Well the mortality rate durin’ the winter was very high. So every spring, there was an annual snake hunt to replenish the stocks. You would get the copperheads, the cottonmouth, water moccasins, the timber rattlesnake of southern Illinois and then also watersnakes. But also the king cobra which was a featured snake in the reptile house was mostly a snake-eater. So the king cobra had to have a supply of snakes to feed all season. So the spring snake hunts also brought back 50 to 100 watersnakes. And those watersnakes were usually kept in the basement or in a large cage and then fed fish to keep them alive. And then the king cobra would get one watersnake a week.
