By permission of the New York Zoological Society.
FER-DE-LANCE SNAKE.
One of the fiercest and most venomous of American viperine snakes.
In addition to the common North American rattle-snake there are some four or five other species distributed throughout the Southern States, Mexico, and Panama. None appear to exceed a length of 6 feet. In South America their place is to a large extent taken by the so-called Bush-master, a snake which attains to a length of as much as from 9 to 12 feet, and, in addition to being exceedingly venomous, is of an especially fierce and aggressive disposition. It is devoid of a rattle-like appendage, the tail terminating in a sharp horny spine. The Fer-de-lance, or Rat-tailed Pit-viper, is another Central and South American species, held in wholesome dread on account of its death-dealing potentialities. The South American sugar-plantations are an especially favourite resort of this deadly snake, its attraction being the rats which frequent the canes and afford its chief food. Lying concealed among the thick foliage, it will launch itself aggressively at any passer-by, and its bite is usually attended with fatal results within a few hours. The fer-de-lance grows to a length of 6 or 7 or occasionally even 8 feet, with a thickness of a man's arm. Its colours, as with most members of its tribe, are somewhat variable. The ground-colour of the back is usually olive or reddish brown, with dark cross-bands; a black stripe runs backwards from the eye to the neck, and in some instances the sides of the body are bright red.
Photo by Scholastic Photo. Co.] [Parson's Green.
BULL-FROG.
The croaking of this species may be heard at a distance of several miles.
The American Continent is not wanting in aquatic representatives of the Viperine series. The most notable of these is the fish-eating Water-viper, whose distribution extends from North Carolina in the south over the whole of North America as far westward as the Rocky Mountains. Fish and frogs constitute the main diet of this reptile.