Scope and content
SUMMARY:
Clippings report on the Zoo’s teguexin lizard being treated and moulting, the arrival of saw-bill ducks in the Waders’ Aviary, and renovations and handling practices in the Reptile House with notes on crocodilians’ temper. Articles are from The Daily Mail and The Times.
CONTENT:
The Daily Mail
LIZARD'S NEW SUIT.
ZOO CURATOR MAKES
HIM FIT TO BE SEEN.
The Zoo's new Teguexin has seen
trouble recently—trouble fore and aft.
This fine big snake-killing lizard from
South America had a badly swollen jaw
when he arrived, and while this was
gently being dressed he lashed out with
his long, slender tail and snapped off the
tip.
This made it necessary to bandage up
the tail in the hope of saving the
damaged portion. Eighteen inches of
plaster of paris swathed in lint did not
add to the Teguexin's smartness on
parade, and he also blackened his record
by biting the curator of reptiles through
the finger-nail while his injuries were
being attended to. Sympathetic hand-
ling won him over to better behaviour,
and he has grown quite tame in these
last few days.
His moulting-time was overdue and it
was most interesting to see the curator
remove his old skin-overalls. They were
shiny at the seams and very frayed
round the hem, but gaps in the material
showed a promise of better things in the
background.
When the curator started to peel away
the old suit the great lizard's attention
was distracted with a beaten-up egg in
a bowl. He lapped it up with his long,
flat, forked, pink tongue, while his rags
were coming off with a sound of silky
rustling. As the overalls ripped away
from the back you glimpsed a smart
check suit in black and ivory, and when
his old socks and gloves were also re-
moved the improvement was astonish-
ing.
From a horrid-looking tramp he had
been changed into a little gentleman.
L. G. M.
JANUARY 16, 1924.
THE TIMES,
SAW-BILL DUCKS AT
THE ZOO.
THE WADERS' AVIARY.
The Waders' Aviary at the Zoological
Gardens has been enriched by the addition
of six ducks with serrated bills, purchased
from Holland. Four of these are goosanders,
the largest of the British "saw-bills," and two
are smews, or "nuns," the smallest of the
mergansers which visit us in winter. The
goosander reaches the length of 26in., and the
males are brilliant birds with blood-red bills,
glossy bottle-green heads and necks, the
under parts white with a tinge of salmon-
pink, the upper back and scapulars black.
The female is a dull, washed-out imitation
of the male. The male smew has a slate
blue bill and the general colour of the plumage
is in strongly contrasting bands and markings
of black and white.
The goosander and the smew visit our
estuaries and inland waters in the cold season,
sometimes remaining as late as May. The
goosander nests in Sutherland and many parts
of the Highlands, but most of those seen in
this country are visitors from Europe. The
smew nests close to the Arctic circle. Both
species prefer hollow tree stumps for breeding,
but have also been found in clusters of roots,
in hollows in peat, and even on sheltered
rocky ledges. They are fishing birds and
their elongated, narrow bills are armed with
a short down-turned "nail" at the tip, and
with transverse saw-like ridges along the
sides. The goosander in particular does
much damage to fishing streams, and there
is a conflict of interest between owners of
fishing rights, who justly regard these fine
birds as vermin, and bird lovers generally,
who with equal justice wish to protect these
attractive winter visitors.
The Diving Birds' house is now nearly
reconstructed, two large aviaries with pools
and rockwork having been provided for
delicate waders. The very beautiful scarlet
ibis, snowy egrets, and several other semi-
tropical waders will be on view there again
in a few days.
Two of the large lizards known as teguexins,
which have been on deposit at the Reptile
House, have now been purchased. They are
forest-living creatures from Trinidad and
tropical South America, reaching a total
length of nearly four feet. The head is very
large, and passes almost without change of
size into the neck and body. The cheeks
have pouches which are inflated with air
when the lizard is angry. The markings are
beautiful, the ground colour being olive-brown
with transverse bars of black. When they
arrived the teguexins were in poor condition,
the mouth of the larger one being badly
affected with a kind of canker. At first they
were wild and very shy, and as they not only
bite severely but use their powerful rounded
tails as weapons, they were not easy to treat.
The new Curator of Reptiles succeeded in
taming them, inducing them to take raw
eggs until they became sufficiently docile to
be handled, and to submit under not more
than reasonable protest to dressings. They
are now in good condition and, with some
assistance, have sloughed off their old skins,
so that they are extremely beautiful.
JANUARY 19, 1924.
CHANGES AT THE ZOO.
THE TEMPER OF
CROCODILES.
In this cold weather the Reptile House,
which was supplied with a new heating
system last autumn, is one of the pleasantest
resorts at the Zoo. Nearly all the fish which
were formerly exhibited there have now been
transferred to the Aquarium tanks and the
new Curator has had the opportunity of
making many changes which will give the
snakes, lizards, crocodiles, and terrapins
better accommodation. The high spirits in-
duced by the more genial temperature add
to the health and appearance of the reptiles,
but also increase the risk of handling them.
The poisonous snakes are not the most
difficult to tackle, as few of them are
specially strong or specially irritable.
Most trouble has been given by a
giant python, which, with a mate, occupied
one of the large cages. It was desired to
move it to a smaller adjoining cage in order
that its own compartment might be cleaned
out and provided with a more suitable bath
and sliding partitions for convenience in shut-
ting it off for cleaning purposes. Force could
not be used as it would have required a
dozen strong men to hold it, and the first
few who entered the den would have had
to face alarming trouble. It was deprived
of its bath but seemed contented with the
empty tank; the substitution of cold for
warm water only made it sulky. Its prey
(freshly killed rabbits and fowls), was
dangled in its view in the cage into which it
was to be lured, but it either took no notice
or was so quick as to get the food and retreat
again to its old home. After some weeks it
was shifted by a steady spray of warm water
with an unpleasant disinfectant, and now its
house is being refitted.
The crocodiles, alligators, and gharials show
a marked difference of natural disposition.
The gharials, now in the Tortoise House, are
quick, savage, and cunning. They appear to
take no notice of the keeper, but their alert
little eyes are watching him unceasingly, and
if there seems the slightest chance, their
narrow and well-armed jaws are shot out at
him. Alligators even of large size are
dangerous only in a blundering way; they
might mistake a hand or arm for food and
snap at it by mistake. But young alligators
become tame very easily, and can be handled
and petted with safety. Adult crocodiles are
always treacherous, and baby crocodiles in
good health have always bad tempers. Pond
nurseries have been made for the young
crocodilians, which have to be carefully
graded in size, as the smaller ones are fre-
quently attacked and always bullied by their
larger relatives.
P.C.M.
