Habitat: Eastern Ecuador, North-eastern Peru, Bolivia.
The species of the genus Elaps, which are remarkable for the brightness and beauty of their colours, are generally found in forests.
“The traveller,” says Neuwied, “who ventures into the great Brazilian forests, where the ground is covered with leafy plants, is astonished to see shining through the verdure the black and red rings of the beautiful Coral Snake. Uncertainty as to whether the creature is dangerous alone prevents him from seizing it. The body of the snake is not lithe enough to enable it to climb trees. Its food consists of small animals.”
Dr. Lacerda relates that the Austrian naturalist Wertheimer, when in the Brazilian settlement of Philadelphia, was bitten by a Coral Snake in the back of the hand. The usual symptoms of poisoning manifested themselves immediately, and the unfortunate man died twelve hours later. Nevertheless, the small size and slenderness of the fangs, the narrowness of their canals, and the considerable distance between the fangs and the anterior opening of the mouth, must necessarily render the bites of these snakes less serious and of rarer occurrence.
II.—VIPERIDÆ.—CROTALINÆ.
The Solenoglypha are infinitely more formidable in the two divisions of the New World. They are represented by a large number of species, some of which are feared in consequence of their size and ferocity, even more than on account of the deadliness of their venom ([fig. 67]).
Fig. 67.—Head and Skull of Crotalus horridus.
The American Crotalinæ are divided into two groups:—
The first of these comprises snakes not provided with the caudal appendage, which is characteristic of the Rattle-Snakes. It consists of two genera:—