REMINISCENCES FROM THE MELBOURNE ZOO. 
35 
sometimes is sufficient to dislocate its neck, and cause instant death. 
Sometimes at the gardens it is necessary to catch one for removal. It 
will be safely caught, a bag thrown over its head with very little trouble, 
and without the slightest known cause it will be found dead when the bag 
is removed. In these stories will be read how two of them met 
tragic deaths, through a lion cub suddenly turning savage and springing 
on one, and another day through a leopard getting free and bounding 
straight into its neighbor’s paddock and killing one of the finest emus 
there. 
SNAKES 
A CAT AND SNAKE FIGHT. 
If a snake were asked what it would like best for its Christmas 
dinner, it would probably reply, “A fat fox terrier.” These dogs, how- 
ever, are rarely fed to snakes in the Zoo, because they have a habit of 
showing fight when they meet a reptile, and, if the snake is valuable, it 
does not do to risk its life. A story was told in Sydney of a gentleman 
who left a fox terrier chained to the gate-post of a house when he went 
inside to pay a visit. On coming out he found, not his dog, but a big 
snake on the end of the chain. This was apparently regarded as a very 
tall snake yarn in the Northern hemisphere, for it was reprinted in 
both English and American papers. Mr. Wilkie has more amazing 
snake stories to tell than this. 
By some undiscovered means a cat once got into the cage of a big 
Queensland carpet snake. This was a meal much to the snake’s liking, 
and he prepared to enjoy himself. The cat, however, had no intention 
of being eaten. He had some important engagements to fulfil before 
thinking of his latter end, and he intended this to be merely a passing 
visit of courtesy. As soon as his host turned dangerous, puss determined 
to show him what manner of cat he was. The moment the snake reared 
his deadly head the cat darted out of reach, and, getting to one side, he 
sprang on the back of his enemy, giving him a fine bite on the nose 
as he stuck his claws none too tenderly into his neck. Then he flew 
off to one comer of the cage to recover his breath and watch for 
developments. Again there was a squirming movement, and again the 
head was raised. Puss again made a bound, once more leaving marks 
of his teeth and claws, and then he sprang up the tree-pole in the centre 
