A CANNIBAL. 



'^n 



is of the nature of an accident — as, for instance, when two 

 snakes seize and attempt to swallow a frog, rat, or other prey, 

 neitlier caring to let go, the bigger snake naturally engulphs 

 the smaller. In the case of the Boomslang referred to, the act 

 was deliberate in every sense of the word. 



Some live frogs were introduced into the cage containing five 

 of these tree-snakes, one of which managed, by superior agility, 



Fig. 58. — a Cannibal Boomslang. Photographed from Hfe at the Port Elizabeth Museum. 

 He is in the act of taking another mouthful of his victim. 



to capture and swallow several of the frogs, much to the annoy- 

 ance of one of its fellows. The latter worked itself into a state 

 of great excitement, and attacked its companion viciously, seizing 

 it in various parts of the body. Eventually it gripped the other 

 firmly by the neck and gradually worked its head forwards until 

 it reached the other's jaws, whereupon it began deliberately to 

 swallow it with a succession of spasmodic gulps, accompanied by 

 heaving, forward movements. 



After a lapse of twenty minutes it had swallowed one-half of 

 the struggling, writhing victim. I then had it removed and photo- 

 graphed, and, during the process, so intent was it upon the work 



