32 THE VICTORIAN NATURALIST. 



CORRKSPONDENCE. 



SNAKES. 



To the Editor of the Victorian Naticfalist . 



Dear Sir, — The fact of Victorian snakes biting each other 

 having been disputed, I thought it might interest some of your 

 readers to relate a Httle incident which came under the notice of 

 two friends and myself whilst in the vicinity of Fern-tree Gully. 

 AVe were scouring the district, and on the look-out for 

 whatever might turn up of interest in the natural history 

 line, when, suddenly, my elderly friend, who wore spec- 

 tacles, exclaimed, in a half-sta.rrled manner — " Look there ! 

 What on earth is that?" I turned sharply round, and at once 

 saw two fine copper-headed snakes {Hoplocephalus superbus). 

 These two, which proved to be male and female, were so close 

 together that it was difficult to determine at the first glance 

 whether there was in reaUty more than one specimen, but in this 

 we were speedily assured, as the female reared her head and 

 showed fight. We had a gun, and my friend was on the point of 

 firing at them when I begged their lives to be temporarily spared, 

 as I was desirous of preserving the pair in spirits. I had a stick, 

 but one quite unsuitable for the purpose of a " snake-stick,'' and 

 with this I struck the two sharply across the back, without 

 breaking the vertebrae. This somewhat rude and abrupt attack 

 upon the snakes had the effect of arousing their indignation ; 

 but instead of attacking me, the author of their misfortune, the 

 female made a dart at and bit the male very severely about six 

 or eight inches below the back of the neck. The male, by this 

 time, was getting remarkably lively, and, I suppose by way of 

 reciprocity, he (the male) was so ungallant as to make a most 

 savage attack upon his lady-love and bite her in a very deter- 

 mined manner. It is a pity that we had not tiiTie to stay and 

 note the effect which these bites would have had upon these 

 animals, some arguing that the poison is harmless if injected 

 into the same class of reptilia^ whilst others contend that it is, in 

 all cases, a deadly poison. I have taken some considerable 

 interest in snakes, and have killed hundreds, but this was the 

 first occasion on which I had had an opportunity of witnessing 

 what I myself had long doubted, viz., that our snakes do really 

 bite each other ; and it would be interesting to have the 

 experience of other members of the Club and others whether 

 there are authenticated instances of snakes killing each other by 

 poison. The two specimens will be at the next meeting of the 

 Club- I may remark that there is not the slightest difference in 

 the length of the two specimens, each being four feet three 

 inches.— Yours truly, CHARLES FRENCH. 



