Bagheera licked one forepaw thoughtfully . `` Fool that I am ! Oh , fat , brown , root-digging fool that I am , '' said Baloo , uncoiling himself with a jerk , `` it is true what Hathi the Wild Elephant says : ` To each his own fear ' ; and they , the Bandar-log , fear Kaa the Rock Snake . He can climb as well as they can . He steals the young monkeys in the night . The whisper of his name makes their wicked tails cold . Let us go to Kaa . '' `` What will he do for us ? He is not of our tribe , being footless -- and with most evil eyes , '' said Bagheera . `` He is very old and very cunning . Above all , he is always hungry , '' said Baloo hopefully . `` Promise him many goats . '' `` He sleeps for a full month after he has once eaten . He may be asleep now , and even were he awake what if he would rather kill his own goats ? '' Bagheera , who did not know much about Kaa , was naturally suspicious . `` Then in that case , thou and I together , old hunter , might make him see reason . '' Here Baloo rubbed his faded brown shoulder against the Panther , and they went off to look for Kaa the Rock Python . They found him stretched out on a warm ledge in the afternoon sun , admiring his beautiful new coat , for he had been in retirement for the last ten days changing his skin , and now he was very splendid -- darting his big blunt-nosed head along the ground , and twisting the thirty feet of his body into fantastic knots and curves , and licking his lips as he thought of his dinner to come . `` He has not eaten , '' said Baloo , with a grunt of relief , as soon as he saw the beautifully mottled brown and yellow jacket . `` Be careful , Bagheera !
He is always a little blind after he has changed his skin , and very quick XXXXX strike . ''
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