SNAKES' CLIMBING POWERS. 37 



alarmed or irritated, a snake invariably disgorges its prey, either 

 during the swallowing process or after. A snake, when in the 

 act of swallowing a bulky victim, is in a helpless state, for its 

 jaws are distended enormously, and it is, moreover, unable to 

 crawl away. Therefore it can neither defend itself nor effect its 

 escape. So, if danger threatens, the victim is instantly disgorged. 

 Snakes in poor condition often swallow prey so bulky that the 

 gastric juices are unable to dispose of it, and the snake gets indi- 

 gestion. But, if the process of digestion is not proceeding 

 satisfactorily, the victim is disgorged. 



In captivity, when several snakes are kept in the same cage, 

 it is a common occurrence for two of them to start swallowing a 

 toad, frog, or rat from opposite ends. When their noses meet 

 at the centre of the victim's body, one of the snakes usually 

 reverses his swallowing mechanism and disgorges the portion 

 he has succeeded in getting into his throat and mouth. Some- 

 times both stubbornly hold on. In this case the larger or more 

 active snake laps his jaws over the other's head, and calmly and 

 deliberately pushes him, as well as the object of dispute, down his 

 throat. He then retires to a cosy corner, if he be not too bulky 

 to move, and dozes for a week or two until his digestive juices 

 have dissolved his huge meal. 



I was lying hidden in a clump of thick bush one day, watching 

 a big yellow Cobra swallowing a rat. I was not the only watcher, 

 however, for it seemed that a Mungoose had been carefully keeping 

 the snake under observation, waiting until the reptile had the 

 rat well within its jaws, when like a flash it sprang from the thicket 

 upon the helpless snake, and with a vicious bite smashed the 

 Cobra's backbone at the neck. Hearing me move, it vanished. 

 I examined the snake and found the vertebrae of the neck quite 

 broken, and the surrounding flesh mangled. 



Snakes' Climbing Powers. 



Most snakes are excellent climbers, although the majority of 

 the species pass most of their lives upon the ground. The Cobras, 

 Puff Adders, Night Adders, Schaapstekers, Herald Snakes, Water 

 Snakes, and many other South African kinds climb trees with 

 ease. In the snake cages at the old Port Elizabeth Museum there 

 were branches of trees fitted in, on which the snakes climbed. 

 The only snakes which never attempted to chmb trees were the 



