The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1896-12-20
0'REILLY AND 300 SNAKES.
A sTOREHo USE OF QUEER PETS IN
UES ~ URTEENTH STREET.
Five Kind. of Rntue.nakc In the Collection

Fourteenth street lives q. r. O'Reillv and 800
snakes. In tho past year Mr.. O'Iteilly has made
his rooms n storchouse for scrpents, constantly
adding to his collection by hunting expeditions
In the surrounding country. All his specimens
are North American snakes. with the exception
of u tree boa from Honduras. At present the
reptiles are lazy and inert, because they don't
like cold weather, and their a~ppetites are un-
equal to more than one meal n fortnight or go.
excepting in the case Of the black snake, who n
always hungry.
Five kinds of rattlesnakes are included In the
collection. The biggest specimen is tho lava
bed RATHER, which Is almost as big as n mans
wrist, and is notified In black and green on the
back. Like all thu rattlers but one. he carries
the evidence of his murdcrousd disposition In his
big. fiat head and vicious eyes. The exception
is the mnssasaugR of Indiana. the most danger
Gus of the %rattlcrs, not because its venom 10 any
more deadly than that of its brothers. but be.
cause Of Its resemblance to the innocent milk
snake. 1t Inns II small, round head, with none
Of the tlattening at the nostrils characteristic OF
poisonous scrpcnts. and in coloring 1t is almost
an exact counterpart OF the common mike
snake. Close examination will show the =" pits"
In front of the eyes. small holes which invaris
ably mean that the snake which bears them 10
to be stunned. Fortunately tho massasaura
gives q warning rattle before IL strikes; other
wise its innocent appearance would probably
be the cause of IN Increase In Indiana's mortal-
ity. Another RATHER is the Texas diamond back.
n little nftecn-inch chap with bright rings
around its tail and lightish green mottlings on
its back. 1t Is n year old. the same age az
another dlamond-back of the Florida variety,
which is two and n half feet long. Eventually
the Texan will outgrow the Florida specimen.
The fifth species is the common rat,lesnake, OF
which Mr.. O'Rellly has several specimens. One
OF these. born on the Bowery a year ago, dis
proves the commonly accepted theory that each
rattle represents a year OF life. for this yearling
has six good rattles to amuse itself with. Its
brother in the next box, although OF equal age,
has only two. These common ~rattlers are
found In the country about Ramapo and In the
hills back of stony Point. A few have been
seen on the Palisades opposite this city.
and G"pTGT NE 6'Rs,i IRE r common .non,m on the e, P ali ads.
There arc two little copperneads that haven't
ysS 9s'e bu, a wins mse dea nSFd IN t P,sEe fan .nan B s ysH
pertinent Mr.. O'Reilly has discovered that the
larv'r q insects which are injurious to vegeta-
ton. This, however. viii not affect its propen-
slty for jSininE picnic parties uninyited and
trees sufficiently to make 1t popular: Another
green snake found in this part Of the country, OF
which Mr.. o,'Reilly has n fine specimen. This
s snake. the ls S] n"rIltgTs; coG H1a 80 rs Of ths the m eSepsr,
head. In the O,,Reiny collection is a moccasin
the COX in iey wh oh live sSt two % bull NJ Hnoitesi from
Texas. enc OK which is about six feet in length.
These SNAKES are very Lively and voracious, and
s;r!ction before devouring. They are of a yell
l9wish color and are not only harmless but
theirs IS the king snake. which is not afraid of
ann}Ltnins; and Will dart yicioqsly at any moving
with venom: In the matter Of other snakes
s ana x," Sn Sia comes is e f. se wnr , I%T a ~ ~i6 hE z nn any
IL is bigger than the king itself and sometimes
sTTl tHHm: d 8esI1sss ,b tss s ytsfim up There before Srs
ribbon snakes, h9g-nosed adders. milk snakes.
6 6MnsT os snd is e' a dos snake which follows i''
The one f]orctrner IS the tree boa from. HON.
anFas. Of which Mr.; o,Reilly s very proud: I!js
gray color when ii, shadow. but in the sunlight
1t shows rainbow hues OF iridescence. 1t was
captured in n tree BY the waterside in Honduras.
willie hunting for birds eggs.
Mr.. tn ! inake Jpn. Is q ,n 10 on @I n ,slaEr Si1n S wirs s and
it would travel from here to fHE Sun office
tss,it nnS fy VIII i2 s.fe h nnd ' hang sFS ON IKE 1t d has sn strGns
but like all the boas is non-venonous. When
f"Ft1s d. i. til s:GfH an isf ft SrGts C b G r + oT nsssi i Th rs
Honduras tree boa doesn't grow very large. but
a1,a IinSt a growth ytS Of ts ) TO 10 5'f fee 9oA I 0 caught usin,u one
on shiphourd once that measured over eight feet.
ING rI np T ,ss a" ri roEs a q lir SSDa!n 6a TF'b braahed In as Rnss.
the the tT rec and the DO, boa Sh inn Down the riEGipS
Hnd refused to work. because they believe the
sent M for me and j went into the hold, wheref
found the snake almost hidden in q recess ut
the Silc or the boat. ! tried TO poke II out, and
ii came 50 much more willingly than | had ex-
prcted that it had its teeth firmly fixed in my
pa h"H Y6d jn fore eyer ab the ten& Wi,b That my Joins d1ss the b ahTn9
grabbed 1t by the neck. and 1t tried TO bite that
rs soon as It Ioosed its teeth had 1t. Then began
atuG-ot-wGr. tie sna&e pn!linG TO get back into
NJ, [ef | Men. an" n@j ! t2 Es, u i, I ~ the .hS1 way yS Ss1; The ths
natives. on seeing my bitten hand. set up a cry.
1 nS3'i hSn. .ee %hd ,sot Vt nn ws sia n9sa.9Ss s1 ! fs. p eas t 6Ss
tree boa into q h4E, and all theSHtives followed.
f o hf thr ! "S renur jn II c mgGt lnSy tS werf w rS,lTIt a,es
In In a few mora"nts., aud they proposed to seeit-
lanchc OF oratorv ;hnt they went away, remark 4
Ing MS they Went that they would come up in n
They did come up, too, hut1 was none the WORSE
for my bite. barring that the teeth had gone
"A few DAYS later l went hunting for tree
boNs M the river. about two miles from
town. Now. this snake is 2 peculiar reptile. IL
the porcunine rat. which has spires or ,horns in
It's fur. Those rats have regular paths through
the trees. just as some animals have ground
trails, and The boa follows the trail BY touching
the branches with It's forked tongue: As loon
as II reaches a main path where it, Knows the
manner as 10 be NEUTRALITY-SUSPICIOUS. from the
branch itself. Presently along comes the rat,
mp pops III" snake. and before the rat can dodge
is hcnd IS III H." boa's mouth. After eating tho
swinging from n high limb: ] once captured
female tree boa that WAS fast asleep swinging
through an arc o; thirty degrees from n bamboo
shoot seventy feet from the ground. / cut down
the bamboo to get her.
"On tho day speak of | got seven tree boas.
incidentally rctting stabbed badly in three
places by the daGgers OF the thorn palm One
of the ihorns went into my back until II touched
the spine. As IA rule. however. | didn't find tt
necessary to 90 ashore, as the tree boas usually
sIeep 1T the water side. got my other spcci-
mems by snariuG them with II copper wire moose
on III" end Of pole. except one which ! per-
suaIed 10 Climb down the pole into the boat.
Tn" scientific name Of the tree boa means
sword body. and it is a good name, because
when they ara not. gorgrd with food these
suAkes hnvc bodies like the blade OF n sword"
In handling his renomous snakes MIR. O'Reilly
uses II ttitt wire bent into " book NJ the end.
lie has discovered that al snakes are natural
clUilihrists, and when he Slip This hook under
the snakes body and Fits. the reptile balances
Itself perfectly, some Of them hang quietly in
the air while being transferred from one cage to
another, hut the %rattlcrG usually start up the
wire To bite the hand Mt the other end, Then It
becomes necessary either to shake them down
or to catch them with another wire. In all his
hnnC!;ng OF these reptiles q n-rily has never
been bitten by u vennmous snake.