SERPENTS 



ANACONDA. 



Some time ago I purchased a large anaconda for the 

 Zoological Society's Gardens. 



Some two or three weeks after being safely deposited 

 in the reptile-house it voided a mass of feathers, a few 

 bones and grain, together with a large brass hook (not 

 barbed) 4 to 5 in. in length, and 2 J in. broad, i. e. from 

 point to shaft, and with a portion of line attached. I can 

 only suppose that a bird, the curassow, had been used 

 as a bait, and, in all probability, was the means of the 

 successful capture of the anaconda. 



The curassow is the size of a large capon fowl, and it is 

 impossible to say whether the bird was used living or 

 dead for the purpose of securing the snake; it is not 

 however probable that the beast would have taken a 

 dead bird. 



Upon one occasion a newly-imported anaconda was 

 received at the Gardens. There was soon after found a 

 quantity of voided excreta, which, after being carefully 

 examined, was found to contain a quantity of coarse black 

 hair, with a few portions of bones and some teeth ; these 

 remains proved to have belonged to a young spider 

 monkey. 



A similar circumstance was noted upon another occasion, 

 while examining a deceased anaconda. In this case the 

 hair, teeth, and other remains were sa,tisfactorily shown 

 to have belonged to a young capabara. The capabara is 

 a very great frequenter of the streams and rivers in South 

 America where the anaconda is generally found. 



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