The Savannah morning news., 1900-08-04
PYTHoNs' HEARTY MEAL.
Satisfies Them for Two Weeks at a
Stretch.
From the Philadelphia Record.

Stretch.
From the Philadelphia Record.
The big pythons at the Zoo eat once or
twice a month, early in the morning,
while the snake house is still empty of
spectators. 1t is interesting 10 watch
them. They swallow, slowly and labori-
ously. whole rabbits, ducks and chickens.
Afterwards they swell up, and for a week
lie motionless, digesting
Last Sunday their keeper saw that they
were getting hungry. They were restless,
quarreled with one another a little and,
when he passed them, followed him with
their small shoe button eyes languidly
In their glass case these three big pythons
Sic usually in one inert COLL their lengths
are indistinguishably mingled the three
fiat brainless heads sleep side by side.
The keeper went down town to market
on Monday, and on Tuesday he prepared
to feed the snakes.
He entered the snake house with a huge
covered market basket on his left arm
and long screw-driver in his left hand
| The basket jumped oddly, for there wes
live freight struggling inside it, From it
too the solemn protest of a duck came
mufed. He set down the basket in front
of the pythons case
Close together the three small heads
looked al it through the glass, and the six
stupid shoe-button eyes frightened lit
| Tie The great fortyfoot coll began 10
move. Ihis way and that the convolu-
uons glided smoothly. Now there were
three pythons going with beautiful, pow
ertul fluctuations up and dwon the case.
protruding three or four inches of black,
| thick tongue split at the end, and togeth-
er setting their small shouts against the
| glass and staring at the basket
The Keeper had gone out again. He re-
turhe1 win some rabbits. He took the
screw-driver, and holding a rabbit by the
ears, he hit it lightly with the edge of
the blade in the back of the neck. The
little animal at once stopped squawking;
its eyes rolled upward; for awhile its hind
legs kicked together swiftly as though
running and then stopped. The rabbit still
nVed, but it could not now either move or
ieel. 1t lay on the floor and flies began to
heht on lis open. upturned eyes.
Tidbits for the Meal.
Then the keeper stunned pair of hie
white ducks some chickens and some 9th
er rabbits. All around the case they hay,
ana the three small reptilan heads behind
the glass regarded them flxedly
Inc Keeper opened one of the doors of
| the case, and held a rabbit two or three
teet above the head of the middle py-
| thon The snake, with it's neck drawn
/
SECS in swans, looked at the rabbit. and.
| to simulate life in the animal, the keeper
| began to jig it up and Gown. For a long
ume the motionless python, its tongue
making lightning vibrations before IT. re-
garded The rabbit dancing in mid air Then
| suddenly it sprang forward with incrsd,-
| BILE speed; 1t seized in its mouth the little
animals head. threw a swift coil around
it, and, settling back. lay mouonless,
slowly Tightening the coil, smo,hering the
rabbit to death.
When the rabbit was quite dead the
snake proceeded to swallow it. Very small
its mouth seemed for this task. But.
though small, the mouth was made of
the most elastic tissues. and it unhinged
furthermore-thato phrase is the most ex-
pressiye one-at the juno ion of the Jaws
ard in the middle of the lower lip. The
mouth. OF enirg wider and wider as il
slipped over the rabbit stretched enor-
mously Great quantities of saliva gath
cred In it, too. and hung in ropes from
the lps-thick trans parent ropes The
snake coated the rabbit with saliva, and
his coating made the rabbit Shiny and
slippery. as though creased. The snake.
swallowing, advanced its throat, and
slowly the rabbit disappeared
The Keeper climbed into the case and
carried the smallest python in his arms
20 corner by itself. You'll be better
off there, old man." he said. He gave
ii a chicken, and offered TO the largest
python duck.
Cold Affected Her Appetite.
The largest python had a cold and re-
fused TO eat at first. He is a male II
feet long, p inches around the middle
ard 70 years old. The two other py<h-
ons are respectively 30 and 40 years old.
and their lengths are u and 10 feet They
are young, and it is thought that they
are females.
The old python looked al the duck.
feebly interested for the moment: then
he turned away. He has cold" the
keeper repeated and he slapped the pyth-
on in the face and banged 1t over the
body with the duck
The snake took heart suddenly. and soon
quarter OF the fowl was down its
throat. The case now presented n strange
sight Here was one snake with the yell
low legs of a chicken sticking out of its
mouth; here was another about 10 finish
the hind feet and fluffy white tail of a
rabbit, and here was third going 90 at
tempt the seemingly impossible task of
swallowing duck
The duck was very much bigger than
the snakes mouth, but slowly and
smoothly as glove slides on n hand.
the snakes dlating mouth slid over and
encompassed #. And. as the webbed
fees disappeared the bill of a second duck
was pushed into the old python's mouth
by the keeper.
The old python ate chicken. two
ducks and three rabbits. Afterward he
measured thirty inches. The middle pyth-
on ace three rabbits. The little one ate
two rabbits. When they were done pools
Nof viscous saliva lay everywhere, and