112 JUNGLE ISLAND 



More enthusiastic snake collectors would have 

 taken energetic measures to catch him, but I was 

 content to watch him ripple away. Later I shot 



After photograph by Ditmars 



Fig. 47. Coral snake 



one just like him behind the little camp shack, 

 and found him to be a relative of our northern 

 black snake and no more dangerous. His picture 

 (Fig. 46) was taken on so big a log that he does 

 not look as large as he was. 



This was the dry season and snakes were scarce. 

 Santiago brought me two coral snakes (Fig. 47) 

 which he had found under dry logs near Frijoles. 

 These are the commonest poison snakes of the 

 Canal. They are beautifully marked with red, 

 black, and yellow bands running entirely around 

 the body. The colors are much the same that 

 the Indians use in cloth and pottery. 



Coral snakes are not much feared by the 

 natives, for they will not strike at a passing 

 object, and are roused only when touched or 

 stepped on. Even then the hollow fangs through 

 which their poison flows are so short that canvas 



