SNAKES AND CROCODILES 115 



We caught only one other snake that was even 

 mildly poisonous. This was a long-headed tree 

 snake (Fig. 49). During my entire stay in the 

 jungle I met no really poisonous snakes. 



We usually think of a poisonous snake as being 

 short and stout-bodied with a broad head. Both 

 the blunt-headed snake and the long-headed 

 snake had long, whiplike bodies, and only one 

 had a broad head. As a matter of fact, not 

 nearly all broad-headed snakes are poisonous, nor 

 are all poisonous snakes broad-headed. 



The truly poisonous snakes have fangs like 

 hollow needles through which the poison runs 

 into the wound they make. The mildly poison- 

 ous snakes have poison grooves on short teeth so 

 far back in their mouths that they cannot strike 

 with them. A small lizard which can be crammed 

 well back into their mouths can be quickly poi- 

 soned when it is bitten, more quickly often than 

 by the other snakes which men fear more. 



The snakes go into hiding in the dry season, 

 but they appear again, oddly enough, before the 

 wet season has begun, just as the trees that shed 

 their leaves begin to leaf out before the rains 

 come. In March I saw four or five snakes in 

 one day. These were small and harmless, like 

 our garter snakes in size and behavior. 



The tropical snakes that I handled did not 

 have the cold, clammy feeling that makes our 

 snakes disagreeable to the touch. They were 



