Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1908-12-20
AUSTRALIAN SNAKE FARM
INDUSTRY THAT THRIVES IN
NEIGHBoRHooD OF SYDNEY.
Caught in the Bush and "Milked" OF
Venom for Scientific Purposes.
Live Food for Serpents.
From the London Globe.

From the London Globe.
Snake farming Is not an attractive &C.
cupation. but It has more than one votary
In the Australian commonwealth, and in
the neighborhood of Sydney the industry
has been carried on for several years by
an individual, who, while disclaiming all
knowledge Of the snake charming art, ap-
pears to have an extensive knowledge OF
the reptiles and their why's. In addition
to the snakes, large numbers of frogs
and even toads, are carefully reared
partly as food for the reptiles and partly
for scientific purposes. The snakes are
caught in the bush. work frequently
necessitating many miles of wandering
and long hours of patient watching, for
the snake is suspicious creature, gener-
ally more alarmed at the sight Of a man
than the man Of it. The snake hunter
employs a couple Of forked sticks as a
means Of capture. With one the reptile
Is pinned by any part of Its body to the
ground. after which it is fixed by the
tor with finger and thumb grasps the
head at the side of the jaws, and thus
has the reptile safe and harmless. The
snake is thus dropped, tail first, into a
sugar bag. All that is really necessary
is a steady nerve. straight eye and q
firm hand.
Used by Health Board.
A recent visitor was shown some large
specimens of the tiger and diamond
species, intended for the Sydney board OF
health. which is regularly supplied with
venomous snakes from which the poison
used in preparing snake antidotes' is
obtained by milking This Is described
as a most interesting performance. BE.
fore milking time the snakes are well
fed, afterward becoming excited when q
glass similar to a watch glass, covered
with the finest guttapercha, Is put into
the cage. The Infatuated reptiles bite
vicpusly through the gutta percha, leav-
ing tiny drops of poison on the prepared
glass" This milking is invariably per
formed during the summer months, when
the creatures are most active and fierce
and the poison most virulent. Numerous
vicious specimens are kept in cages at the
offices of the Sydney health department
to be MIXED" and when somewhat
worn out are returned to the snake farm
to recuperate. After the snakes have be-
come useless for milking" purposes they
are sold to taxidermists or the Sydney
geological gardens. There is always a
good market for new or rare specimens.
as much as &c being paid for single
snake. Several hundred snakes have been
collected at one time on the farm, where
they are kept in bags or boxes the latter
being covered at the top with small mesh
wire netting. At the bottom of each re-
ceptacle is a little bran or straw, and &C.
casionally few old rags.
Traits of the Snakes.
When the snake farmer began TO keep
the reptiles he found himself periodically
attacked by a mysterious kind OF infiu-
enza, or hay fever. which he subsequent
ly discovered to be due to a poison ex-
uded from the bodies of the snakes In
one respect the creatures resemble hui
man kind-they are great sticklers for
caste. The black snake is considered
the gentleman of the snake fraternity
and lives much alone, seldom associating
with other members of the tribe. The
carpet snake is the loafer of the reptile
world, while the diamond snake is a
positive larrikin. stealing the other
snakes wives and swallowing their chill
dren The tiger species is hard to get
on with. being vicious and dece!tful. and
like the tiger and cat tribe generally
plays with its prey before devouring it"
The question of food is an important one.
1t necesstates ample supplies of frogs.
rats, bandicoots, rabbits, eggs, etc. This