490 



THE SNAKES OF SOUTH AFRICA. 



C. 



More about Ringhals— A Crafty Dodge. 



The cunning Ringhals Kapell not only sends out a shower 

 of venom at its enemy to bUnd him, and thus effect its escape 

 while he is suffering agonies of pain and is staggering about 



in a dazed and bhnded 

 condition, but it actually 

 simulates death. When 

 the Ringhals Kapell 

 realizes that escape is 

 impossible, it frequently 

 pretends to be dead. Its 

 body becomes limp, it 

 turns partly or wholly 

 over on its back, its jaws 

 gape, and to all intents 

 and purposes it is dead. 

 You may turn it over and 

 over with a stick, but not 

 a sign of hfe will it show. 

 It will lie in the position 

 in which it is thrown. 

 However, this deadly ser- 

 pent is wide awake all the 

 time. Through its trans- 

 parent eye scales, its un- 

 winking eyes register every 

 move of the enemy, and 

 should he be unwise enough to approach within striking dis- 

 tance, this apparently dead snake becomes electrified. With a 

 fierce forward thrust, it drives its fangs home with deadly 

 effect. Should the Ringhals Kapell succeed in delivering a full 

 bite, it is capable of injecting eight to ten drops of venom into 

 its victim. A single drop is a fatal dose for a man. 



Once I was anxious to get a good photograph of a specially 

 fine Ringhals which we had at the Port Elizabeth Museum, so, 

 thrusting it into a box, we carried it out to the neighbouring 

 veld. Casting it upon|the ground, we got our apparatus ready 



Fig. C. — Head of a Spotted or Rhombic Schaap- 

 steker {T. rhombeatus) showing the fangs. 

 These are situated halfway back in the upper 

 jaw under the eyes. (Natural size.) 



