82 SERPENTS 



not often go poking around in the jungles at night in thick 

 darkness. It is not considered the proper thing to do so. 



The food of the Pythons of the East Indies must consist 

 chiefly of the muntjac, hog-deer and other deer of small size; 

 young wild pigs, pheasants and jungle-fowl. Our captive 

 Pythons prefer pigs, and pigs of from 5 to 25 pounds' weight 

 have now become their standard food. These are accepted 

 with relish when no other food will be considered. A 25- 

 pound pig is quite right for a 20-foot snake. A Python 

 should voluntarily eat a full meal every two weeks. 



Until quite recently it was generally believed that if a 

 large serpent would not feed voluntarily there was nothing 

 to be done for it save to watch it commit suicide by starva- 

 tion. Twelve years ago Mr. Raymond L. Ditmars, Curator 

 of Reptiles in the Zoological Park, determined upon a very 

 bold experiment. He decided that a starving 20-foot Python 

 should be fed artificially. Accordingly, a smooth bamboo 

 pole was procured, and a string of four rabbits was tied up 

 so that the pole would thrust the first one far into the ser- 

 pent's interior, and drag the others after it. The next ques- 

 tion was, how could the snake be controlled? 



Summoning Keepers Snyder and Dahl, and five other men, 

 the cage-door was opened. As the reptile raised its head to 

 strike the intruders, a stream of cold water from a hose struck 

 it full in the face. When it recoiled in confusion, the plucky 

 keepers seized it by the neck, and quickly dragged it from 

 its cage. As its form emerged, the waiting men seized it at 

 proper intervals, and held it nearly straight. 



The Curator presented the pole-strung rabbits, the first 



