THE HABITS OF SNAKES. 47 
come along and start operations at the opposite end of the 
victim, and thus in many cases one snake is swallowed by 
another. 
Of course, it is not desirable to keep the bulky Python with 
the other kinds of snakes. He is an inoffensive fellow, but his 
huge bulk, which he cannot help dragging along with him, is 
apt to injure snakes over which he might happen to crawl. Also 
he has a habit of poking about and endeavouring to thrust him- 
self out of sight into small holes and crannies, and in this way he 
makes chaos of the little interior arrangements of the enclosure 
designed for the convenience of the smaller reptiles. 
A snake-house should be so situated as to be well sheltered from 
wind and rain, and so arranged that the sun may at all times 
of the day, from sunrise to sunset, shine into some portion of it. 
Great care should be taken that the snakes have cool places into 
which to retire when the sun is very hot and the atmosphere 
rises to blood heat. Free access to air must be given, so that the 
snake-house may not get unduly heated. 
I once lost a large collection of snakes by allowing the air to get 
too hot inside the snake-house. The sun heated the glass and 
wooden partitions, which naturally had the effect of raising the 
temperature of the air considerably. Every snake perished with 
the heat, although they were not subjected to direct sunshine. 
Testing the degree of heat with a thermometer, I found the air 
registered a hundred and six degrees Fahr. 
If you hold the belief that snakes are very tenacious of life, 
abandon that belief, for they are not. When mangled they may 
twist, writhe, and squirm for many hours, but nevertheless a 
snake is very easily killed. A slight injury will cause death, not 
necessarily at once, but perhapsa week ora month later. At the 
Port Elizabeth Museum I used to wonder why we had such a great 
mortality amongst our live snakes which were sent us by kind 
friends in various parts of the country. On skinning them my 
assistant discovered various discolourations, showing that they 
had been struck or otherwise knocked about when being captured. 
At first I used to dissect out the fangs, and sometimes the maxil- 
lary bone on which they are fixed. I found that in the majority 
of cases abscesses formed which caused the snake to cease eating. 
When fed artificially the mouth invariably bled, the abscesses 
grew worse, and the snakes pined and died. 
