FOOD OF SNAKES

Rotorua Morning Post, Volume 2, Issue 252, 16 June 1932, Page 8

FOOD OF SNAKES

NOTORIOUS CANNIBAL SERPENTS AS ORIGIN ATORS OF THE HUNGER STRIKE. SUFFtRAGETTES COME SECOND. The suffragettes of pre-war days flattered themselves that they had discovered the "hunger strike," but Na- | ture had anticipated them (writes F. | W. Fitzsimmons, in "Discovery"). | Snakes have known all about it for | thousands of years, for they are as- | cetics compared with other meat- eat- | ers, not -excepting human beings. When the pangs of hunger grow too great the snake slithers from its lair and captures a rat, a frog, a bird, or even a fellow snake and swallows it whole. A rat will suffice for two weeks, but a snake never grows alarmed if no further food should come his way. Weeks go by, and as long as the snake has an occasional drink, he is content. For instance, I once had a python who resented the eurtailment of his liberty and refused to eat. For nineteen months he dd not touch a thing. | Contrary to popular belief, the vic- I tims do not show the slightest fear I when in close proximity to pythons. I gj have seen a rooster square up to a g python and pick viciously at its head. I In their native haunts snakes are so | secretive that it is difficult to discover much about their habits and peculiarities, and we therefore kept them for j observation in large enclosures. Later the Port Elizabeth Snake Park came into being. Notorious Cannibal. The cobra is a notorious cannibal, and its fondness for snakes forms a j costly item in our expenditure. Wan- I dering through the park one morning, j J saw quite thirty Cape cobras busily j occupied in swallowing other snakes. | "Frogs are finished, sir," said the as- t sistant, "but we have droves of skaap- \ stekers, nigbt adders, and house jj snakes, so I have just put 50 of tbem \ in for the cobras to feed on!" Men- jj tally I made a quick calculation of the fifty half-crowns.. Wa pay policemen and soldiers for protection while we go about the daily business of eollecting food, but the cobra cares not a jot if it loses its life in quest. In the absence of its favourite skaapsteker it l will tackle any snake. One day I j watched a hungry Cape cobra give battle to a large blaek mamba, also an aristocrat of the reptile world and always ready to resent an affront to j its dignity. The assistant was anxious to stop him, for there were only two black mambas in the park. But I knew that it was already too 5 late. The mamba must have been bit- t ten several times, and it would surely [ die, so we let them fight it out. Sure enough, after a while the mamba turned over on its back and died, while the cobra, apparently none the worse, released its death grip and commenced to swallow the corpse. Slowly, like a sluggish stream, the body of the victim seemed to flow into the cobra until nearly half had disapppared. Then a convulsive trembling shook the cobra. Suddenly all movement ceased, and the eater of the other snake was dead, slain by the venom which it had irijected into its enemy. Meal Hunting. On.another occasion a cobra gave battle to a puff-adder, not for the sheer love of fighting, but simply to secure a good meal. But the puffadder is a sullen, ill-tempered fellow, and a powerful scrapper into the bargain. The cobra launched the attack with a fierce bite, aiming at the neck to prevent its opponent from hiting back. But the stroke missed, and simultaneously the adder emhedded both fangs deep in the cobra. The smart of the pain enraged the enemy, for it bit savagely again and again, while the adder in spasmodic bites pumped venom into it. Puff-adder poison is extremely deadly tb man and beast, but it is slow in comparison with that of the cobra. Then the puff-adder suddenly unsheathed its fangs, struck blindly here and there and everywhere for a moment or two, and then collapsed. The cobra then commenced its meal, while I ordered a black Johannes to sit on the wall and note how soon the vietor would die. This occurred when it had swallowed two-thirds of the victim. iln the snake park serpents frequently become cannibals by accident, and during the summer this is almost a daily oecurrence. A snake seizes a frog and begins to' swallow it head first. Seeing the commotion, other snakes arrive, and one at least is sure to seize an unoccupied hind leg. The desire to suck it in is dominant, and soon the noses of the opposing snakes meet. They are stubborn creatures, especially where food is concerned, and when neither will let go the larger of the two laps its jaws over the lesser. Sometimes the smaller one gets in first with an enormous gape and a powerful forward thrust, so that it engulfs its bigger cousin. Struggle as it will, the victim cannot extricate its head, which, together • with the frog and its whole body, eventually disappears. The victor, well content, crawls sluggishiy away to find a quiet corner in which to lie and enjoy the fruits of its energy.