84 SERPENTS 



a Cuban boa, fully three times its own size, and tried to 

 swallow it! Had not the boa been rescued, it would un- 

 doubtedly have been quickly suffocated by the coils which 

 its antagonist had wrapped tightly around its body. On an- 

 other occasion a King Snake that was placed for a very short 

 time in the cage of the water moccasins, attacked one of the 



KING SNAKE. 



latter, wrapped around it and killed it. Several times the 

 moccasin bit its assailant, but the King Snake is immune to 

 the venom of serpents, and paid no attention to the counter- 

 attack. 



In some portions of the South, the King Snake is believed 

 to be a special enemy of rattlesnakes and moccasins, and on 

 this account it is preserved from general slaughter. It is 

 well attested that it does sometimes kill and devour snakes t 

 of both those species. 



This bold serpent is found from Maryland to southern 



