Rattlesnakes and boa constrictors, rhinoceros iguana

The first segment of this film features rattlesnakes and boa constrictors and was made by Gladwyn Kingsley Noble (curator in the AMNH Department of Herpetology). It consists of two sets of footage: the first was filmed in what appears to be the American West, and the second was probably filmed in Santo Domingo around 1923. The rattlesnake sequence depicts a road-building crew using pick-axes to dig into the side of a hill whereupon a rattlesnake den is discovered. The crew proceeds to excavate the site and a rattlesnake is captured for examination. In a series of close-up shots, the animal's pit organs and eyes are examined. The snake is then forced to bite down onto a wooden spatula which causes venom to ooze from its fangs. The Santo Domingo sequence features footage of a boa constrictor moving about in a tree, as well as close-up shots of the boa's vestigial hind limbs. Also shown are a boa apparently swollen from a recently consumed meal, and a small monkey (possibly a capuchin) climbing on a bush and hanging by its prehensile tail. The second segment of the film deals with rhinoceros iguanas and was made by Gilbert C. Klingel, AMNH herpetologist. This footage was shot in 1929 on La Petite Gona̐ves, an island off the coast of Haiti; it shows the iguanas feeding and moving over the rocky terrain of the island.