SNAKE CHARMERS
From the fish let us turn to the snake, a gliding creature without limbs and without joints. It is much like one of the fishes, the eel, in shape, but not in anything else, while no other animal is so much feared and hated by man. We hate this creeping reptile from the fact that a few species of snakes carry a deadly poison in their teeth, and the strongest of men, bitten by one of these, has often only a few minutes to live.
It is this that makes man a bitter foe of the snake and quick to kill any one he sees, whether it has a poisoned tooth or not. He fears it and hates it and has made up his mind that he and the snake are not fit to live together on the same earth.
This is not fair to the snakes, for only a few of them are poison bearers. Most of them are as harmless as rabbits and can be handled as safely. But the cry of "a snake" is almost as bad as the cry of "a mad dog," and even so gentle a little thing as the garter snake has usually a short lease of life if seen by man or boy.
Not quite everybody has this foolish fear of all snakes, the good and the bad alike, for there are some who make pets of them. And snakes thus petted become very tame and grow fond of those who take care of them. This is the case even with the huge python and the boa-constrictor, the greatest of all snakes. They are not poisonous, but when they wind their body in strong coils around an animal, even one of good size, they can soon crush the life out of it.
Many stories might be given of tame snakes and it may be well to quote one of these as told by Mr. Romanes in his "Animal Intelligence." He had it from Mr. Severn, an artist, who tells of a call he made on a Mr. and Mrs. Mann, two snake-lovers who were much blamed by their neighbors for keeping these crawling creatures.
When Mr. Severn called he was asked by Mr. Mann if he was afraid of snakes. He said, in a timid way, "No, not very," and his host took out of a cupboard a large boa-constrictor, a python, and a number of small snakes, which at once made themselves at home on the writing table among pens, ink and books.
Mr. Severn's eyes opened very wide when he saw the two big snakes looking at him with their bright eyes and thrusting out their forked tongues, and they opened wider still when he saw the great serpents coil round and round the body of his friend. But when he found that they were very tame and would do no harm he lost his sense of fright.
After some time Mr. Mann went out to call his wife, leaving the boa on an arm chair. The other snakes were put away. The visitor now began to feel rather queer, the more so when he saw the great serpent creeping slowly towards him. He was glad enough when Mr. and Mrs. Mann came in, bringing their two children. The lady and the children went at once to the boa, called it by loving names, and let it twine itself around them. We give the rest in Mr. Severn's own words:
"I sat talking for a long time, lost in wonder at the picture before me. Two beautiful little girls with their charming mother sat before me with a boa-constrictor (as thick round as a small tree) twining playfully round the lady's waist and neck and forming a kind of turban round her head, expecting to be petted and made much of like a kitten. The children over and over again took its head in their hands and kissed its mouth, pushing aside its forked tongue in doing so.
"The animal seemed much pleased, but kept turning its head towards me with a curious gaze, until I allowed it to nestle its head for a moment up my sleeve. Nothing could be prettier than to see this splendid serpent coiled all around Mrs. Mann while she moved about the room and when she stood to pour out our coffee. He seemed to adjust his weight so nicely, and every coil with its beautiful marking was relieved by the black velvet dress of the lady.... The snakes seemed very obedient, and remained in the cupboard when told to do so.
"About a year ago Mr. and Mrs. Mann were away for six weeks and left the boa in charge of a keeper at the Zoo. The poor reptile moped, slept, and refused to be comforted, but when his master and mistress appeared he sprang upon them with delight, coiling himself around them, and showing every symptom of intense delight."
Is not this a pretty story of snake taming! Others might be told, for these animals, like others, learn to know and love those who care for them and treat them well.
Would you like to know something more about these great snakes? Many stories are told of them, but the trouble is that these are not all true. Thus we are told of pythons forty feet long and able to kill and swallow a goat or antelope, horns and all. The fact is, that they are never seen more than twenty feet long, usually little more than ten. And though they can kill a goat or antelope, they cannot swallow any animal larger than a small dog.
The python and the boa-constrictor are much alike, but they do not live in the same countries, the python dwelling in the Old World and the boa in the New World. They lurk near water, hiding in the bushes or in the trees, where they are ready to seize small animals that come to drink. These they slowly swallow. Winding their tails around the limb of a tree, they can hang down and seize any animal passing beneath.
But it was not these big snakes, but the doings of the snake charmers, I set out to talk about and to this I must return. We hear of snakes being charmed as we hear of forty foot pythons, but the fact is that there seems to be no charming of the snake at all. When the snake goes through what is called "dancing" one would suppose it had been trained. We know that this is not the case from the fact that the moment a snake has been captured a snake-charmer is able to make it "dance."
Reproduced by Permission of the Philadelphia Museum
Hindu Snake Charmers with the Deadly Cobras
What is called the snake dance is a natural habit of the cobra, which raises its head and one-third of its body above the ground and sways about in the air while the charmer is playing on his pipe. The cobra has poor sight and poor hearing and certainly no ear for music. What it lifts itself in this way for is a chance to strike its enemy. It can strike only with the part of its body that is lifted up and this the charmer knows and can easily keep out of reach.
The cobra is a very deadly serpent. It kills thousands of persons every year in India with its fatal bite. Yet it can be tamed and taught to make itself at home. It can even be made to take the part of a house dog. At any rate Major Skinner, an English officer in India, tells us this snake tale:
"In one family near Negombo cobras are kept as protectors in the place of dogs, by a wealthy man who has always large sums of money in his house, and this is not a solitary case of the kind.... The snakes glide about the house, a terror to the thieves, but never attempting to harm the inmates."
So it seems that even the deadly cobra is not as black as it is painted, but can be tamed and made a friend of by man. When the snake-charmer wants a new snake he plays on his pipe near places in which serpents are apt to hide, and the cobra and other snakes come out and are caught. Sometimes the poison fangs are drawn out of the snake's jaws, but often they are not, the charmers knowing how to avoid being bitten. If bitten, they know how to take care of a bite.
Here is a story told by a Mr. Reyne, who tried to learn the truth about the snake charmers. He made one of these men go with him into the jungle, after finding that he had no snakes hidden under his clothes. As these Hindus wear very little clothing, this was easy to do.
In the jungle was a tall ant-hill in which Mr. Reyne knew that a large cobra made its home. Here the man played his pipe, and soon the cobra came gliding out, as if charmed by the music. Mr. Reyne goes on to say:
"On seeing the man it tried to escape, but he caught it by the tail and kept swinging it around until we reached the bungalow. He then made it dance, but before long it bit him above the knee. He at once bandaged the leg above the bite and applied a snake-stone to the wound to draw out the poison. He was in great pain for a few minutes but after that it gradually went away, the stone falling off just before he was relieved."
Thus it may be seen that a snake can be made to dance the instant it is caught and before it can have any lessons in dancing. The dancing is only a movement made by the serpent when it is alarmed and rises to defend itself.
As for the taming of snakes, it is not very hard to do. The snakes must get used to the sight of man by seeing them often, as when kept in a cage where people pass or stop to look in. And when thus used to see man, they may be handled freely at all times except just after a meal. But those who handle them must be careful not to touch their necks or tails, for these are tender parts of the snake. Thus treated, they soon grow tame. Of course, some are much more savage than others, and any one who wants to own a tame snake had better leave the poisonous kinds alone.