340 
ORDERS OF REPTILES— SERPENTS 
flicting a wound, nor of conveying poison into 
the blood of another creature. 
Snakes never are “slimy.” 
Removing the fangs of a poisonous serpent 
does not necessarily render it harmless; for new 
fangs promptly grow out to take the place of 
those removed. 
The rattle of the rattlesnake contains more 
than one joint for each year of life, — usually two 
or three. 
THE LARGEST SPECIES OF SERPENTS. 
Family Boidae. 
The Family Bo'i-dae, containing the boas, ana- 
condas and pythons, embraces between sixty and 
seventy species. 
It is as natural for human interest in ani- 
mals to be greatest toward those that are the 
largest of their kind, as it is for sparks to fly 
upward. It is well to see what Nature can do 
when she puts forth her best efforts. No one 
need apologize for a keen interest in pythons, 
boas and anacondas, provided that interest is 
kept down to bed-rock truth, and all exaggera- 
tions and overestimates are rigidly eliminated. 
Unfortunately, however, the makers of sensa- 
tions about wild animals regard all large serpents 
as their lawful prey, and often stretch them un- 
mercifully. 
The Boa Constrictor.— The serpents which 
seize their prey, and crush it into compact shape 
before swallowing it, are constrictors, because of 
their method; but all big serpents are not nec- 
essarily Boa constrictors. That title applies to 
but a single species, found in South America; 
and, curiously enough, its Latin name is also its 
popular name. 
In seizing its prey, this serpent instantly 
reveals its name by its method. The jaws open 
widely, fly forward with electric quickness, close 
on the animal, and hold fast. Instantly there- 
after, a coil of the body near the head is flung 
completely around the victim and drawn tight, 
to suppress struggling, and prevent possible 
escape from the jaws. From the oldest and 
largest to the youngest and smallest Boa Con- 
strictors, all seize their prey with precisely the 
same action, and the flinging of the first coil fol- 
lows so quickly after the strike of the jaws that 
the two acts seem almost simultaneous. 
The Boa Constrictor is much smaller than its 
neighbor, the anaconda, and not more than one- 
half the size of the gigantic reticulated python of 
the East Indies. Its maximum length is about 
12 feet. It inhabits South America, from the 
Caribbean Sea to Paraguay, but only in forested 
regions, where animal food is plentiful, and cover 
for concealment is abundant. This species is 
readily recognized by its bright, reddish-brown 
tail, which is much more highly colored than the 
head and body. It is also marked by the prev- 
alence of reddish, iron-rust brown in its color- 
