THE SERPENTS.
The Order of Serpents, (Ophidia).—The large glazed cases along the northern side of the main hall of the Reptile House are devoted to the larger serpents, while the smaller species are provided for along the south wall, and in the adjoining room. One serious difficulty in the management of a collection of living serpents lies in the fact that often the most valuable specimens are so nervous and shy in their feeding habits it is impossible to cage several together.
Out of the many species of serpents exhibited in the Reptile House, ten are chosen as fairly representing the principal groups.
The Regal Python, (Python reticulatus), here represented by a fine specimen, 22 feet in length, weighing 170 pounds, is the best representative of the rock pythons of Asia and Africa. The island of Borneo is its center of distribution. None of the constrictors is venomous, but their crushing power is almost beyond belief.
The Rock Python, (Python sebae), of Africa, is a light-colored species with a very small head, and is frequently seen in the hands and around the necks of snake-charmers.
The Anaconda, (Eunectes murinus), is one of the largest constrictors of tropical America, and is noted for its aquatic habits. It is a handsome serpent, being of a rich green color, marked with large black spots.
The Black Snake, (Bascanium constrictor), a common species in the eastern United States, is probably the highest type of the harmless snakes. It is a serpent of great vigor and activity in running, climbing, and swimming; it possesses great courage, and seeks prey of many kinds in all kinds of situations.
RHINOCEROS VIPER.
The Garter Snake, (Eutaenia sirtalis), is more frequently seen in the eastern United States than any other serpent. Although the warfare waged against it is perpetual, regardless of the fact that it is as harmless as a fly, its numbers do not sensibly diminish.
The Hog-Nosed Snake, “Puff Adder,” or “Sand-Viper,” (Heterodon platyrhinus), represents a large and important Family, and, despite its dangerous appearance and terrifying names, it is quite harmless. It represents one of Nature’s methods for protecting harmless and inactive creatures, by making them resemble others which are dangerous.
Venomous Reptiles.—Because of the number of species of rattlesnakes which have found lodgment in the United States, and the trouble they have caused in a few localities, we are specially interested in all serpents which are dangerous to man. The species named below represents the deadly genera which civilized man has most cause to fear.
The Harlequin Snake, or Coral Snake, (Elaps fulvius), represents a genus which contains many species, though but few of them occur in America.
The King Cobra, (Naja bungaris), from the Malay Peninsula, often called Snake-Eating Cobra, is the most dangerous of all serpents, because it is the largest and the most athletic of the venomous species, and for its bite there is no effective antidote. It feeds only on living snakes. The fine specimen exhibited is about ten feet in length.
COBRA-DE-CAPELLO.
The Cobra-de-Capello, (Naja tripudians), of which some fine specimens are shown, is the terror of India, where it kills between 18,000 and 20,000 people annually! This is the most deadly of all serpents. For its bite, science has thus far been powerless to find an antidote, although Dr. Albert Calmette, of Lille, France, experimenting extensively in this direction, has secured partially successful results.
The most vicious snake in North America, and one of the ugliest in appearance, is the Water Moccasin, (Ancistrodon piscivorus),—closely related to the beautiful Copperhead, (A. contortrix). It is more dreaded in the South than the rattler, because it strikes on the slightest provocation, and without the rattler’s timely warning. Its colors are dull, its scales rough, its body ill-shaped and clumsy, its temper is vicious, and for every reason it is a serpent to be disliked.
The Diamond-Back Rattlesnake, (Crotalus adamanteus), is too handsome, too showy, and too large to be chosen as the best average type of the genus Crotalus; but he is king of his kind, and cannot be ignored. Three species shown side by side in our Reptile House afford striking examples of protective coloration. The Diamond-Back Rattler of Florida and the South is yellow, brown, and black, to match the checkers of sunbeam and shadow that fall upon the sands under the palmetto leaves.