Portage sentinel. [volume] (Ravenna, Ohio) 1845-1854, 1853-03-23
The Texas TaranfuIa.
BY AUGUSTINE.


corn, or sugar, or wheat, or cotton. Every cabin
is full and overfowing, through all its door and
windows, with white-haired children. Every
prairie abounds in deer, prairie hens, and cattle.
Every river and creek is alive with fish The
whole land is electric with lizards perpetually
darting about among the grass like flashes of green
lightning. We have too much prairie, and too
little forest for great multitude or variety ofbirds
But in horned-frogs, scorpions, tarantulas, and
centipedes, we beat the universe. Everybody
has seen horned-frogs. You see them in jars in
the windows of apothecaries. You are entreated
to purchase them of loafng boys on the levee at
New Orleans. They have been neatly soldered
up in soda boxes, and mailed by young gentlemen
in Texas, to fair ones in the old States The fair
ones receive the neat package from the post-ofice,
and delighted at the prospect of a daguerrotype-
perhaps jewelry-open the package eagerly, and
faint, as the frog within hops out, in excellent
health, upon them. A horned-frog is, simply,
very harmless frog, with very portentous horns.
1t has horns because everything in its region
trees, shrubs, grass, even has horns-and nature
makes it in keeping with all around it. A men
are content to live upon air-and can live, if de-
sired, am told, for several months without even
that
The scorpions are precisely like those Of Arabia
i'm the shape of a lobster, exactly, only not more
than some three inches long. You are very apt
to put one upon your face in the towel which you
apply thereto after washing If you do, you will
find the sting about equal to that of wasp-noth-
ing worse. They are far less poisonous than the
scorpion of the East; in fact none except new
corners dread them at all.
But the TARANTULA! You remember the as
tonishing elasticity with which you sprang in the
air at that time you just on the point of put
ting your raised foot upon snake coiled in your
path You were frightened through every fiber of
your body. Very probably the snake was as harm
less as it was beautiful. Spring as high, be as
utterly frightened possible, when you just avoid
stepping upon tarantula, however. Filthy, loath-
some, abominable, and poisonous-crush it to
atoms before you leave it. Ifyou have never seen
it, know henceforth that it is an enormous spider
concentrating in itself all the venom and spite and
ugliness of all spiders living. Its body is some
two inches long-black and bloated. 1t enjoys
the possession of eight long, strong legs, red
mouth, and an abundance of stiff brown hair all
over ITSELF When standing it covers an area of
a saucer Attack it with stick, and it rears on
it hind legs, gnashes at the stick, and fights like
fiend. 1t even jumps forward foot or two in its
rage and if it bite into vein, the bite is death!
have been told of the battle fought by one on
board steamboat Discovered at the lower end
of the boat, it came hopping up the saloon-driv-
ing the whole body of passengers before it; it al
most drove the whole company, crew and all, over
board.
The first saw was at the house of a friend.
spied it crawling slowly over the wall-meditat-
ing murder upon the children playing in the room.
Excessively prudent in regard to my fingers, l, at
last, however, had it safely imprisoned in glass
Jar, unhurt. There was flaw in the glass, as well
as a hole through the cork by which it could
breathe, but in ten minutes it was dead from rage
Soon after, killed three upon my place, crawl
ing about ground trodden every day by the bare
feet of my little boy. A month after killed a
whole nest of them. They had formed their fam
lily circle under doorstep, upon which the afore-
said little fellow played daily. Had he seen one
of them, he would, of course have picked it up as
remarkable promising toy, and would have
been childless.
l was sitting one day upon log in the woods
when saw one slowly crawl out to enjoy the
evening air, and the sunset scenery. He was the
largest, and most bloated one ever saw. AS
was about to kill him, was struck with the con-
duct of chance wasp. 1t, too, had seen the tar
antula, and was flying slowly around it. The tar
antula recognized it as foe, and throwing itself
upon its hind legs, breathed defiance. For some
time the wasp flew around it, and then, like flash
flew right against it, and stung itright under its
bloated belly. The tarantula gnashed its red and
venomed jaws, and threw its long hairy legs about
in impotent rage, while the wasp flew round and
round it, watching for another opportunity. Again
and again did it dash its sting into the reptile, and
escape After the sixth stab, the tarantula actu-
ally fell over on its back, dead; and the wasp
after making itself sure of the fact, and nfictng
last sting to make matters sure, flew off happy
in having done duty assigned in its creation. In
an hour more a colony of ants had carried it down
by peacemeal and deposited it in their catacombs
But, the deadlest and most abhorent of all oul
reptiles in Texas, is the centipede. This is kline
of worm, from three to six inches long, exactly
like an enormous caterpillar 1t is green, O
brown, or yellow; some being found of each o
these colors. AS its name denotes, it has along
each side row of feet or horny claws rather
Imagine that you walk some night across you
chamber floor with naked feet; you put your foo
down upon soft something, and instantly it coils
itself around your foot in ring sticking every
claw up to the body in your foot. The poison
flows through each claw, and in two minutes you
will have tainted with agony-in few more you