The news & observer. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 1894-current, 1901-08-25
Some Snake Stories
Curator Brimley


EN- seem at all afraid
ALIVE. but perched on Hen
rvs back as he la,
coiled in a corner OF his box. Henry
very quietly and deliberately turned hi
head, surveyed the sparrow with a ston.
stare, felt him over with his nose, opened
his mouth and slowly absorbed him. TIL,
sparrow had, apparently, no official in
terest in the matter, showed no fear ant
only objected in very undecided way t.
the attentions of the snake. He did no
seem in any way charmed or overcom,
by fear, but only Indifferent. The method
pursued by the snake, however, was.
think, unusual. A poisonous snake usual
ly strikes his prey, withdraws and wait.
for death before swallowing In the above
case the snake bit and held on until the
bird was nearly dead-a space of half 6
minute. possibly, and quietly swallowed
him without losing his hold.
The Reptile House in the Philadelphia
zoo contains a very fine collection OF
snakes, including 8
THE BOA very large python
AND or boa-I forget
THE PYTHON which--of something
like twenty feet in
length. The keeper in charge Of this
house has a white line running from
about the middle of one of his thumbs
along the upper side, to about the CEN
ter Of the end. He told me how he got
it. On one occasion. when feeding the
python, he held the freshly killed chicken
towards it in somewhat carelesss man
ner. The big. heavy make struck and
slightly overreached the mark, one of his
long, curved teeth driving deep into the
mans thumb. Realizing in moment
that IL once fairly shut down on by both
Jaws it might mean the loss of an arm
or worse. he jerked his hand back, the
long tooth making clean, bone -deep
cut from center to end of thumb. 1t was
drastic solution of the trouble but
probably the only practical one.
Formerly live chickens were fed to the
large boaconstrictor snakes at this (the
Philadelphia) institu-
THE QUICK ton, but experience
OR proved that in the
THE DEAD. hurry to strike and
secure the f1uttering
quarry these large and heavy specimens
were liable to injure themselves, and
freshly killed chickens were substituted.
big python or boa will take about five
good sized chickens every two weeks or so
and they are supplied while still warm.
Up to the present writing those speci-
mems capable of swallowing a man. horse
or cow, that we read about as children in
the .Swiss Family Robinson" and other
similar narratives. have not been ex-
hibited in captivity. This is, possibly,
fortunate for those who might own them
! The great Anaconda, of the tropical
waterways Of South America, is the
largest known snake, reaching a length
OF more than thirty feet, and as it is I'M
likely that the largest specimens have
ever been measured or even seen by COM
petent observers there is nothing so very
unreasonable in the supposition that
forty foot Anacondas may exist. 1t is a
comfort to know they don't exist in
Wake county, though.
Strange. is it not, that when man
gets too much whiskey in him he should
see snakes, and that
SNAKES when he gets too
AND much snake he
WHISKEY. should want whis-
key? But regarding
whiskey as an antidote for snake poison
ing, in the opinion of experts and in
vestigators, it has no value as such.
There seems to be no internal treatment
for the bite OF poisonous snake that
has yet been proved of value, the only
treatment SO far used at all successfully
being sub-cutaneOus injections of some
more or less neutralizing agent. Hypo-
dermic injections of chronic acid & to
lOO), strychnine or permanganate of
potash have all been tried and have their
adherents. but, up to the present time,
no complete and reliable antidote has
appeared. All the poisonous snakes
found in the United States. except the
Coral or Harlequin snake, are closely al
lied species and have venom of some
similar chemical composition and physio-
logical action, SO an antidote for one
would in all probability cover all.
II bitten by snake that is undoubted-
ly venomous (and the ONE or TWO
marks made by the
FIRST AID poison fangs should
To make that point
INJURED. plain, non-poisonous
snakes making sew
eral rows OF numerous small punctures)
about the best preliminary treatment is
as follows: II on the hand. arm foot or
leg. tie ligature aroun dthe limb or
member as tightly as possible and as
quickly as possible. as speed counts for
everything just then. Tie one around
just above the wound and another one
higher up and make them as tight as can
be made. Use handkerchiefs, suspenders,
garters-or tear up your shirt il neces-
sary-anything to Immediately compress
the tissues and blood vessels so as to
prevent the poison entering the general
circulation. Then, il you have the grit
to do 1t, open up the perforations made
by the poison fangs with your. pocket
knife and go to sucking-unless YOU
have any open sores or wounds in your
mouth. Suck hard and spit frequently.
OF course cupping is better if it can be
applied. but when one gets snake bitten
surgical appliances are more than apt to
be remote. Next. IL not too difficult to
secure without undue loss of valuable
time. take two or three good drinks of
whiskey. grading the amount according
to the capacity of the patient and the
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