ITEMS OF SNAKE KNOWLEDGE. 471 



Snakes eat many kinds of living creatures, mostly rats, mice, lizards, 

 frogs, toads, and birds. 



Snakes are not migratory. 



On the approach of winter, snakes crawl away into crevices, holes, 

 under refuse, behind the bark of trees, etc., and lie dormant, more or less, 

 till the springtime. During this time they do not eat or drink. 



Snakes love warmth and sunshine. It is life to them. 



Snakes strongly dislike the smell of disinfectants. The fumes kill 

 them. 



The oil from the stem of a tobacco pipe, if put into the mouth of a 

 snake, will almost instantly kill or paralyse it. 



One drop of this highly poisonous oil will kill the largest serpent. 



Some snakes are quite blind. They burrow in the ground, and look 

 more like worms than snakes. The head and the tail look nearly alike. 

 Some people say they are two-headed snakes. 



Most of these burrowing snakes have a small spine on the end of the 

 tail. None of them are venomous. 



South African Pythons grow to 25 feet in length. They prefer rocky 

 moist valleys, where there is plenty of water. 



A Python can swallow a full-sized Duiker Buck. 



A snake's mouth and throat can stretch enormously. The bones of 

 the lower jaw are not joined in front, consequently they can be pushed 

 wide apart. The skin of the mouth and throat stretches like indiarubber. 



Pythons often refuse to eat in captivity. 



South African Pythons lay as many as 50 eggs. They average 5^ oz. 

 in weight. 



A Python was dug out of an Aard Vark's hole. It was found coiled 

 up around a large batch of eggs right at the bottom of the hole. It was 

 hatching them. 



Some snakes kill their prey by constriction. Others by poison. Some, 

 such as the Green Water Snakes, simply swallow their victims alive. 



The bones of a snake's head are loose. That means they are not 

 firmly joined together in the rigid manner of those of the higher animals. 

 Snakes' teeth are for grasping or holding their prey. 



The teeth are recurved. They are sharp and pointed. 



There are three classes of snakes — the Front-fanged or typical venomous 

 snakes, the Back-fanged snakes which are more or less venomous, and the 

 Solid-toothed snakes, which are harmless. The latter do not possess any 

 grooved teeth or venom glands. 



A Boa Constrictor in the London Zoo swallowed her blanket. When 

 it was pulled out it looked like a huge sausage, and was wet and shmy. 



Snakes' eyes are protected from injury by a transparent scale in front, 

 which is like a tiny watch-glass in shape. 



A Boomslang in the Port Elizabeth Museum swallowed a full-grown 

 Green Water Snake. It was irritated with a stick, whereupon it disgorged 

 its victim, which was none the worse, for, within a minute of being cast 

 up, it caught and swallowed a frog. 



On another occasion a Boomslang swallowed another, and was forced 

 to disgorge. It began again and swallowed it a second time, and was 

 again made to disgorge. The victim was as lively as ever, and did not 

 seem unduly alarmed. 



