440 SNAKES OF CEYLON. 



in a leisurely fashion when provoked. Its placid disposition 

 banishes all fear, and tempts one to disregard any precautions 

 in handling it, at least, this is my experience. 



I noticed, especially in Delhi, years ago that Kalian, the 

 most intrepid snake-catcher I have ever seen, who collected 

 scores of poisonous snakes every week, treated the krait with 

 supreme indifference, though he exercised the greatest caution 

 in dealing ^\ith E chides. 



Fayrer says : "In my experience I have always the 

 greatest difficulty to get the cobra, krait, and daboia to bite 

 voluntarily." Nicholson calls it a " very inoffensive " snake. 

 Gleadow says : " I have always found it quiet, and not 

 pugnacious." Mr. Millard tells me that it is " very shy." 

 Colonel Dawson says : " It is a very shy snake, and rarely 

 bites, except in self-defence or when hurt." This is fully 

 exemplified by the behaviour of one snake which caused a 

 fatality. This krait was unearthed while a man was digging. 

 He picked it up, and tied a piece of cloth round its head, 

 which the snake got rid of several times on the road from his 

 house to Trivandrum Gardens. Arrived at the Gardens the 

 snake again freed its head, and it was whilst trying to bind 

 it on again that a bite was inflicted, which ended fatally. 

 Dr. J. R. Henderson writes to me : " I have frequently kept 

 this species living, but could make little of it, except that it 

 appeared sluggish and not easily irritated." 



The behaviour of a specimen placed by Russell with a cobra 

 bears out the above opinions. He says ; " The next subject 

 opposed to the cobra, ^^'as a Gedi Paragoodoo " (common 

 krait) " which, in all its movements, was much tamer than 

 either of the former two " {i.e., Zamenis fasciolatus and Vipera 

 russelli), "and seemed solely intent on escaping out of the 

 room or retreating into a dark comer. ViTien pushed roughly 

 on the cobra, and consequently struck by him, he made no 

 resistance nor snapped in return ; he did not even offer to 

 retreat, but laid himself close to the cobra, whose body he 

 often touched in his convolutions, without any apparent 

 offence being taken." Colonel Dawson tells me that at 

 Trivandrum when given a pot of sand or earth he has seen 

 them trying to bury themselves. 



