The WAKEL differs from the NORN in its habits; although both ascend trees in pursuit of small birds and the young of the opossums.

The WAKEL delights in rocky, dry places, near salt water; they are very sluggish, and easily caught by the women, who seize them behind the head and wring their necks.

They are described to have been seen 9 or 10 feet long.

My specimen, a young male, was exactly 5 feet long.

The scales of this species are firmly fixed to the skin, in plates all over the back and belly.