and finally begins the slow, difficult process of swallowing. Water monitors 
have been known to swallow half-grown rabbits whole. 
During the mating season these lizards fight wildly among themselves, 
rearing up on their hind legs and grappling with their jaws. 
Some twenty-four, soft, white-shelled eggs are laid usually in a hollow 
tree trunk near the water. 
Despite their great size and agility, the water monitors have stronger 
enemies. The larger snakes of India find them good eating, and man, too, 
hunts them for food, sometimes with the help of dogs. The Singhalese 
believe its fat, applied externally, is a cure for skin diseases. The rural 
population also make a poison called kabara tel of this substance, which, 
taken internally, is extremely toxic, having figured in many local murders. 
If a kabara goya enters a native house or walks across the roof, it is con¬ 
sidered an evil omen, and a priest’s services are required to set things 
right. Heretics allege that the priests keep pet kabaras which they train 
to walk over other people’s roofs. 
Water monitors become very tame in captivity and are fairly docile 
when kept indoors. In the open, their wild moods are said to get the 
better of them. 
Another denizen of India is the bis cobra , or land monitor, measuring 
some six feet in length and frequenting the drier regions. Low-caste Hindus 
in search of food dig these creatures out of their burrows. The monitor 
is in the habit of sitting in its burrow with its tail toward the opening; if 
the tail is caught, the clumsy beast finds it hard to turn around. Snake 
charmers are said to dive into their burrows and grasp them by the tail. 
Sometimes in this pursuit, the charmers are bitten, and the reptile’s jaws 
have to be cut from their hands with a knife or shears, so tightly are they 
clamped. 
Bis cobras are destructive to poultry and crops, but benefit man by 
eating great numbers of rodents. When chased, they may climb up a tree 
and disappear in a hole at the top. Cornered, they rear up on their hind 
legs and inflate themselves with air, which they then expel with a harsh 
noise to terrify an assailant. 
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