Fic. 80.—(gA) If you want 
to capture a venomous 
snake alive, and if it be 
too active to be noosed, 
then pin it down by press- 
ing a forked stick on the 
back of its neck. Ad- 
vance carefully, sliding 
your hand down the stick 
until you reach the rep- 
tile. Seize it firmly by 
the throat between your 
finger and thumb, as seen 
here. With the other 
hand grasp its tail, to 
prevent its coiling round 
the arm. It is dangerous 
toallow a venomous snake 
to do this, for if it should 
manage to jerk its head 
free, it will bite the hand 
or arm, perhaps many. 
times, before it can be 
cast away. The second 
picture (9B) shows more 
clearly how to grasp a 
snake. When held in this 
manner, it is quite power- 
less. In this instance the 
snake is a Black variety 
of Ringhals, 5 feet in 
length, which had just 
been captured. A _ bite 
from this reptile would be 
fatal within a very short 
space of time. It is now 
alive in the Port Eliza- 
beth Museum. Inno case 
do we remove the fangs 
of the snakes. When 
we require fangs for any 
special purpose, we ex- 
tract them. The business 
is a dangerous one, even 
when great care is exer- 
cised. Snipping fangs out 
in a rough manner with 
a pair of scissors usually 
results in injury to the 
mouth and jaw, which 
induces abscesses, and the 
snake languishes and 
dies. 
