Some curtous Animal Weapons. 73 
armadillo appeared trotting directly towards it. 
Apparently the snake perceived and feared its ap- 
proach, for it quickly uncoiled itself and began 
gliding away. Instantly the armadillo rushed on 
to it, and, squatting close down, began swaying 
its body backward and forward with a regular 
sawing motion, thus lacerating its victim with the 
sharp, deep-cut edges of its bony covering. The 
snake struggled to free itself, biting savagely at its 
ageressor, for its head and neck were disengaged. 
Its bites made no impression, and very soon it 
dropped its head, and when its enemy drew off, it 
was dead and very much mangled. The armadillo 
at once began its meal, taking the tail in its mouth 
and slowly progressing towards the head; but when 
about a third of the snake still remained it seemed 
satisfied, and, leaving that portion, trotted away. 
Altogether, in its rapacious and varied habits this 
armadillo appears to have some points of resem- 
blance with the hedgehog; and possibly, like the 
little Kuropean mammal it resembles, it is not 
harmed by the bite of venomous snakes. 
I once had a cat that killed every snake it found, 
purely for sport, since it never ate them. It would 
jump nimbly round and across its victim, occasion- 
ally dealing it a blow with its cruel claws. The 
enemies of the snake are legion. Burrowing owls 
feed largely on them; so do herons and storks, 
killing them with a blow of their javelin beaks, 
and swallowing them entire. The sulphur tyrant- 
bird picks up the young snake by the tail, and, 
flying to a branch or stone, uses it like a flail till 
its life is battered out. The bird is highly com- 
