Pierre weekly free press. (Pierre, S.D.) 1889-19??, 1906-07-19
VICIOUS SEA SNAKES
THERE ARE FIFTY VARIETIES, ALL OF
THEM VENOMoUS.

THEM VENoMoUS.
With the Exception of the Cobra and
Bushmaster of Africa. No Serpent
on Land Kills So QMickly and Ter
ribIy as Do Those of the ocean.
FearlesSness is one of the most strik-
| ing characteristics of sea snakes, and
1t adds greatly to the danger that is to
| be apprehended from them. for 1t often
| leads them to attack fishermen and
| swimmers, and even to climb up the
| anchor chains and through the hawse
holes and attack the crew, and as the
varieties is fatal there Is great fear felt
| of them in the ocean spaces which they
| inhabit.
| These fifty varieties are all classified
under the general title of thanato-
| phidia. None of them is able to live
anywhere except in ocean water. Every
variety and subvarety is as poisonous
as the cobra or the bushmaster of At
RIGA. Indeed, with the exception of
| these two land varieties, there is no
snake on land that kills so swiftly and
| so terribly us do the sea snakes. Ow-
ing to their fatal weapons and their
ease and celebrity in swimming there
are practically no enemies which de-
stroy enough of them to diminish their
! numbers .
| Almost all the thanatophidia are
beautifully colored, even more gorgeous
/ than any of the land snakes, with the
possible exception Of the coral, Grass
and carpet snakes. They are banded.
striped, speckled and blotched with
green, olive, yellow, blue and black and
present q most brilliant spectacle as
! they are seen swimming below the sur
face of the transparent blue of the Indi-
an ocean. When they are swimming at
the ordinary rate of speed they seem
to undulate all over. They. do not wind
J through the water as the eel does, but
4 their locomotion resembles that of the
caterpillar except that it is far more
graceful, and as they move and twist
the colors play along their sides and
/ backs as they do on the dolphin. When
! they dash at their prey at full speed
| they move like an arrow, with their
heads and necks thrust straight before
them If they are swimming under the
! surface, or, if they are darting along
the top Of the water, with their heads
| elevated just enough to clear the
waves. When they are racing along
thus their sole means Of locomotion is
their broad, paddle shaped tail, which
Is peculiar to all the sea snakes and
forms the only striking difference be-
! tween them and the ordinary land SER
pent
This paddle is used like a steamers
| screw and has immense power Bent
/ sideways it will stop the snake imme-
diately as if the creature had anchored
| suddenly. When doing or resting over
reefs, which are common in the coral
banks, snakes hold fast to The rocks or
| bottom with their broad tails and will
often sway in this way for hours in
calm weather.
Men may have recovered from the
| bites of these serpents but there are
| certainly none on record. Most Of
their victims are Malay and other ma
tive fishermen, and shore dwellers and
physicians rarely get to see them.
| Statistics are not kept in that part
of the world, so it is impossible to
ascertain how many are killed in this
way each year Travellers say that
there is hardly a fishing village which
| has not it's tale of death to tell.
Scientists once held to the opinion
| that the deadliness of the bite was due
| not to the venom, like that of the land
snakes, but to some property that
caused blood poison. as does the bite
of many fishes which are not poisonous
| In themselves. But this opinion was
changed after the medical men on
| board the British warship Algerine had
made careful observations of u sailor
who had been bitten. They proved
| that the snakes We're directly poison
GUS and that they carry fangs charged
with venom exactly like the cobra.
| The open ocean is the home of the
sea snakes. They do not even ascend
| the rivers. Their favorite haunts are
| the arms of the sea, which separat e
the lS!d1CS VI tJuild, IHdld anu tlle
| south Pacific seas They don't stay
near the shores, but remain at some
distance from the land. They are inca
pable of much movement on land. and
| after wriggling about and biting saw
agely they will stay still till they die,
| They are found in many parts of
| the world = III the Indian and Pacific
oceans, from Cape of Good Hope and
| MAZDA ascar to<the western shores Of
Panama and from New Zealand to
Japan, in the bay Of Bengal and the
sea around Nicobars, Molucca, Timor
| and New Guinea. New York Herald.
An Apt Netort.
| 'sFools sometimes ask questions that
1 wise men cannot anSMer.'- remarked