Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1931-11-06
BIC BLOOD PYTHON
NEWCOMER AT zoo
Rare Creature From Asia
Second Captured in His
tory-Tree Snake Queer.

The collection of rare reptiles at the
Zoo was increased today by the blood
PYTHON, in captivity for the second time
in history.
This big snake. of a mixed brown and
blood color. lives on the Malakka PENN
sula the southernmost tip OF Asia, ana
is known to science only from a de-
scription of a single specimen brought
to the London ZOO in 1889. II is one
of the rarest creatures ever shown AT
the local Zoo, according to the director
Dr. william M. Mann.
The snake is about feet long and
couple of inches thick. the thickness of
its body in relation to the length being
its chief distinguishing mark. Nothing
is known of its habits, but from its be-
havior at the Zoo it appears to be an
inoffenSive creature, by no means in
keeping with its name.
Other Queer Additions.
other queer snakes added to the COL
lection in the past few days inclute the
rainbow boa and the South American
tree snake. The former has a weird
beauty such as probably could be found
nowhere else in the animal world Its
skin contains most of the colors of the
rainbow, but there are large blue patches
of some peculiar sort Of pigment which
seem to throw a vaporouS aura CT soft
blue light The reptile appears to be
luminescent, the blue radiance emanat-
ing from its body as if it were en- fire
The strange sensation can be CO.
served only within few days after the
snake has shed its skin, which IL ooes
| every few months. 1t is a rare hapl-
| tant of Northern South America from
Costa RIGA to Brazil.
Equally curious is the slender, WIRE
| like South American tree snake. winch
| lives high in the jungle treetopS, bu'
which can drop great distances With
out injuring itself. When it starts tc
drop it coils its body into the shape OF
a watch spring, alighting on the grouno
as a bounding spiral. The spring like
nature of the body absorbS the shock.
Upper Amazon Specimen.
Still another snake which has never
/ been In captivity before is the false
| coral snake from the Upper Amazon
1t is almost the exact duplicate in ap-
pearance of one of the most deadly OF
| New World reptiles, and has the pecul,
| lar ability of fitting its body to almost
| any hole it wishes to glide through
| 1t can change into the form of a thir
ribbon or into Stick-like cylinder, az
it pleases.
The profession of snake doctor" may
! be developed as a result of the increas-
| ing collection of rare reptiles, some Of
them very valuable, which now are
coming to the Zoo from all parts OF the
world. Practically nothing is known
according to DR.. Mann, of the disease;
of snakes or what to do for them when
they are sick. Veterinarians Of the
Bureau of Animal Industry now are
making studies of the parasites which
aff1ict the creatures.
One disease which has proved very
disastrous to snakes in captivity is
peculiar sort of eruption on the skin
Recently it proved fatal to a splitting
cobra, and was believed to come from
some parasite. A study by the Agri.
cultural Department veterinarians ha!
lust shown that, at least in one form, the
malaoy is the result of improper moiS-
| ture balance, and that a snake can bt
, cured merely by drying it out for few
| days Forms of parasites hitherto un
| known to science. it is expected, Will bt
| found on the snakes.
With IA lions on hand, eating 81
! cents worth of meat a day each, thu
Zoo now has more of these animals
than it can handle conveniently, DR.
Mann said today. Six of them are
babies. who are crowding two of thu
lion cages. Two others are about &
year old They cannot be sold, but may
be exchanged for any rare animal thai
come into the market or are born al
other ZOOS.
Mound Building Turkey.
Among the most curious activities o.
animals at the Zoo, DR.. Mann point.
out is the mound building Of the Aus
tralian brush turkey. These birds bulk
great communal mounds Of earth, II
which they lay their eggs, which are
| Matched by the sun. This is purely
| instructive act en- the part Of the birds
Four young ones, little more thar
| chickens, were received few month:
| ago They had no chance to learn The
| habit from other brush turkeys. Blu
as soon as they were released in Zoo
cage they Immediately began scratch
ing up dirt from the floor into The
| mound form. The mound is about
/ feet high and feet in diameter. 1
| looks like a small apartment house
| There is no certainty, DR.. Mann says
i that the birds will follow through tn:
| instructive drive by laying eggs ant
Matching young next Spring.
Arrangements are being made for {
psychological study of the behavior o.
Okoko, the new baby gorilla at the Zoo
by experts from the Institute of Human
Relations at Yale, who have StudieC
gorilla behavior in the Belgian Congo
and hope to check their observation
by experiments in Washington. Thu
reptile house laboratory may be par
titioned off to allow the scientists an(