The Forest Republican. [volume] (Tionesta, Pa.) 1869-1952, 1881-07-20
AsTRANGE VISITOR.


spiny-looBing object for S,o reporter
to look at. "No, it's not toad, though
they call them horned toads. It's liz.
ard, and the people in the museum call
il the phrynosoma."
The animal was about four inches
long, and unpleasant to look at. It's
body was fiat, the upper surface COW
cred with short dark spines, and the
under surface with small plates The
back of its head was armed with
several recurring sharp spines, with
shorter spines here and there. A fy lit
on the keepers hand, and the lizard,
that moment before was to ali appear
ance dead, raised itself on its short
spiny legs, and turned its curious head I;
the black eyes cleaned and the throat
pulled out convulsively quick spring
and the fly was gone. Then the fly
catcher relapsed into listlessness.
tive had this one week." continued
the -ay-catcher's captor, and carry
him in my vest pocket; in fact, he's
quite a pet; will eat flies from my hand
rs you have seen, and is warranted not
to bite, though he could pinch piece
out of a nail if he felt inclined.
Il
ing the lizard few wild passes through
the air as a sort of eye-opener, he ex-
planned, he put it down, and off it ran,
head in the air, using the feet on one
side together, which gave it the pecu-
liar rolling gait of Narragansett pony,
but one that sent it along so that man
must run to keep up. The heat was
short one, however, for the lizard
stopped suddenly, settling itself so
closely against the concrete pavement
that it won1dhot have been noticed by
the casual observer. In fact, the lizard
was an interesting example of that class
of animals endowed with what are
called protective resemblances," its
general color being exactly like the
desert sun-dried tracts upon which it is
found in Texas, Mexico and Southwest
California. How this stranger got to
Central Park is q mystery, but such as
he are frequently sent North through
the mail as curiosities, and it is prob
able that some one has disposed of an
Objectionable souvenir from a distant
friend by turning it out to pasture in
the park. At any rate it's timely cap
ture saved it from certain death next
winter.
You wouldn't think such q creature
would know anything" continued the
owner of the lizard, but a snake has
to wake up early in the season to get the
best of it. I call him Samson, because
the first day had him he pushed under
the leg of heavy chair that was tipped
against the wall and fairly knocked it
over. If a man were as strong in pro-
portion to his size he could lift the obe-
lisk. No, that didn't show any cunning,
but I'll show you where cunning came
In. 1 caught big striped snake about
two weeks ago. was standing in my
yard when along came a big toad, put
ting in its best hops, and right behind
it the snake, so intent on the chase that
it came right up to me. caught it and
kept it for some time in q box with
glass top, and one day it struck me that
the spines on the lizard must have been
intended as preventer against snakes.
thought would test it, and 1 put
Samson into the box. Then I discov-
cred that he was as wise as Solomon.
You see, this revised Testament business
makes man familiar with Bible names
The snake evidently had not tasted food
since last summer-you know they
sleep all winter and quick as flash
he darted at the lizard, but, as the
boys say, he got left. The little fellow
went round the box like shot. but
finally the snake cornered him, and
caught him by the hind claw. Now, a
frog or toad will squirm around and face
snake and get demoralized generally
and give it chance to catch hold of
the head but my lizard knew a game
worth two of that. When the snake
touched him he turned his head directly
away. The snake tried every way he
could to edge up and get the little
fellow by the head, but it was no use,
so he went to work to swallow him tail
first. He stretched out his jaws and
planted his long teeth into his legs and
gradually worked the body into his
mouth with the smaller teeth. When
he had taken in as much as he could
this way, the long fangs were loosened
and thrown ahead and fresh hold
taken, each side of the mouth edging
ahead in turn. Nothing could stand
this pressure long, and in ten minutes
half of the patient lizard was out of
sight. He was only waiting for his
turn, and it soon came the snakes lips
had reached his neck. when operations
ceased. There were four or five spines
as sharp as needles pointing out every
which way that put an end to the swal-
lowing business. didn'tsee the lizard
laugh, but he must have felt like it, for
he wasn't hurt in the least. 1t took the
snake half an hour to get rid of him,
but it tried two OF three times again to
swallow him. At every Jump the lizard
turned his back so that the spines faced
the snake, and at last separated them.
Yes, it was rather cruel; but looked
at it as scientific investigation.
"The behavior of common toad that
1 gave the snake afterward might be
construed into something more than
accident. DO you remember the story
of frog that when he saw a snake took