﻿HABITS 99 



on, the breathing of the snake is not impaired 

 owing to a remarkable contrivance : the trachea 

 can be protruded in such a manner as to bring its 

 opening outside the mouth. 



In cases where the victim is eaten aHve, the snake 

 has to contend with its struggles, but retrogression is 

 rendered impossible by the backwardly-directed 

 sharp teeth with which the jaws and palate are beset. 

 A frog is usually caught by one of the hind limbs and 

 swallowed back-first, the long hind limbs stretching 

 forwards as they fold against the body; its struggles 

 are often still apparent when it has reached the 

 oesophagus. Snakes when caught immediately after 

 a meal are in the habit of disgorging their food, and 

 it sometimes happens that a frog or toad is thus 

 vomited alive. An instance is known of a naturalist 

 having captured a Grass-snake and put it in a linen 

 bag. On opening it a short time after, great was his 

 surprise to find the snake had escaped through a 

 small hole in the bag, leaving instead a living toad 

 too big to pass through the hole. 



If not of too large a size, several animals will often 

 be swallowed in rapid succession, after which the 

 gorged snake will allow its digestive organs several 

 days, or even weeks, of repose. A large Anaconda in 

 the Paris Jardin des Plantes fed only thirty-six times 

 in the course of seven years. Digestion is usually 

 rapid in the small snakes, defecation taking place 

 twenty-four to forty-eight hours after the feeding ; it 



