The suburban citizen., 1901-03-16
BOA CONSTRUCTOR HUNTERS.
Men in South America Who Hunt tn,
Snake For a Livelihood.

Men in South America Who Hunt the
Snake For n Livelihood.
"The boa constructor is fairly com.
mon in the forests Of Western Nicar.
aqua and Costa Rica," said one of the
canal engineers who was in the city
recently, "and there are natives in
that section who hunt them exclusive.
ly for a livelihood. While we were
engaged in the survey work we heard
a good deal Of these big snakes, and
all the white men in the party stood
in the greatest dread OF them, although
they are not half as dangerous as the
small poisonous variety. During two
and half years spent in the coun.
try saw only one live boa, but the
experience is pretty firmly stamped on
my memory and | have no yearning
for another. l had gone out, with a
couple OF native assistants from a
town called Japan, on the south side
Of the lower lake, to shoot some plum
age birds, and while we were crossing
rather open piece of forest l noticed
what 1 supposed to be a peculiarly
malformed limb on large spicewood
tree. 1t sagged down from the trunk
Of the tree and seemed to be attached
TO another growth nearer the ground.
l started toward it to investigate, and,
when only few yards away the thing
l had taken to be a limb suddenly
raised itself in the air, and | saw that
1t was a gigantic snake, hanging head
down from an upper bough. 1 had
often beard the expression paralyzed
by fear but never knew what it
meant until then. l was so badly
scared that 1 couldn't have moved If
the fate Of the universe depended upon
it, and l simply stood there, stock
still, and staring while the boa swayed
back and forth a few times and final
ly glded into the upper foliage. 1t
seemed fifty feet long and as big
around as barrel l think it was
really about twelve. t that juncture
my natives came up, and when they
heard what had happened they at
once insisted upon catching the mons
ter They made a moose which they
attached to pole, and while retired
to safe distance one of them climbed
the tree and seized the snake by the
tail, while the other tried to slip the
loop over it's neck as it lowered it's
head. 1t was too agile for them, how.
ever, and escaped into another tree,
where it went too high for pursuit.
'"rhe Central American boas are
brownish red in color, with black
splotches on the sides and back and
the native hunters tan the skin by
stretching it over a log A good skin
with no bullet marks and including the
head sells for $40, Mexican, down
there, and to avoid holes and mutila-
tion the hunters always catch the
snakes in a moose and kill them by
stab under the jaw. They make all
kinds of leather articles out of the
hide-belts, pouches, legglngs, slippers,
and even neckties. l made many in
qulrles during our stay, but I could
never hear of case in which a boa
had attacked a human being. The
snake 1 saw was undoubtedly lying in
wait for some small animal, and, IL
one had passed under The tree, would
have dropped on its back. The In
dians of the region call the boa 'chula,'
which is the same word they use for
coward so, you see, they have no
great opinion Of its fighting qualities"
New Orleans Times-Democrat.