18 THROUGH THE BRAZILIAN WILDERNESS 



There is the widest difference, both among poisonous 

 and non-poisonous snakes, not alone in nervousness and 

 irascibility but also in ability to accustom themselves to 

 out-of-the-way surroundings. Many species of non-poi- 

 sonous snakes which are entirely harmless, to man or to 

 any other animal except their small prey, are nevertheless 

 very vicious and truculent, striking right and left and 

 biting freely on the smallest provocation — this is the case 

 with the species of which the doctor had previously placed 

 a specimen on the table. Moreover, many snakes, some 

 entirely harmless and some vicious ones, are so nervous 

 and uneasy that it is with the greatest difficulty they can 

 be induced to eat in captivity, and the slightest distur- 

 bance or interference will prevent their eating. There are 

 other snakes, however, of which the mussurama is perhaps 

 the best example, which are very good captives, and at the 

 same time very fearless, showing a complete indifference 

 not only to being observed but to being handled when 

 they are feeding. 



There is in the United States a beautiful and attractive 

 snake, the king-snake, with much the same habits as the 

 mussurama. It is friendly toward mankind, and not poi- 

 sonous, so that it can be handled freely. It feeds on other 

 serpents, and will kill a rattlesnake as big as itself, being 

 immune to the rattlesnake venom. Mr. Ditmars, of the 

 Bronx Zoo, has made many interesting experiments with 

 these king-snakes. I have had them in my own posses- 

 sion. They are good-natured and can generally be han- 

 dled with impunity, but I have known them to bite, whereas 

 Doctor Brazil informed me that it was almost impossible 

 to make the mussurama bite a man. The king-snake will 



