The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1896-02-29
a SNAKE AND moan DUEL.
Huge Boa Released From HIS winter
Cage Killed by n Texas Peccary.
From the New York World.


powerful and furious with hunger and
with range over their long and close con-
fnement. got loose in an animal store in
In New York city. one OF them slid into a
cage with a leopard and coiled itself TO
study plan OF battle. The other and more
powerful boa flung itself into a cage where
were two fierce Texas wild bears that fear
nothing and are always ready for a fight
TO finish.
They did not give the boa time to think
out a line OF attack. They leaped at him,
ana the three terrible creatures were at
once engaged In a duel worthy OF the saw
agc ana deadly Jungles OF India or the bat
ue-SroundS OF the magnificent tropical
forests Of the Amazon. rne boa enwrapped
tho boars and they bit and snapped and
fought against his bonc-crushing embrace.
II was an amazing and horrible scene. and
the details make story of duel such as
Civilized New YORK has never known be-
fore.
1t was all the fault of the little white
elephant, kedah, which came to this
country from Palembang Sumatra. two
months ago, and has been kept IN Donald
Burnss animal store at No. los South
street ever since. kedah Is only about
twenty months old. but ne is fun of
mischief as a monkey, and is a great pet.
He has been kept chained by his left hind
foot TO the wall in the store. He is very
inquisitive, and II was the tendency TO &C
quire knowledge by examining things with
his trunk thar made all the trouble-and
there was lots of it-last Friday.
About three feet from kedah stood
cage In which were two fun grown pee
carries, or wild boars, from W est Texas.
They are very vicious. fearless little fell
lows, irritable 10 a degree.
on top of the cage was a box contain
ing two large boa cOnstrictors-one about
thirteen feet long. one ten feet long The
box was fastened with an ordinary hasp
and staple and a bit OF wood showed
through the staple TO lock the Id.
Friday afternoon little Kedah being left
all alone determined to find out what he
had long wished to know namely what
there was IN that box on the peccaries
cage. So with his long white trunk, he
deity removed the wooden plug which
Exactly how long 1t took Kedah to &C
complish this, or how long IL was after
he. nd SO, before the boa constructors dis
covered they could get out of the box,
Mr.. Burns does not know. lie does know.
however, that while writing letter in
the front part of the store he was startled
by the noise of a tremendous commotion
in the peccaries' cage.
The boa constructor which had disap-
peared into the cage had already wound
itself around the boy of one of the wild
boars, which was struggling to free itself
from the ever-tightening coils of the huge
serpent and plunging about the little cage
in frenzy. The other peccary was snap
ping at the boa, occasionally giving II a
terrible bite.
Burns picked up an iron rod and at
tempted to disengage the snake from the
boars body but in vain. The bars or
the cage were too close to admit the free
use of the rod and the snakes grip was
too tight.
The boa's head was held aloft and his
wicked little eyes CLEANED with hatred
as he ran his forked tongue in and out
and contracted his muscles tighter ana
tighter about the body of the bear. Pee
carries and snakes are born enemies i'm
the wild state. and captivity had not tend
ed TO destroy their mutual antipathy.
Burns, who has been accustomed to
wild animals all his life, said yesterday
to reporter for the Sunday World that
he had never seen fight 80 fierce ana
beautiful"
The free peccary had all through the
struggle kept up the swapping at the
serpents body, and had bitten the other
peccary at times by accident, but he now
had a chance at the snakes head. He
took instant advantage of II and squeezing
in alongside of his half dead fellow he
came within reaching distance of the
There was a lightning-like spring. a
great crunch OF the cruel yellow tushes
and the snakes head was crushed, just
as he had half-coiled himself about the
body of the second peccary.
A moment later the coils loosened, and
Mr. Burns was able to unwind the boa
from the body of the exhausted peccary
and to drag the snake from the cage The
peccary which had been attacked lay
upon his side, and Burns thought IL had
been severely injured, but in an hour II
perience.
While the fight was going on Burns and
two Of his men, who had come from the
back of the store at the noise of the fray,
had not stopped TO think about the other
boa constructor, thirteen-foot monster
When the lid of the box was raised It was
seen that this fellow also was gone
Almost at the same moment a great
rumpus was raised in the front OF the
store, and Burns and his men, hurrying
there, found the boa coiled in the cage OF
q fine young leopard
The sake was at one end of the cage
and the leopard at the other, as far apart
as they could get. The boa constructor
was apparently paying no attention what
ever to the leopard. But the great spot
ted cat was reared to its full hight against
the end of the cage its white teeth uncov-
cred and glistening, it's green eyes fixed
on the snake and shining as II tiny cleo
trio lights were behind them. 1t was ev-
identity badly frightened
The peccary which came so near TO be-
ing crushed to death is only about three
feet long and cannot weigh more than hf-
ty or sixty pounds, but its teeth are terri
Get, acutely pointed and double-edged SO
that they cut like knives.
They are the most dangerous wild anil
mails. in North America, with the excep-
tion of the grizzly bear They know no
fear and will attack a bear or q iaguar
without hesitation. The peccary is about
the only thing that wears hair which a
Texas cowboy wants to give a wide berth
The Texas peccaries have peculiar an
tipathy for rattlesnakes and kiln them
wherever they find them. AS rattlesnakes
are as common in some parts of Texas as
bull-frogs in a Jersey swamp the pecca-
ries have plenty to do.
A gentleman who stood by the peccaries'
cage in Burnss store gave an imitation of
a rattlesnake and the two little wild
bears crowded to the front of the cage,
their bristles all on end along their backs
their little sharp-pointed ears set well for
ward and their teeth clicking continually
1t was easy to see how one bite on the
head of the boa constructor was sufficient
to give it it's coup de grace.
Mr.. Burns had the dead snake In his
store yesterday. It body was badly LAGER
ated and cut with the knfe-like teeth of
the peccary. Its head was crushed as
though it had been put In a vice.
Love makes the world go round" The
world seems to go round, but love makes
tha4t-