ZOOr.OGICAI. SOCIKT^' BULLETIN 



i6i 



PHOTOGRAPH 



E. R. SANnORN 



ANACONDA. 



Adult, and young specimen three weeks old. 



sessino; a tolor-iiattcrn of a riilincss tliat rival.s 

 oriental tapestry, together with an iridescence 

 which gleams in all the high-lights of their folds, 

 these great serjients are the stars of a large col- 

 lection of cold-blooded creatures. 



In captivity the Regal Python i)refers to feed on 

 poultry, and can engulf entire and without diffi- 

 culty an eight-pound rooster, in full feather. Two 

 sucii fowls usually constitute a substantial meal, 

 but a very hungry snake will consume four chickens 

 of this size, and be ready for more within ten days' 

 time. During the first few months of confinement 

 very large specimens of this .snake appear to sufTer 

 from the restraints of captivity. They steadily 

 refuse food, and if energetic measures are not em- 

 ployed, they become emaciated, and gradually 

 starve to death. 



Whenever a large serpent is thus languishing and 

 ai)proaching a suicidal end, it is necessary to feed it 

 by force, and thus either awaken or counteract 

 its sluggish appetite. Young rabl)its are killed 

 and tied together with brown twine, the snake is 

 held by the keepers in as straight a position as pos- 

 sible, and by means of a pole the meal is forced 

 down its throat a distance of about six feet. Food 

 thus administered usually changes the snake's 

 demeanor toward captivity. With the meal once 



digesteij, there comes an a])petite for food, which 

 usually can be detected by the snake's actions, 

 although for a time the reptile may lack sutTicienl 

 courage to feed voluntarily. Careful attention on 

 the ])art of the keeper is usually successful, and 

 renders a repetition of compulsory feeding un- 

 necessary, although occasional sj)ecimens are 

 very stubborn. The Regal Python "Czarina" 

 was fed forcefully for ten months before she took 

 her first voluntary meal. 



The average visitor to the Rejjtile House, while 

 examining the richly-tinted coils of the big pythons, 

 little realizes that the iridescent bloom reflected 

 from the scales denotes a state of perfect health 

 which is brought about only after many weeks 

 of symi)athctic care on the ]Kirt of the keeper. 



Rather smaller in size, though one of the largest 

 of the species forming the genus Pyllion, is the 

 Indian Rock Snake, or Black-Tailed Python, 

 (Pyllion moliinis). Two specimens are on exhi- 

 bition, each being about sixteen feet in length. 

 Both have been in the Rej)tile House over two 

 years, and arc slowly growing. This species 

 occasionally, though rarely, attains a length of 

 twenty feet. Though not so handsome a serpent 

 as the Regal Python, it is more hardy, and be- 

 comes more readily accustomed to captivity. 



