The Savannah morning news. (Savannah, Ga.) 1900-current, 1900-08-15
SNAKE CATCHING.
How Prof. CaImette Secured the We
nom of Vipers and Cobras.
From, the C,ornhill Marazina

and humid climate, it's rocky ridges and
as well fitted perhaps as any In India for
the habitat of Ophidia of all kinds. To
those who know when, where and how to
catch them. like the remarkable man of
whose daring exploits with poisonous
snakes I am about to give some descrip-
ton, quite an easy and honest livelihood is
20 be made, and it is not surprising that
Delhi should have become the home of
many professional snake catcher.
With a view to procuring snake venom
for Prof. Calmette, Maj. Dennys employ
ed, at a monthly wage of Fl, the master
snake catcher of the district, a low bred
Mahomelan of the name of Kullar For
this small pay Kullan undertook to supply
the doctor with about 100 living venomous
snakes weekly, and had to extract their
venom from them
Kulan was a powerfully built little man.
aged about IS years. His name was well
known in the neighborhood for his skill
and daring in the profession of his adop-
ton Ii was generally supposed that he
possessed some kind of magic powers over
the reptiles he handled daily and from the
capture of which he earned his precarious
livelihood.
room was specially fitted up at the
hospital for the purpose of these expert
ments. The floor was of polished Port
land cement. This was considered an es-
senral as the polished surface on which
the snakes were placed rendered them ex-
traordinarily helpless, and enabled the
snake catcher to handle some of them in
manner that he would not have dared to
do otherwise. Snakes are scarcely able
to make any progress on a polished sur
face.
A Sack Full of Vipers.
On the particular day when I was first
Introduced to Kullan and his methods the
doctor ordered the three snake catchers
10 ling their crawling burdens into the
laboratory. kullan headed the procession
carrying over his shoulder an ordinary
canvas sack, which was literally heaving
and swaying about with the movements
of some sixty or eighty vip-rs which were
confined therein. The two other men car
RED several small "gharas,'' or earthen
potts. their mouths beng closed by pieces
Of rag tied over them. These "gharas"
each contained two, three, and sometimes
as many S four snakes, either cobras or
keraits.
1t seemed most Incredible that the
three men who now sat in the laboratory,
surrounded by about hundred venomous
snakes. had really been able to catch
them all alive during the last week, as
thy stoutly alleged they had done.
Maj. Dennys was anxious to satisfy
himself on this point, and said; IF the
process of catch ng wild snakes is such
an easy matter. Kullan, would you be
willing to take me or one of these sahibs
with you ome morning and show us how
you do it2''
Kul,an hes!tated for moment.
Your honor thinks we breed these
60 he CHARGED me-
with that before. but your honor is well
come to come to our home and search the
place, and, if he finds any signs of what
he suspects, put us into prison, sshib. This
humble one assures your honor that
snakes cannot be bred in captivity. In
years gone by this slave kept a number
of cobras and other snakes with hope
of being able to breed them, but it was
failure. They are too timid. and he has
never succ eded in breeding them in cap
tivity. Your slave admits that he has
sometimes taken cobras' eggs and kept
them till they Matched. He has also kept
in captivity female viper who appeared
heavy with young. After a time she pre-
sented your slave with eleven young ones,
and so he got the reward for twelve VI
pers instead of one. But this is quite a
different thing from breeding snakes
sahb."
tone IT have no wish to prevent your
earning your living by catching snakes
if YOU do not breed them and are able
TO catch them as you assert, you nave
perfect right to the rewards you receive,
and l will help you by making 1t known
TO district officers that there is no doubt
that you do not breed them. But you
must let me satisfy myself first that you
catch them as you say you do"
mel II
are prepared to come with this humble
one some morning he will show your hon.
or how he catches snakes.
Snake Hunt.
A short time after this Kullan demon
strated in the most unmistakable man
ner his marvellous power of finding snakes
in their natural homes. Moi. Dennys told
Kullan TO meet him on q given morning
at the hospital and accompany him to a
spot previously unknown 10 the snake
man. The doctor then took him to the
Delhi Jail garden and set him to work
TO try to find venomous snakes
kullan smiled grin of satisfaction when
he realized what was before him. He adj
mitted before he commenced his work that
he had poached this very garden for
snakes some years ago. and that he had
made great bag; but he had been caught
trespassng by a jail warder and chastised,
hence he had not been there again.
The man set to work followed by lit
tie knot of spectators, consisting of jail
officials only. He first approached an or
chard of lime bushes armed, as he al
ways was, with a small stick, two feet
long, with an iron hook at the end. 1t
must be understood that up to the last
moment Kulan had no idea whittier the
doctor was going to take him.
After a few minutes of searching ne
called out: Look here, sahib," and he
pointed out small viper (echis carinata)
coiled round the twig of a lime bush, APP
parently fast asleep for it was quite mo-
tionless. He told the spectators to stand
aside, and then with a dexterous and
lghtning-like movement, he planted the
hook between the snake and the twig on
which 1t was coiled, and terked the reptile
to the ground. The vicious little viper,
about a foot in length. Immediately coiled
itself into a little knot, and began slowly
rubbing its coils against each other, pro-
ducing thereby a Kissing noise, not unlike
the hiss of an angry cobra.
Kullan's method of securing these rep
tiles after he has brought them TO bay
on the ground is peculiar, and quite diff
ferent from the way in which he deals
with other snakes. The echis carinata IS
a small viper, seldom more than eighteen
inches in length. and is the most deadly.
aggressive and ferocious of all venomous
snakes in Upper India. with the exception
OF the Russell viper. The latter, however.
IL seldom found in the neighborhOod OF