The Eaton Democrat. (Eaton, Ohio) 1875-1903, 1877-05-31
An extraordinary Bat Hunt.

number of bats, which managed to get
in between the ceiling and roof through
small apertures alongsid the water
spout. The vampires became a great
nuisance, and Mr.. Torrey concluded to
make an effort to get rid of them. With
this end in view he procured a fve-gal.
Ion coal-oil can and arranged it some
thing like rattrap, SO that the bats
might enter it readily, but could not get
out. A number of small holes were also
punched in the can to admit light. The
trap was placed in such position as to
completely cover the opening through
which the animals passed in and out of
the building. The result was that a
short time after dark it was filled with
the little pests, who made great scratch
ing and squealing. The remainder of the
bats, finding their usual place of exit
stopped up, locked about for another,
and discovered a small hole in the
plastering of the ceiling. Through this
they made their way in great numbers,
and found themselves prisoners in the
sleeping apartment of two young wo-
men, The latter, aroused from their
slumbers Dya mysterious noise, and feel
ing their faces famed by invisible wings,
became alarmed and sprang from the
bed, but their feet came down upon
mass of squirming, scratching and biting
something's, while other something's
struck them in the face and on the head
and body, chattering viciously, and hav-
ing disagreeably cold and damp feeling.
1t was not pleasant situation by any
means, and the girls opened the door and
hastened into the ball, calling for as
sistance, and closely followed by their
tormentors. Other occupants of the
house, alarmed at the noise, opened their
doors to see what the trouble was, but
were glad to close them again to keep out
the bats. Some of the boarders desired
tc go down stairs, but every step was
bat-roost, and they had to get out upon
the balconies. After much hard work,
which lasted nearly until daylight, the
! animals were driven or swept from
the upper story down into the basement,
where they gathered into heap, so far
as possible, and were killed by theappli-
cation of boiling water. Those thus killed
numbered, by actual count, seven hun
dred and sixty, and the girls subse-
quently killed four more III '.neir room.
The trap was placed in washtub filed
with water, and its occupants drowned.
There being considerable curiosity to
ascertain the number of bats fve-gal-
Ion measure could hold, they were
counted, and amounted to two hundred
and twenty-eight. The slain, all told,
filled four buckets. The opening in the
ceiling in the girls apartment was plas-
tered up, and the trap was again set
On that evening it was we'll filled,
| judging from the noise, and it was esti-
mated that there was right smart
chance of bats about the house still.
Mf1rGtfOn NOT Confined to Birds.
Birds are not the only animals which
migrate. The journeys of the salmon
are as regular and remarkable as those of
birds. The salmon lays its eggs in small,
shallow streams of fresh water, often
thousand miles from the ocean. These
eggs are left to hatch by themselves;
yet, when the little fish reach the proper
age, they abandon the small streams
where they were born, and begin their
long trips to the ocean.
When they reach the salt water they
find abundance of food, and grow very
rapidly. They remain in the ocean un-
til the time comes for them to lay their
eggs. Then in some wonderful way, they
find the mouth of the river by which
they reached the ocean, and travel up it,
through lakes and over rapids, falls and
mill-dams, sometimes leaping over
distractions which are more than ten
feet high.
Having reached the shallow streams
where they were born, they lay their
eggs, and then return to the sea, but go
thin and haggard that the fishermen at
the mouths of the salmon rivers call
them by diffe rent name, and it is hard
to believe that they are of the same
species with those which are caught
while ascending the rivers. Once in the
ocean, again, they quickly recover their
lost strength.
The great migrations of insects are so
well known that we need say little about
them. We all remember the army of
locusts told about in the Bible. Within
a few years we have learned that our
country is not free from danger of the
same kind, for in the Western States
swarms of grasshoppers may come before
the wind, and sweep over the country,
changing green fields into brown desert,
and leaving no green thing behind them.
These insect migrations, like those of the
wild pigeons, do not occur at any partic.
ular season, and are caused by lack Of
food.
1t is not generally known that oul
gray squirrels sometimes assemble in
great troops and migrate to a better
country. This does not occur very often
but occasionally, when the squirrels are
very abundant in region where fooG
is scarce, they band together and move
straightforward, through forest anG
fields, until they find place where fooc
is abundant. These, and the Journey,
of many other animals, show that tn,
tendency to migrate is not confined t.
birds.
A GAY young Widow of Baltimore tn,
other day gave. out that her sister wa
dead, and accordingly, the house wa
darkened. and no one presumed to intrud,
upon. the afflicted widow. Several day
elapsed but there was no funeral. Final.
the landlord went to condole with hi
tenant, but had to climb the back fenc
togain entrance to the premises, which h
found totally deserted. The afflicted
widow was in arrears for rent, and unde