt in the woods by the
wild scnmpering of all kinds of mon
keys through the trees, flying from
possible capture by the boa. At tho
same time, there must be n peculiar
fascination to these monkeys in fight
between boas, for this particular bat
tie had not been going on three min
utes before the trees NIL around the
spot were filed with monkeys, chat
tering and screaming enough to make
steam calliope player jealous.
"With the snake fight off of tho
bills, this aggregation of monkeys
would have been the greatest show on
earth to me, but it wasn't anywhere
near in ii with the fight.
Tho fierco struggle on the ground
lasted five minutes, aud 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 troe
fifteen feet distant from the first one.
[ feared that the fight had come to an
end, because one of the snakes seemed
to Eo afraid and the othor one
daresn't.
But soon saw TINT I was mis-
taken. The snakes had hardly set
tied themselves among tho branches of
their respective 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 its tree,
dropped like plummet toward the
ground and hung Mt full length, its
head raised but few inches above the
ground. For n moment their great
bodies swaycd 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 IN arrow
each head shot forward, and instantly
the two enormous reptiles were locked
in each others coils like immense ca
bles twisted together.
up and down. TO and fro. the
writhing mass moved in quick undula-
ton, each serpent struggling; for nm
opening that would place the other
one ut disadvantage. Their forked
tongues darted in and out Of their
mouths like jets of flame, and their
kissing was incessant.-
'sThe troops of chattering monkey
spectators had been joined by hun.
dreds OF harsh-voiced but brilliantly
plumed birds, which flew fra1tically
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 rs 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. tho trees hiss
like escaping steam was heard, and the
iboa in that treo shot his great length
toward the ground again. The chal-
longing hiss was answered by ono still
louder from the other bon, and it
flashed down to its former position
and confronted its foe. The boas did
not rush together at once. One would
strike Mt the other with the rapidity
of lightning.
q "With equal quickness that one
would avoid tho rush by lodging to
one side or the other, and instantly
make counter attack. This inter