Some curious 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 

 aggressor, 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 European 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- 



