190 BEASTS AND MEN 
for a long time, recorded the case of a snake which ate no- 
thing for two whole years, but then began to take food quite 
cheerfully again and lived for many years afterwards in the 
Gardens. This animal was a Brazilian water-snake, Funectes 
MuUrInUs. 
I myself have had a very similar experience. On this 
occasion the animal was a dark Indian python about sixteen — 
feet long, which was in very good condition when it came 
into my hands, but would eat nothing and fasted for a period 
of two years anda month. During this time it drank large 
quantities of water, but the effects of starvation soon became 
apparent. The creature shrank until it was little more than 
a skeleton of skin and bones. After this long period | 
thought it time to intervene. So J took a pigeon and moist- 
ened it in warm water; and then, seizing the python by the 
nape of the neck, I opened its jaws and forced the pigeon 
down its throat for a distance of about a foot. The rest the 
snake managed for itself, and one could see the pigeon 
gradually slipping down the reptile’s body. With eating the 
creature showed signs of returning appetite. That same even- 
ing I placed a live pigeon in the cage, and the snake after a 
short time killed and began to devour it. But its strength was 
so exhausted that it was unable to swallow the bird unaided ; 
and I had to assist by using a sort of ramrod, with which I 
slowly pushed the pigeon down the python’s throat. We 
then left another pigeon in the cage, but the remedy had been 
applied too late, and the next morning we found the snake 
lying dead with the pigeon in its jaws. It had expired in 
attempting to swallow its prey. : 
Snakes eat most readily in bright weather and will seldom 
touch anything when the air is oppressive. The most import- 
ant point in their management is to secure proper warmth and 
ventilation in their cages. The temperature should not be 
permitted to fall below 72° F. and may well be a few degrees 
higher. Ifa proper temperature is not provided, the snakes 
refuse to eat and they catch colds, which take the form of a 
