32 



Chapter VI. 



SNAKE HUNTING, SKINNING AND 



PRESERVING. 



For those who are desirous of obtaining 

 snakes, either for bottling, skinning, or keeping 

 alive, the following methods of capture may be 

 recommended, and the following necessary point 

 borne in mind — that when snake hunting it is less 

 important to go where there are a great many 

 snakes than to go where the nature of the country 

 facilitates seeing and catching of them, even if the 

 snakes there are fewer in number. 

 Cobra The Cobva. Being seldom met with, a cobra 



^^ ^^^' is best obtained by digging one out of an antheap 

 or hole; The cobra must have been seen to have 

 entered the hole a short time before, as it is their 

 custom to change their holes frequently. The 

 presence of a newly-shed skin is often the clue to 

 a hole where a snake is living. 



It is most advisable to dig out a cobra in wet 

 w^eather, as the earth is softer, and the snake is 

 more likely to be in its hole at that time. You 

 should not attempt to dig out an anthill before 

 eight o'clock in the morning, or after six o'clock in 

 the evening, as the snake will probably be out 

 hunting then. It is seldom that cobras lie out 

 under a hot sun except after wet weather. (All 

 the cobras I have kept, and I have kept at different 

 times between twenty and thirty, have shown a 

 distinct dislike to strong sunlight, and have always 

 chosen the shady portions of their cages to lie in,) 

 Taking a man with you, you approach the 

 antheap, making a certain amount of noise so as 

 to frighten the cobra back into its hole should it 



