CROCODILE CHORES

Wairarapa Times-Age, 22 December 1938, Page 9

CROCODILE CHORES

ATTRACTION AT LONDON ZOO. BARKS LIKE A DOG. At this time of the year visitors to the Reptile House may be treated to a selection by the alligator and crocodile chorus (writes the zoological correspondent of the "Observer” on September 18). During the summer months these reptiles are voiceless, but sometimes in the spring and frequently in the autumn for no apparent reason, they break forth into a reptilian oratorio, which, if not exactly musical, is at least awe-inspiring. George, the large 12ft long alligator, usually opens with a few preliminary bars. The other alligators and crocodiles soon join in, with the result that the house fairly shakes with the din. Their voices differ according to the species to which they belong. Thus the American alligator roars like a lion, while the Chinese alligator and some of the crocodiles produces s >unds similar to the barks of an angry dog. The voice of the long-nosed Indian Gharial faithfully resembles a devastating human cough. A family of 12 rattlesnakes figures among the latest births in the menagerie. The m-.ther measures 31ft in length, but the newly-born infants are under a foot long. The “rattle” in the baby snakes is represented by a button-like horny covering to the tip of the tail, the subsequent segments being formed one at a time after each shedding of the skin. To tell the precise age of rattlesnakes by the number of segments in the rattle is not possible, since, although the shedding process occurs three or four times a year, some of the horny segments not infrequently become detached in the course of the snake’s life. A. new and valuable acquisiaion is a South American Harpy Eagle. Although not so large as some of the largest of the birds of prey such as the condor, the harpy is rerrark r >bie for its strength, having exceedingly thick and powerful legs. It is one of the few numbers of its order that includes moderately large monkeys, foxes, badgers, peccaries, and sloths im.its bill of fare. A collection of fish received at the Aquarium from the coast of Florida includes a porcupine fish. This grotesque spiny creature is capable of inflating its body with air until it becomes spherical. This habit is obviously protective, since, when the skin is extended the spines become erectile, and proof against the attacks of enemies. Porcupine fish are also able to defend themselves with their teeth, which, being united, form sharp cutting blades. When swallowed, as they are occasionally by large fish such as sharks, they are able, by means of these teeth, co eat their way out of, not only the stomach, but the sides of the body. As a result it is the giant that dies, and the porcupine fish continues on its journey none the worse for its Jonah-like experience.