SNAKES’ CLIMBING POWERS. a7 
during the swallowing process or after. A snake, when in the 
act of swallowing a bulky victim, is in a helpless state, for its 
jaws are distended enormously, and it is, moreover, unable to 
crawl away. Therefore it can neither defend itself nor effect its 
escape. So, if danger threatens, the victim is instantly disgorged. 
Snakes in poor condition often swallow prey so bulky that the 
gastric juices are unable to dispose of it, and the snake gets indi- 
gestion. Anyway, if the process of digestion is not proceeding 
satisfactorily, the victim is disgorged. 
In captivity, when several snakes are kept in the same cage, 
it is a common occurrence for two of them to start swallowing a 
toad, frog, or rat from opposite ends. When their noses meet 
at the centre of the victim’s body, one of the snakes usually 
reverses his swallowing mechanism and disgorges the portion 
he has succeeded in getting into his throat and mouth. Some- 
times both stubbornly hold on. In this case the larger or more 
active snake laps his jaws over the other’s head, and calmly and 
deliberately pushes him, as well as the object of dispute, down his 
throat. He then retires to a cosy corner, if he be not too bulky 
to move, and dozes for a week or two until his digestive juices 
have dissolved his huge meal. 
I was lying hidden in a clump of thick bush one day, watching 
a big yellow Cobra swallowing arat. Iwas not the only watcher, 
however, for it seemed a Mungoose had been carefully keeping 
the snake under observation, waiting until the reptile had the 
rat well within its jaws, when like a flash it sprang from the thicket 
upon the helpless snake, and with a vicious bite smashed the 
Cobra’s backbone at the neck. Hearing me move, it vanished. 
I examined the snake and found the vertebre of the neck quite 
broken, and the surrounding flesh mangled. 
SNAKES’ CLIMBING POWERS. 
Most snakes are excellent climbers, although the majority of 
the species pass most of their lives upon the ground. The Cobras, 
Puff Adders, Night Adders, Schaapstekers, Herald Snakes, Water 
Snakes, and many other South African kinds climb trees with 
ease. In the snake cages at the Port Elizabeth Museum there 
are branches of trees fitted in, on which the snakes climb. The 
only snakes which never attempt to climb trees are the Burrowing 
