1837.] On the " Indian Boa" " Python Tigris:* 537 



by the thick part of the tail, with her teeth, shaking him forcibly 

 from side to side, whilst her claws were making sad havoc on his 

 sides. 



The Boa made no attempt to bite, but as soon as the cat quitted 

 her hold, took refuge in the cage, and coiled himself up as usual. 



Victory, of course, was awarded to the cat as if there had been a 

 fight between them. A second trial brought the same result, and I 

 then shut the snake up, as he appeared hurt from the sharpness 

 of the cat's teeth and claws. The cat was then introduced into 

 the cage, and the Boa disturbed and discomfited as he was, in- 

 stantly sprung at and seized her by a leg ; but the cage proving too 

 confined for so large an animal as the cat, he could not coil round 

 her, and puss finding her legs at liberty again brought her claws to 

 play upon the sides of her antagonist, who gave up the struggle and 

 coiled himself again in one corner. 



Not wishing to torment him longer in such a ridiculous manner, 

 and my visitors being fully satisfied that a Boa had no chance with a 

 cat, — I opened the cage door and allowed the animal to escape, which 

 she lost no time in doing, for notwithstanding her victory, she evi- 

 dently felt ill at ease in the snake's presence. 



Had the cage been large enough to have allowed the Boa to throw 

 his coils round the cat when he seized her, the legs of poor puss 

 would have been firmly bound to her sides, and all power of biting 

 or scratching very speedily put an end to. 



One interesting circumstance was however, produced by this failure 

 of the Boa, which was the instinct shown by the cat in her mode of 

 attacking the snake. Had she seized him by the head or throat, the 

 tail would instantly have been coiled round her with such force as not 

 only would have obliged her to quit her hold, but would, in a very 

 short time, have killed her. By seizing on the tail, she showed that 

 nature had implanted in her a knowledge of her enemy's mode of 

 attack, and she at once put it out of his power to bring his enormous 

 muscular strength into play. 



The mongoose (Mangusta grisea) a decided enemy and destroyer 

 of the deadly Cobra di capello (Naia vulgaris) would be easily crush- 

 ed by a Boa because it generally seizes by the throat ; (I say gene- 

 rally, because it sometimes fails, but in this case it shakes the snake 

 so violently as to prevent its biting ; — or it may chance that the 

 snake kills it.) Instinct teaches this little animal to avoid the poi- 

 soned fangs of the Cobra, by seizing on the throat, and putting it 

 out of the snake's power to bite ; and the cat in like manner seizes 



