280 THE SNAKES OF SOUTH AFRICA. 
he kept the incident a dead secret, and not even the District 
Surgeon knew about it. He does not know to this day whether 
one or more phials of his venom may not be lurking in some 
District Surgeon’s drawer. Moral—always be careful to label 
poisonous substances ! 
FEEDING SNAKES ON LIVE ANIMALS. 
It is popularly supposed that if rats, mice, rabbits, guinea- 
pigs, wild birds or domestic fowls are placed in a cage containing 
live snakes, that they will suffer agonies of fear. This is not so. 
Wild birds, when introduced into a snake cage, immediately 
fly out of reach of any snakes which may be present ; but if their 
food is placed upon the ground, they will after a few hours 
readily fly down and begin eating, utterly oblivious of the presence 
of their enemies. In a few days they take no notice at all of the 
snakes, and even hop about on their bodies. However, it is not 
pleasant to contemplate that such lovely and bright little creatures 
should be devoured by these reptiles. I could never bring myself 
to feed snakes with live birds, although there is no actual cruelty 
involved. 
Rats, mice, rabbits, guinea-pigs, and fowls, when put into a 
snake cage, are timid at first, owing to the strangeness of their 
surroundings, but in a very short time they are quite at home, 
and do not show the least fear of the snakes. If a snake, such 
for instance as a python, is disposed to dine, with a sudden 
and unexpected movement he seizes his victim, and next instant 
his deadly coils have done their work, and it is limp and dead 
—killed so rapidly that death is practically painless. All 
constrictor snakes kill their prey very rapidly. A rat will be, per- 
chance, nibbling some food, and the spectator sees an instant 
later a confused mass of coils, and realizes a snake has the 
rat in those coils, and already its life is fast ebbing away. If 
the snake be a venomous one, the poison rapidly benumbs the 
victim, and, although it may not die immediately, it does not 
suffer any pain beyond a momentary smart when the fangs 
penetrate the skin. The venom has the property of narcotizing 
the sensory nerves. 
Although snakes may be kept alive in captivity for prolonged 
