The Banner-Democrat. [volume] (Lake Providence, East Carroll Parish, La.) 1892-current, 1901-05-11
IoA CONSTRUCTOR HUNTERS.


Men lii South America Who Hunt thu
Snake For Livelihood.
1.-THE boa constructor ID fairly COM
mon in the forests Of Western Near
aqua and Costa Rica." said one of The
canal engineers who was in the city
recently; land there are natives p
that section who hunt them exclusive
~ for a livelihood. While we weps
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 couR.
try 1 saw only one live bsa, but the
experience Is pretty firmly stamped Oh
my memory and I have no yearning
for another. had gone out; With 4
couple of native assistants, from Z
town called Japan, on the South side
of the lower lake, to shoot some plum.
age birds, and while we Were crossing
a rather open piece of forest 1 noticed
what I supposed to be a peculiarly
uniformed 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:
! started toward it to investigst e; and,
when only few yards away, the tAins
/ had taken to be limb suddenly
raised itself In the air. and saw that
1t was gigantic snake. hanging head
down from an upper Dough. l had
often heard the expression 'paralyzed
by fear but never knew what it
meant until then. I was so badly
scared that I couldn't have moved II
the fate Of the universe depended upon
1t, and 1 simply stood there, stock
still, and staring while the boa swayed
back and forth few times and final
ly glided into the upper foliage. 1t
seemed fifty feet long and as big
around as barrel. l think ii was
really about twelve. It that juncture
my natives came up, and when they
heard what had happened they ut
once insisted upon catching the mons
ter. They made Moose which they
attached to pole, and while retired
to a safe distance one of them climbed
the tree and seized the snake by the
tail, while the other tried to slip the
loop over its neck as 1t lowered its
head. 1t was too agile for them, how
ever, and escaped into another tree.
where it went too high for pursuit
1.-THE 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 log. A good skin
with no bullet marks and including the
head sells for $40, Mexican. down
there, and to avoid holes and mutila-
ton the hunters always catch the
snakes in moose and kill them by q
stab under the jaw. They make all
kinds of leather articles out of the
hide-belts, pouches, legglngs, slippers,
and even neckties. 1 made many in
quiries during our stay, but 1 could
never hear of a case in which boa
had attacked a human being. The
snake / saw was undoubtedly lying In
wait for some small animal, and, If
one had passed under the tree, would
have dropped ON Its back. The In
dams 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 lighting qualities"
New Orleans Times Democrat