The Wallace miner. [volume] (Wallace, Idaho) 1907-current, 1922-06-08
BATTLE IN THE JUNGLE.
AS SEEN BY ROOSEVELT.
DEATH STRUGGLE BETWEEN
TWO SNAKES IN TROPICS
OF SOUTH AMERICA.


With the possible exception of the
game cock and bulldog, conflicts be-
tween domesticated animals are usu-
ally of short duration Ending, as
they do with one of the contestants
taking refuge in flight there are no
casualties to speak of and often the
vanquished is as unmarked as the
victor when it speeds away from the
stronger adversary. But when wild
creatures Of the plains or jungle meet
to settle an argument the contest
generally never is decided until one
of the participants is hors de combat
and possibly devoured by the victor
says a writer in the New York Her
aid.
This great division or natural mis-
tory has furnished many such COM
bats, some of them between natural
enemies. while others are staged by
wild animals that seldom have Occa-
sion to meet each other on the field
of battle Theodore Roosevelts de-
scriptiOn of the battle between a non
poisonous massurama snake and the
deadly fer-de lance, which he wit
nessed while on his memorable eX-
ploratiOn of the unknown jungles of
the Amazon in 1913, furnishes ample
proof of the desperate contests that
take place whenever natural enemies
meet In his book, Through the
Brazilian Wilderness" Roosevelt Wv
idly describes this struggle for mas
terry in the following words:
The Fight Begins.
1T was the fed-de-lance that be-
gan the fight. 1t showed no fear
whatever of its foe but its irritable
temper was aroused by the proximity
and actions of the other, and like a
flash it drew back its head and
struck burying it's fangs in the for
ward part of the massurama's body.
Immediately the latter struck in re-
turn, and the counter attack was so
instantaneous that it was difficult to
see just what had happened. There
was tremendous writing and strug
gle on the part of the rfede-lance;
and then, leaning over the knot into
which the two serpents were twisted,
l saw that the massurama had seized
the fer lance by the lower jaw,
putting it's own head completely into
the wide, gaping mouth of the pois-
onOus snake. The long fangs were
Just above the massurama's head, and
it appeared that they were once again
driven into the massurama, but with
out the slightest effect.
Meanwhile the massurama was
chewing hard and gradually shifted
it's grip little by little until it got the
top of the head of the fer lance in
it's mouth. the lower jaw of the fer
defiance being spread out to one side.
The venomous snake was helpless; in
vain it writhed and struggled. But
nothing availed it. Once or twice the
massurama took a turn around the
middle of the body of it's opponent
but it did not seem to press hard and
apparently used its coils chiefly in
order to get better grip so as to
crush the head of its antagonist or to
hold the latter in place. This crush
ing was done by its teeth, and the re-
peated bites were made with such eff
fort that the muscles stood out on
the massurama's neck"
Swallowed His Adversary.
Col Roosevelt later continues the
story by telling how the harmless
which is a blackish ser
pent something like our own king
snake of the southern states proceed |
ed to dispose of its conquered adver-
sary. He says;
when satisfied that the fer-de- !
lance was dead the massurama began |
to try to get the head in it's mouth |
head finally was taken completely in
side and swallowed. After this the |
massurama proceeded deliberately, |
but with unbroken speed, to devOur |
its opponent by the simple process of |
crawling outside it, the body and the |
tail of the fer-de-lance writing and |
until the last. Not only |
was the massurama totally indiffer
ent to our presence but it was totally !
Indifferent to being handled while the |
meal was going on. Several times I
placed the combatants in a more con-
venient position to see just what was
taking place, and the ease and GER
tainty with which the terrible poison
GUS snake was mastered gave me the
heartiest respect and liking for the
easy going, good natured and exceed
ingly efficient serpent which I had
been holding"