The times., 1897-03-14
Alligator in .he Coils of a Boa Constructor.

from twenty TO thirty feet and are thirty
inches III circunferenee-a CARLOAD of
sinuous coils. According TO the natives
the swallowing capacity of these reptiles
is almost unlimited.
Our guide appeared to be in constant
terror lest, while we were lying asleep
in our canvas canoe, We should be bOlted
bodily, canoe and all, an experience much
worse than Jonah's and with different
sequel.
Boas are not venomous and do not
depend upon their teeth TO capture their
prey. Neither do they droop in q coil
from the branches, holding on by their
tails, while watching for a victim, as
we so often see them pictured. When
a boa attacks his prey he instantly ties
| himself around it in loops, resembling
what sailors call ''matha walker" hiding
his head in the midst of the coils to
keep it out of danger.
Going into a swampy place one day
to look for game, as l parted the vines
my hand touched some cold object,
| which made a shudder creep down my
back. l had laid my hand upon coil
| of the largest boa it was ever my fortune
| to encounter. AS usual, it's head could
| not be lOcated-it always keeps that hidden
| among is coils, out of harms way-but
| il was doubtless watching me- Luckily
| it happened to he Cloyed on fish and in
| disposed to action. 1 finally succeeded in
| shooting it, and the creature measured
! twenty-nine feet from tip to tip.
| One morning my Companion came into
camp dragging a 2O-footer, which he had
found occupying the same bed with him He
| had made blind in the tall grass and
rushes and had laid himself Comfortably
| down to wait for game, when suddenly he
became aware Of something moving under
| him. He sprang to his feet and found that
he had beer. audaciously reposing on the
/ tail Of this huge boa. which naturally re-
sented being utilized as bolster.
| But there was one spectacle which met
my eyes in that teeming tropical forest
| that surpassed anything which l have
ever heard or read of. If 1 had stumbled
upon combat between the dragon and the
griffin of ancient fable it would hardly
| have been more startling.
| We We're growing tired OF venison, and
as numercTs teal and other wild ducks
! were flying about a nearby lagoon
decided to secure some to vary our diet
| / took my Winchester as well as ms
! shotgun, for one never knows when he
might be pounced upon by a taguar in
| those wildS. and its hard skull is proof
| against huCkShot. except at perilouSly short
range. Arriving near the water, ] Sc
creted myself behind a Clump of bananf
plants and waited the approach of the
fowl. I was just raising my gun to shoot
when suddenly they whirled away out OF
range, uttering their Characteristic peep
ing cry Then, looking out from my
hiding place discovered the cause fthef
strange actions.
About fifty yards away 1 saw an ALI
gator about seven feet long lying in tn;
shallow water, looking as compIacen
and indifferent as only an alligator car
look. Apparently keeping him compan.
was a large boa, a single coil of whicl
was visible above the middle of th'
alligator's back.
The next instant the boa knotted itsel
several times around his victim in so fir
an embrace that it could not move a mus
Gle. The sauriau's jaws were thrown wild
opeS, and its legs and claws were sprea'
| to their fullest extent as it lay helples
+ in that terrible embrace. The boa sli
5 along his coils until he could pass his tai
4 under the alligator throat, and, dippin
} the end under a knotted coil which enciI
4 circled the alligator sbody, began 10 draw
e his victims head downward into the We
4 ter Evidently he knew that he had
2 tough customer to deal with and conClu(
g ed to supplement- squeezing with drown
ing.
l Here was an opportunity to secure tw
good specimens for mounting. But wa
p obliged to wait fully half an hour for tn
head of the snake to appear from ii
1 concealment among the coils, and durin
!; this timeI made a hasty sketch of the con
e batants.
l. At last a tongue flashed out betwee
, the folds; then the end of the nose can
d into view, and the head was slowly an
/ cautiously pushed forward. As soon
X the eyes came in sight, though they wei
still some inches under water, heay