98 SERPENTS 



THE KING COBRA, or SNAKE-EATING COBRA/ of the 

 Malay Peninsula is the largest of all venomous serpents, 

 easily attaining a length of 10 feet. It is a very athletic 

 serpent, slender-bodied and strong-muscled, able to erect its 

 head 3 feet, perpendicularly, and strike nearly a yard. It 

 is a very expert and vigorous climber, swims nearly as 

 well as a water snake, and is a thorough believer in the sur- 

 vival of the fittest. It feeds only upon other serpents and 

 lizards, but it would be better if harmless serpents fed upon it. 



No matter where you find him, the RATTLESNAKE is a 

 fair fighter, and entitled to far more respect than he is likely 

 to receive in this snake-terrified world. He strikes only in 

 self-defence, when he thinks he is about to be trodden upon. 

 Instead of lying in ambush, and striking in deadly silence, 

 like the cobra and the moccasin, he rattles loudly when man 

 or beast approaches, and gives fair warning to "keep off!" 

 He rattles to save himself from injury, and his persistent 

 whir has saved thousands of persons, and tens of thousands 

 of domestic animals, from being bitten. A western cow- 

 pony, a government mule, or a range steer will spring side- 

 wise from a warning whir in the sage-brush quite as quickly 

 as a man himself, and almost as far. 



If Rattlesnakes generally (of which there are fifteen spe- 

 cies) were disposed to be mean, and treat man as many 

 human beings treat all serpents, the annual death list from 

 Rattlesnake bites would be a long one. Despite the few ex- 

 ceptional cases, however, it is a ruling fact that Rattlesnakes 

 do not go pestering around camps, or frequently crawl under 



1 Na'ja bun-gar' us. 



