The free press. (Southern Pines, N.C.) 1898-19??, 1900-05-19
|RE BIG PY1HON'S TOILET.
Cage of a Big Snake at the
Zoo In New York
HOW SHE SHEDS HER SKIN

Wouldn't Hatch-Vigorous Meas
ures to Make Her Change Her Cos
tume-Seven Month Fast.
Probably the most curious speci
men among the inmates of the new
ZOO in Bronx Park, says the New
York Sun, is the big East Indian py.
thon known as Fatima Few visitors
as they stand before the cage where
the great reptile coils her twenty-five
,eet of richly tinted body appreciate
the eccentric habits OF this creature,
nnd the correspondingly remarkable
treatment she receives from her keep
rrS.
Fatima arrived in New York last
. September on tramp steamer from
singapore. For the three months of
the voyage she lay tightly coiled in
crate without food or drink. The on
~ attention given her was sprink.
ing with warm water every week or
30 which she responded by kissing
Like small steam engine and making
I'm occasional vicious iunge at some
of the crew.
From the Introduction of the python
into her commodious glass-fronted
cage in the reptile house up to the
present time she has established a
record unique among snakes. She be-
gan by laying seventy-fve eggs, which
were destined never to hatch because
their owner had been chilled by the
cold weather prior to settling down in
captivity. Nevertheless the proud pos
Z, ;ro+o ,>;Io
coiling herself about them, waited pa
tiently for the little snakes to appear
Two weeks, the period of incubation,
went by and Fatima had not stirred
from her position. An attempt was
then made by her keepers to take the
eggs away from her, but she devel-
oped syeh energetic measures of de-
20 s-e.t1ez 70 prevent this that the Keepers
who think little of juggling with rat
tlesnakes and cobras, reiterated from
the cage with considerable alacrity.
In the meantime Fatima had been
preparing to shed her skin. Her cop
perry eyes mounted on a head as big
as that of jug of respectable size,
had turned to a pearly white. Grad
tally this tint faded away, leaving the
eyes dull and CLASSY. This was a sign
that the skin was ready to be cast. If
this operation did not take place with
in a certain time the reptile was liza
BILE to contract malady peculiar to
ophidians, which would probably
cause her death. Her devotion to her
eggs, however, obliterated all other
and the critical time
drew nearer without action on her
part.
At this juncture Mr.. Ditmars, who
has charge of the reptile house. decid-
ed upon vigorous measures. The eggs
must be taken away, he declared, and
f the python failed to walk out of her
skin the same must be stripped from
Ter by the keepers. Accordingly,
stream of cold water at high pressure
was turned on the reptile. AS she hur-
'iedly uncoiled to cause trouble Keep
er Snyder crawled into the cage be-
lind the protection of a screen and
'aked out the eggs with long pole.
Several times the screen was sent fly
ng by blows from the snakes head
md Snyder had to be pulled out by
he legs. The eggs were finally re-
moved and a respite was allowed to
he reptile until the next day to ap-
)ear in her new clothes.
The respite was vain. The next
norning showed the python coiled
ulkily in the corner where her eggs
ad been. Her old skin had cracked
n many places and must be removed
t once. The snakes bathtub was
He'd with boiling water and every orr
ce in the cage was stopped up. 1t
'as soon full of steam and resembled
Turkish bath. After an hour of this
reatment of the python when the
of the interior of the
age was about 100 degrees and it
as dripping with moisture, Keepers
nyder and Dahl with MI Ditmars
altered the cage, pushing blanket in
ont of them supported on pole as