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.
