io6 REPTILES AND BATRACHIANS 



the prey, whether constricted, eaten straight away, or 

 poisoned, is killed rapidly and painlessly, and it is only the 

 ignorant who bring charges of cruelty against those who 

 offer their captive specimens living food. It is by no 

 means a necessity, however, to give snakes live animals, 

 for, with the exception of a few individuals which cannot 

 be made to accept dead food, under any circumstances, 

 they may all, poisonous as well as non-poisonous, be induced 

 to accept freshly killed animals, these being constricted, 

 struck at, or eaten straight away, as if they were alive. 

 Whether the feeding of captive snakes on dead food 

 is harmful to them or not is a debatable point, those 

 against such a method of feeding being of the opinion 

 that when the snake kills its prey, a certain excitement 

 is produced which stimulates the gastric juices, a necessary 

 condition for the proper digestion of the food. Some 

 snakes will refuse all food, whether alive or dead, and, 

 although capable of fasting for a considerable time, will 

 gradually starve themselves to death, unless fed by force. 

 Cramming, however, is not always successful, for snakes, 

 being extremely nervous creatures, often suffer from the 

 shock resulting from such methods, which merely acceler- 

 ate their death. 



A snake almost invariably starts its meal on the head 

 end of its prey. The head having been found, it fixes 

 its teeth into its food, pushing itself further and further 

 forward, outside the animal, until the latter has been 

 entirely engulfed. Snakes are often said to wet the carcase 

 all over before commencing to feed, in order that the food 

 may be more easily swallowed. I have never been able 

 to verify this assertion, which probably originates from 



