54 



THE AUSTRALIAN MUSEUM MAGAZINE. 



This the snake accomplishes by throw- 

 ing successive coils of its body rouno 

 the victim and constricting its muscles; 

 tins action reduces the victim to a com- 

 paratively soft mass, which the snake 

 commences to swallow, almost invari- 

 ably commencing with the head,, as, it 

 swallowed tail foremost, the hair of a 

 mammal, or the feathers of a bird "v^uld 

 cause considerable jpapediment diiring 

 the passage down the throat. The pro- 

 cess of swallowing is necessarily slow, 

 and would be much slower were it not 

 for the gTeat quantity of saliva tliat is 

 excreted over the body of a victim, and 

 for the fact that the teeth, which are 

 sharp and numerous, are curved down- 

 wards and backwards, their points be- 

 ing directed down the throat. After a 

 large meal such as the one shown in the 

 accompanying illustration, a python re- 



I believe that they died soon after- 

 wards. 



It may be interesting to note and 

 compare the lengths of some of the 

 best known snakes, and the following 

 are authentic records of the measure- 

 ments of the five largest species, to- 

 gether with the boa constrictor and the 

 diamond and carpet snake. 

 Regal or Reticulated Python (Py- 

 thon reticulatim) 30ft. 



Indian Pvthon (Pi/thot} moJnr' 



■us) .. ." ..' 25ft. 



Anaconda {Eunectes murinus) . . 22ft. 

 African Python .(Pfjthon sehae) . . 18ft. 

 N. Australian Rock Python (P//- 



tJion anu?thystinus) 19ft. 



Boa Constrictor {Boa constrictor) 13ft. 

 Carpet Snake (Piithon spilotes var. 



variegata) lift. 



Diamond Snake {Pi/tlion spilotes) 9ft. 



Carpet Snake (Python spilotes var. variegatus). 



Photo — I. ;\ Kinghiirn. 



mains in a state of semi-torpor for 

 many days, not re-awakening again to 

 active life until digestion has been com- 

 pleted. They can exist for periods of 

 several months between meals, and this 

 no doul)t is a very valuable asset, es- 

 pecially in times of famine. 



The London, Adelaide, a«d Mel- 

 bourne Zoos can each boast of a python 

 which swallowed its bed. In the latter, 

 one winter a few years ago, a blanket 

 was put into a large python's cage to 

 keep it warm, l)ut evidently the snake 

 was ignorant of the method of domestic 

 bed making, and, instead of wrapping 

 itself up in the blanket, it reversed the 

 process and wrapped itself round the 

 lilanket, and I believe that it is still 

 living — although its digestion must 

 have been ruined. I am not certain as 

 to the fate of the otlier two snakes, but 



The unofficial record of the length of an 

 anaconda is 33 feet. 



All these snakes are non-venomous, 

 and kill their prey by strangulation ) 

 their food is variable, mammals, birds, 

 or reptiles being included in the menu 

 as the occasion offers. 



The carpet snake and the diamond 

 snake are vei-y well known in Austra- 

 lia, more esi)ecially in the eastern por- 

 tions of the continent, and they are botli 

 very closely allied to the Queensland 

 species. 



Notwithstanding I he fact that most 

 people look u])on all snakes as enemies, 

 the carpet and the diamond snakes are 

 the friends of tlie farmer throughout 

 the country as their food consists 

 mainly of rabbits and rats, and it is for 

 this reason that the writer would advo- 

 cate protection for them. As a matter 



