THIRTEENTH ANNUAL REPORT 09 



Owing' to the addition of a nnnihcr (jf species of snakes and 

 lizards, it was often necessary to place several kinds together. 

 Hence the system of labeling in the Reptile House is being 

 rapidly changed. Hereafter picture labels will take the place of 

 the plain ones, in order that the visitor may immediately iden- 

 tify the various exhibits. From the time of the opening of the 

 Park nine years ago, the public has continually evinced a keen 

 interest in the exhibit of the Reptile House, and the attendants 

 are called upon to answer a great number of queries. It has 

 steadily been the custom to answer on the labels the questions 

 most frequently repeated, and the descriptive matter in the building 

 is very complete. 



The alligators incubated and hatched in the Reptile House 

 nine years ago have continued their rapid growth. Observa- 

 tions of these specimens have been of much value. While of 

 considerable importance, the rate of growth of the American alli- 

 gator does not seem to have received much attention except 

 under conditions so far removed from the normal as to be of little 

 value. Our studies demonstrate that alligator farming is quite 

 practical. The eggs are easily incubated, and the young grow fast 

 enough to be marketable for their hides within a period of five 

 years. It was previously imagined that it would take anywhere 

 from eighteen to twenty-five years for a specimen to grow large 

 enough to possess a marketable hide. 



With the exception of one alligator over twelve feet long, and 

 several large crocodiles, the alligator colony passed the summer 

 in the rock pool outside of the building. zAll the crocodilians 

 grew substantially. In the pools of the Reptile House they form 

 an imposing display. The specimens hatched and reared in the 

 Park are now about eight feet long, indicating a growth of about 

 one foot per year. 



After an eccentric career in captivity, extending over eighteen 

 months, our largest regal python, captured on the Malay Penin- 

 sula, has commenced feeding of her own accord. Her first vol- 

 untary meal in the Park consisted of a pig weighing about thuty- 

 five pounds, which was offered when freshly killed. For four- 

 teen months this snake was fed, at intervals of about ten days 

 apart, with tw^o fresh-killed Belgian hares, sewed together with 

 heavy twine, then pushed ten feet down her throat with a bam- 

 boo pole while the snake was held by twelve keepers. Between 

 times she was offered everything known on the iiicini of a python, 

 but stubbornly refused food. Although a great relief to the 

 members of the Reptile House staff", the news of this big snake 



