Evening Republican, Volume 14, Number 110, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 9 May 1910 — An Indestructible Snake. [ARTICLE]

An Indestructible Snake.

Snakes oA the pampas of South America have many enemies. Burrowing owls feed on them, and so do herons and storks, which kill them with a blow of their javelin beaks. The tyrant bird picks up the young snake by the tail, and flying to a branch or stone, uses the reptile as a flail until its life is battered out. The large lizard of the pampas, the Iguana, is a famous snake killer. It smites the snake to death "with its powerful tail. Mr. Hudson, in his “Naturalist in La Plata,” tells this sotry: One day a friend of mine was riding out, looking after his cattle; One end of his lasso was attached to his saddle and the remainder of the forty-foot line was allowed to trail on the ground. The rider noticed a large iguana lying apparently asleep, and although he rode within a few inches, it did not stlA But no sooner had the rider passed than the trailing lasso attracted the lizard’s attention. It dashed after the slowly moving rope and dealt it a succession of violent blows with its tail. / When the whole of the lasso, several yards of which had been pounded in vain, had passed by, the Iguana, with uplifted head, gazed after it with astonishment. Never had such a wonderful snake crossed its path before.