HORSE-DEVOURING ANA- CONDAS.

Kaipara and Waitemata Echo, 18 September 1914, Page 7

HORSE-DEVOURING ANACONDAS.

SNAKES OF THE UPPER AMAZON. In an article on reptiles, published in the "Nataiona.l Geographical Magazine," Curator Ditmars, of the New York Zoological Park, makes the following statement regarding : the length and size of the boa constrictors, or anacondas, of South America. "Species of the genus boa inhabiting tropical America attain a maximum length pf twelve to fourI teen feet." I Having- recently explored a section of the Javary River region, situated about 2200 miles from the mouth of this great river, I may state that I have assisted in the killing and skinning of a sucuruju, or anaconda, having a total length of 54 feet 8 inches when dried. This measurement was taken very carefully, and was witnessed by several men. The statement made by Mr. Ditmars would therefore seem too conservative, and possibly is the result of a too limited knowledge of the fauna of South America, and the upper Amazon in particular. It may be said in favour of my statement concerning the length of this enormous boa, which to some may appear exaggerated, that fewl white men have ever penetrated this remote part of # equarorial South America, where the land is inundated for the better part of the year. The entire Amazon Valley is then transformed into a vast swampy forest steaming under the equatorial sun, and in it there is an astonishing development of reptilian life. Evidence in support of the contention that there are larger serpents in this region than Mr. Ditiuar's would lead one to suppose may be found in the following volumes —H. W. Bates's "A Naturalist on the Amazon," A. R. Wallace's "Travels on the Amazon and Rio Negro," and 0. Waterton's "Wanderings in South America." Charles Waterton, in his volume "Wanderings in South America," says on page 250 that an associate of his killed a boa 22 feet long. This boa, he says, "had a pair of stag homes in its mouth. The boa had swallowed a stag, but could not get the horns down, so he had to wait in patience with that uncomfortable mouthful till his stomach had digested the body, and then the horns dropped out." The same author records that "the Camoudi snake of the Orinoco (the anaconda) has been killed from 30 to 40 feet long ; though, n&t venomous, his size renders him destructive to passing animals. . . . The Spaniards on the Orinoco positively ...affirm that he grows to.-.,..a length of 70 to 80 feet, and that he will destroy the strongest and largest bull. His name seems to confirm this ; there he is called Matatoro, which literally " means bullkiller." H. W. Bates, in his famous " A Naturalist on the Amazon," says —"I was aroused a little after midnight, as I lay in my little cabin, by a heavy blow^ struck at the side of the canoe close at my head. This was succeeded by the sound of a weighty body plunging in the water. " I get up, but all was again quiet, except the cackling of the few4s in our hencoop, which hung over the side of the vessel, about three feet from the cabin door. I could find no explanation ok the circumstance, and, my men being all ashore, I turned in again and slept till the morning. I then found my poultry loose about the canoe, and a large rent in the bottom of the hen-coop, which was about two feet .above the surface of the wteter. A couple of fowls were missing. "Senor Antonio said the depredator was a sucuruju (the Indian name for the anaconda) which had for months past been haunting this part of the river, and had carried off many ducks and fowls fiom the houses. I was inclined to doubt the fact' of the serpent striking at its prey from the water, and though an alligator more likely to be the culprit, although we had not yet met with alligators in this river (River Tapajos). "Some days afterward a party of 3'oung men agreed to go in search of the serpent. They began in a systematic manner, forming two parties, each embarking in two or three canoes, and starting from points several miles apart, where they gradually approximated, searching all the inlets on both sides of the river. The reptile was found at last, sunning itself on a log at the mouth of a muddy rivulet, and was finally despatched with harpoons. "I saw it the day after it was i killed. It was not a very large specimen, measuring only 18 feet 9 inches in length, and 16 inches in I circumference at the widest part of the body. "The reptile has a most hideous appearance, owing to it being very. broad in the middle and tapering . abruptly at both ends. It is very ' abundant in parts of the country, I nowhere more so than the Lago Grande, near Santarem, where it is ' oftea seen coiled up in the corners of the farmyards, and is detested for its habits of carrying off poultry and young calves, or whatever animal it ca"n get within reach of. "At Ega or Teffe"—a small town, situated on the banks of the Amazon about 1800 miles from its. mouth, where Mr. Bates spent sev- | «al 3je*rs— "a large anaconda was >

once near making a meal of a' young lad of about ten years of age belonging to one "of my neigh-! hours. The father and son went; out, as was their, custom, a few! miles up the Teffe River to gather fruit. Landing ob a sloping sandj^ shore, the boy was left to mind' the canoe while the man entered the forest. "While the boy was playing in! the water, a huge reptile of this' species stealthily wound its coils' around him until it was too late to escape. The boy's cries brought his father quickly to the rescue. He rushed forward, and, seizing the anaconda bodily by the head, tore its jaws asunder." A. R. Wallace, in his book "Travels on the Amazon and Rio Negro," says—"Wi received a fresh inmate into out veranda, in the person of a fine young boa constrictor. It was tightly tied around the neck of a good-sized stick, which hemmed the freedom of its movements, and appeared nearly to stop respiration. It was only ten feet long, and very large, being as thick as a man's thigh. "We fitted out a. box with bars at ,the top, and got the- Indian who sold it to us to put it into the cage. It immediately began to make up for lost time by breathing most violently, the expirations sounding like high-pressure steam escaping from a Great Western locomotive." Ho says—"As so few whites have seen these large serpents, and the very existence of any large enough to swallow a horse is generally discredited, the following story . appears in "Travels in Brazil," by the well-known botanical traveller, Dr. Gardiner— " 'In the marshes of this valley in the Province of Goyaz, near Arrgyas, the boa constrictor is often met with of considerable size. It is not uncommon throughout the country, particularly in the wooded margins of lakes, marshes, and streams. Sometimes they attain the enormous length of 40 feet. 'The favourite riding horse of Senor Lagoriva, which had been put out on the pasture not far from the house* could not be found one day, although a strict search was instituted all over the fazenda. Shortly after this, one of his vaqueros (cattlemen) in going through the woods by the side of a small river, saw an enormous boa suspended in the fork of a tree which hung over the water. It was dead, but had evidently been floated down alive by a recent flood, and, being in an inert state, it had not been able to extricate itself before the waters fell. "'lt was dragged down to an open place lay two horses, and was found to measure 87 feet in length. On opening it, the bones of a horse, in a somewhat broken condition, and the flesh in a half-digested, state, were found within it. the bones of the head being uninjured. From these circumstances we concluded that the boa had devoured the horse entire.' "—Algot Lange, ir, the New York "Sun."