The daily morning journal and courier., 1902-01-02
BOSTOCK'S SNAKE QUEEN.

Short Talks on Snakes and How to Care
 for Them and Preserve Theii
 Health.
 Princess Brandea the FIindoo serpent charmer at the Bostock show on the
 Midway, gave the following interesting
 interview on the subject of snakes;
 Well, there are snakes and snakes Of course, many people do not like | them hut that is because they really
 do not understand them. There are
 many deadly, poisonous snakes which no one cares to come i'll contact with
 notably the rattlesnake, the moccasir
 and the coral snake of America-al]
 poisonous reptiles--the fer de-lance of 1 Brazil and the deadly cobra of India. l Over twenty thousand people year | die from snake poison in India and the 1 most enormous reward of five million l rupees has been offered by the native
 princes of India and his majesty's h.
 dian government for an antidote to the ] cobra poison. Persons bitten by that
 venomous reptile rarely live over sev- 1 on to ten minutes, so virulent is the 1 poison It is one of the most beautiful snakes ever seen, with its yellow and
 chocolate tnottled body It balances it.
 self upon it's tail and when in rage de-
 velops a peculiar kind of hood on each
 side of it's head The back part of the
 head bears a richly brown mark in the form of the letter V. The initial letter of
 the Hindoo Goddess Vishnu. It Is Wor~
 shipped by the natives of India with
 great veneration. It is said to have the
 care and guard of concealed mines of
 rubies sapphires diamonds, gold and
 precious jewels. On the location of q
 cobra family, the natives, although
 they know its poisonous qualities, will
 not attempt to kill it, but place before
 its nest pans of sweet milk, eggs and
 danties, worshiping it as the reincar-
 nation of the Goddess Vishnu. The CO.,
 bra is easily captured, for it is amend
 ble to the sounds of music in which it
 takes great delight, and will dance to the sound of pipe or musical instru-
 ment until it becomes actually tired with exertion, when it will allow itself to be fondled or caressed.
 There is always danger with poison 'ous snakes unless the fangs are cut. To do that it requires great nerve and skill. The snakes have to be caught by the back of the head. the jaws pried open, a gag inserted and while securely held, the fangs, or poison teeth are cut close to the roof of the mouth with q pair of surgeons curved scissors. Then scraper Is inserted to the back of the throat, pressing right along the roof of the mouth on the poison glands and extracting every bit of poison left in the reptile. The snake is then in what is called safe condition, being what is known in the reptilian world as fixed That condition lasts but a very few weeks, for in three weeks time the fangs will grow again, nature reasserting her own prerogative. While not pleasant operation for the snake, it is necessary for the life of the performer that the fangs should be cut as soon as they begin to grow again, otherwise the friends of the serpent charmer have a splendid chance to place floral emblems on her grave
 ''The boa constrictor, the anaconda, the coach-whip snake, the diamond snake and many others can be handled without danger of poison, for they be- long to the non- poisonous order, but should they get cross they will throw coil upon coil around the body of a per- son and crush him to death.
 "All snakes are inhabitants of warm and require great care to keep them alive. To keep them in healthy condition they must be bathed in warm water regularly They do not feed very often and will go sometimes for ten or twelve weeks without food, although I have known cases where they have lasted longer. One of my favorite ana- eondas was seventeen weeks from one | nef, to another while huge boa con- strictor was twenty-seven weeks. Ev- 1, arything they eat must be alive, wheth- | ar it is pigeon, guinea pig or rabbit | tey vary in their appetites and &C., ,ordng to their size. will devour at a | neal from seven to twenty-five pigeons. Every three months they shed their 'kin and come out like Joseph in coat | # new, bright and glistening colors. During the process of shedding the skin scale forms on the serpent's eyes, turing which time it is absolutely | 'lind, and Is absolutely dangerous to handle at such times, as not being l ble to see, it is liable to bite the hand f the trainer. I assure you they can i've some very ugly bites. The scales 'radually fall from the eyes and the erpent, gently rubbing itself from the ead down, wriggles out of the old skin, saving it like a disused envelope or old |. love. It is then ready to feed.
 "At first when they come from their T ative land they are difficult to man. ge and will hiss and strike at one very avagely. Great care must be taken in andling them. Snakes are like many ther things, you must first show them hat you do not mean to hurt them hat while you are their master or mis- ress you are going to make them com 0rtable. Once that is done, the re- 1ainder of their education is easy. 10th my large pets, Frank and Daisy, re very affectionate and extremely do- ile. They dearly love and enjoy, their ath and will stay in it till the water egins to get cold. Then I whistle to lem. They crawl out and will come ght ID to the blanket ntl my lSnaa to l