Daily south Kentuckian. [volume] (Hopkinsville, Ky.) 1881-18??, 1884-10-01
ABOUT LIZARDS,

ADuUT LlLAhDSs
The sight al "a lizard crawling over
the walls of her house would doubtless
horrify and disgust an American house,
keeper, aud the appearance of one of
the dreadful creatures in her parlor or
drawing-room might drive her to the
verge Of distraction. The sensation
caused by amouse is nothing compared
to what lizard might in the same
line. In India, however, things are
different The housewifely instincts of
an English or American woman there
are probably no less refined than those
OF careful woman in this country. but
still she does not mind, seeing lizards in
any part Of her house, She has become
used TO the dark little fellows, and
knows that they are harmless, useful and
unobtrusive.
These house lizards are seldom over
six inches long. Their color is mottled
grayish-brown, which, in its irregular
lines, sometimes looks like the grain Of
piece OF wood. They are fiat in shape,
lie close to surface, and against light
background have somewhat the appear
ance Of miniature squirrels skin
nailed 10 barn door TO dry. While
having bony structure, the skeleton of
lizard is much Of II Of cartilagnous
nature, not so soft, showever, as TO pre-
vent quite rapid motion on the part Of
the reptile. The soles Of the feet are
made for running along or up hard,
smooth wall and even across the cell
ing, though in trying the latter feat the
lizard sometimes gets a fall. The little
creatures are frequently seen chasing
! each other on the walls or beams Of a
building, or playing at hide and seek
(, among tile furniture.
~. Catching flies Is a favorite pastime,
these and other small insects serving as
: food, and the dcxterity with which they
!, capture their prey Is remarkable. Their
senses OF sight, hearing or smell must
DO wonderfully acute Discovering a
fiy on the wall. fully, ten feet away, a
Hard will start for Il, running at full
speed and in straight line until about
a foot from the object, when its motion
I becomes more and more slow and a:
aAstealthy AS a cats when stalking Z
mouse. The creature hardly seems Il
advance, but gradually draws near tn,
inseet. When within ar inch Of the ily
the lizAtd's body shoots forward like 4
fash, thefeet still sticking to the wall
big mouth opens and shuts like stee
: trap, there is slight convulsive gulp
and the drama of Jonah and the whale
has been re-enacted, the fly taking the
part Of Jonah. Sometimes lizard viii
make complete or partial circuit of il
victim going above and descending
thead downward on the prey, approach
ing II from below or seeking 10 max
the attack from some other direction.
The strangest thing about lizard
It's power Of losing its tail and having
grow out again, the second tail bein
shorter and less perfect than the orig
nal one. The tail is slmply'a muscula
appendage into which the back bon
does not seem to extend. IL is abou
tgo-thirds as long as the lizards body
quite large where it joins the body, an
-. gradually tapers TO point. A fall {
"a blow will break il of, but even whe
fdompletely detached II will retain III
for hah an hour or more, squirming lih
aworn, twisting, doubling up and eve
Jumping around as actively as a minno
out Of water. This activity grows mo-
!. and more faint till the tail is dead M
stiff. When il is broken into pieces Il
fragments show life, but of course Il
power Of motion is limited by the size
the piece. A lizard, like all reptiles,
.''cold blooded," 80 that a detached ts
or its parts bleed but little.
These house lizards eggs are
!. round as marbles and about the size
small peas. Their shells are as thin
4 paper and exceedingly brittle. Th
Y are deposited in out-of-the-way hooks
on the tops Of or behind books as tn
stand on shelves. in unused table dra'
ers or in the pigeon holes of desk
When freshly laid they are of crea
color, but become a very pale blue, Ii
well watered milk, as the Matching Tin
draws near. A newly Matched lizard
an exceedingly lively little fellow; a
sometimes, when an egg is knock
from its resting place and broken, t
[. occupant, after a second or two
astonishment at so sudden an introdl
ton into the world, will dart away in
place of concealment with as mu
agility as if it were fully grown. I
Young lizards encounter many DANCE
Large spiders lie in wait for them, dri
them into the corners, tangle them
, webs and suck the blood from
youngsters at their leisure; maraudi
black wasps sometimes find the lit
fellows convenient prey with which
stuff their nests; and there are otl
and equally successful means for
reaving the mother lizards