The Dickinson press., 1910-11-05
A DEADLY REPTILE
The Fer-de-Iance the Most Ven.
omous OF All Serpents.
ITS STING A DEATH WARRANT

Little Chance For . Victim Of the
Fanss Of This Terror Of the island
Of Msrtlniqv-Ths Cat and the Men.
oeess lie Nest Formidable Enemies.
Every. one b perfectly well aware
that there exists . large number Of
venomous s~erpents-we have many Of
them right here In the United States;
the RATHER, for example-but probably
10 other spot In the known world has
such a death dealing reptile al has the
French island Of Martinique. nesting
IN the limpid blue waters Of the Carih.
bean sea. 1t Is tho fe~r-de-lance, sci.
en%ti6cally known NJ Trigoncephalus
Iancc'atus. that car beyond the shad-
ow OF a doubt lay claim to being tho
most deadly serpent Of the earth. lts
sting almost certain death.
There are eight distinct varieties.
the most ommon being u dark gray
and black spe&.kled. which coloring
enables 1t to conceal itself easily
amoug roots and stumps of trees. An.
other variety Is n clear. bright yellow.
and when hidden In the freshly cut
zane It eau hardly be distinguished
from the stalks. II r1ay also be q dark
yellow or cOni black with q yellow
belly.
1t is not n large snake. rarely ex.
ceeding tive feet In length and 10 CIR
conference approximately the size Of
q child's arm. TO repeat, the sting
mems almost certain death. and
should not The servire of a physician.
or 'panseur," as the natives call him.
be obtained within q very short time
the venom does It's deadly work-the
fesh grows cold. softens, becomes
pnlpy. changes in color. quickly be-
gins to spot. and a great chllliness
creeps through the blood. This lasts
only a few minutes possibly half an
hour-then death.
II the victim Ii fortunate enough to
get a physician upon the scene post
haste and no artery or vein has been
pierced there is h~ope-just a faint
%hope-but even If ufp IL saved the dan
ger is not entirely removed, for In
many cases necrosis Of the tissues fol-
lows. The flesh corrupts and falls from
the bones, and the body molders as
does a tree.
There Is. however, a heroic method
Of treatment often brought into use
by the Martniquans. 1t Is the i'm
mediate amputaton Of the leg or arm
II the sting happens to be In either.
| u~4N thlo 1@nA - A> AH~A NJ nn0n orA
before the veDom circulates through
the system. There are to be seen
today upon the island many natives
with limbs missing, and in the ma
jority of cases 1t IL the result of hav-
ing the machete, Or cane knife. up
piled after an experience with a fer-de-
lance.
The fer-de-laDce ~ a 6ghter-and no
mistake about it~-aggressive and pug
nacious, and domestic animals, with
the cat Us the u exception, stand q
very poor show In 4 battle. Pussy. In
about nine cases out of ten, will come
out Of the scrap with colors flying be.
cause of the fact that 1t Is apparently
quite as quick In movement and at the
same time uses what may be termed
ring %generalship.
|. There Ia but q animal other than
the cat that successfully wages wal
upon the fer-de-lance. 1t IL the mon
goose %dchneumon), imported from In.
dia a number of years ago for the
sole purpose Of getting rid of the
snakes.
Ut the weasel family and looking
very much like 1t, this little animal Is
absolutely fearless so far as snakes
are concerned and will just as readily
tackle n five feet In length as one
a foot long. Frous the mongoose the
fer-de.lance will Zee. but II cornered
will put up a great fight, using ev-
cry trick at its commando useless
sort of contest. however, for within
q short time 1t will be stretched out
i~ifeless.
A battle between these two natural
enemies Is we'll worth Witnessing. 1t
Is never a "limited" fight. but to a
finish always. and probably the snakes
by this time have come to understand
that when they enter such q combat
1t is With the odds greatly against
them.
The mongoose Is quite as clever a
ring general as the cat and uses that
gift to advantage. Strategy more than
strength Is its asset.
When they meet. and II the snake
Gees no aveDue Of escape, 1t prepares
for battle. as does the mongoose, but
In a more leisurely manner. 1t takes
about one minute for them to. get fully
prepared. There IL no shaking hands.
20 to speak, as by pr1ze1ghters.
The mongoose circles about the rep
tile, always at a safe distance and
drawing Gre" inviting It BY moving
closer and closer to dart out its head
and then quickly jumping out Of
harms way. 1t torments IN every
possible manner, causing the snake to
change position tine and time again.
firing It BY forcing q strike again and
sgain without ever reaching the OBJ
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