Evening Republican, Volume 21, Number 9, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 19 January 1918 — Largest Snakes in Brazil. [ARTICLE]

Largest Snakes in Brazil.

The largest snakes known are found in Brazil, and one would have to go far Inio the Interior to find them. They are found in the Immense valley of the Amazon river and its tributaries, observes a naturalist. This extensive basin, being low ground, consists partly of swamps and forest jungle, into which white men seldom penetrate. The forest and vegetation are so dense that the sun cannot get through to the ground, and being right under the equator, the continual, oppressive, moist heat makes this jungle and swamps the ideal breeding place for the big snakes and other reptiles. However, of the 180 varieties of snakes known r in Brazil, not 10 per cent are venomous, and of these very few of the big ones. Of the non-ven-omous ones the largest and the bestknown is the boa constrictor. .