The Iola register. [volume] (Iola, Allen County, Kansas) 1875-1902, 1880-06-11
to the soil, bat she used hers very skill-
fully to pry open the lid of Der cigar


fully to pry open. the lid of her cigar
Lizbeth was the livelier of the two.
While a lady caller, one evening. was
seated near the center-table. Lizbeth
sprang out of hat and alightcd on her
hand uttering shrill ''Psch % and
giving her fright and hatred of the
s.beasts" Gas she called them). from
which she never fully recovered. A
Danish gentleman. who visits us some
times, nearly tainted when he first saw
her approaching, and ever afterward,
when he called he used to push his
head through the half open door. ask,
ing. "Where are dose reptiles?" and
when told. he seated himself at the
farthest corner of the room, and on the
yery edge of his chair. ready at the
first appearance of Lizbeth or Baby to
escape through the door.
It NAV be YOU would not have liked
Lizbeth and the Baby at first sight.
You might have thought themtoo much
like toads. But if you could have seen
the two as they climbed over my
mothers sewing, while she sat at
work, scrambling in and out her
pockets. stopping now and then TO
wink or scratch their heads with the hind
leg, or if you could have watched them
follow her from room to room, scamper-
ing like mice and then falling asleep in
a square of sunlight at her feet, feel
sure YOU would soon have been willingtO
hold their soft little bodies in your
hand, that you might examine their
many colored coats, which were very
pretty, looking like bits of Persian
carpet surrounded by fringe.
There is one queer fact about the
horned lizards coats-they change
their color to match the surface on
which they live, thus resembling the
chameleons, though having the queer
power in a less degree. In travelling
through Nevada and Colorado, one
may see ,many colored varieties OF the
same species, the changes in tint taking
place in accordance with similar shades
of the soil. l have seen one that was
pure white all over-an albino, per-
haps. Why do you suppose Mother
Nature gave them this singular power?
I think there were two reasons. In the
first place, they have no means of de-
Tense; they cannot bite nor sting nor
scratch, but they crouch closely upon
the soil, and lie so quietly that. if of
the same color as the ground. it is next
to impossible to catch sight OF one unit!
it stirs. When discovered. they will
generally act as if dead, even though
roughly handled. DR.. Coues says that
they show special fear of dogs. On the
approach of a dog, he says, they will
raise themselves to the full length OF
their legs, puff out the body, open the
mouth, and hiss violently. There is,
no doubt, some special reason for this
aversion. 1t may be that the coyote.
the dog of the plains, includes horned
lizards in his varied bill of fare, and
that from this fact they instinctively
recognize an enemy in all dogs.
In the second place, the gift of color
mimicry helps the horned lizards to OBJ
tain food. Their legs are too short to
enable them, like their cousins, the
true lizards, to run down their prey,
and knowing this, they adopt differ
ent method. When an unlucky fly
alights few inches from what appears
a mere bunch of earth, our little friend,
with body compressed and movements
so slow and regular as to be unnoticed,
creeps close to the unsuspecting insect,
and with flash of the tongue secures
the welcome morsel. Beetles it catches
more easily, and when it is at home in
the dry, sandy wastes west of the Great
Plains, and in Texas, these form its
chief food. The agreeable odor, like
musk, which it emits when warm, is
also a noteworthy fact, and this may
have an influence in attracting insects.
Aided by this and by sugar sprinkleC
around them, Lizbeth and Baby found
no lack of prey during the warn
weather.
Early in October, however, the weather
changed, and there began to be sug
gestiOn of snow in the air. They fell
the cold keenly, and when the sun lef
the window, they would creep under
the curtain tassel and lie there dorman
all the afternoon. Then we brough
them a large box, filed with loan an(
vegetable mold, and as the weathe
grew colder, they generally buriee
themselves, after breakfast, in the sof
soil, leaving only their noses exposed
and slept there until breakfast-tim'
next morning, when, if not too cold
they crept out to beg for bug or fly
And was so afraid that before sprin!
came their coats would change to tn
color of dirt, that dug them up ever
little while to see whether they ha
changed already. And they had
! Lizbeth's beautiful white stomacher be
came brown, and those gold spots o
Baby's shoulders were getting to b
very dull.