Grant County herald. [volume] (Lancaster, Wis.) 1850-1968, 1885-12-31

characteristic. e some the native

QUEER THINGS / TEX As.
characteristics of some the Native
The cenfipede is not fsry pretty in
sect. He runs too much Ito legs. Once
thought them of no usd but after see.
ing a lot Of Chiricahua indian papooses
pulling eentipedes from their holes and
| gresdilr teyDufing them, legs, poison
| and all, no longer doubted the wisdom
| and beneficence of their creation. I'M
| the course of my checkered career l
have had several adventures with CEN
tipedes and, always came ont second
best. A cehtipeae can raise blister on
a mans body quicker tfaii i red hot
iron, and if you don't Immediately apply
a remedial poultice Of pounded prickly
| pear and dose yourself inwardly with
| post whisky-which latter is warranted
| to kill anything but an army mule the
resultant effects may Be serious. Gem
tipedcs tisuallr attack their victim al
night, when he il asleep and can't de-
fend himself They are armed with
ahaft 200 little lances conveniently
las7sed to the toe of each foot--of which
they2yc seyeral--and at the base of
each Mace is tiny sack of venom If
d ccittipcde crawls across your body
which He'll most likely do If YOU lie
clown anywhere within a half mile Of
fiiffi--yod' u hare no difficulty in follow
ing his trail, and yonH feftember his
visit for weeks. No man ever died from
the bite of a centipede, but / have
known one to make man wish he were
dead
TARANTULAs.
The tarantula is an exaggerated sp-
der, with teeth and hair. They are al
ways ready for !, fight and will tackle
anything, not excluding luzz-saw. In
days gene by / have often amused my
Self by teasing one with ted-hot coal.
1T first they Would fight shy, but after
they once GOT mad they would attack
that coal and never Surrender until they
We're burned to a crisp never heard
OF any one eating a tarantllla. Ii one
bites you use same remedies as pre-
scribed for centipede sting, only more
50.
THE yISEGAROAN.
Tile sinegaroan has never been scien-
tifically classified. and is content to plod
Though life undistinguished. save by
bis humble frontier patronymic. The
Mexicans and Indians, who have been
acquainted with the vinegaroan longer
than. have, solemnly assert that his
bite is dehalvs I have ALWAYS taken
their word for it, The vinegaroan lives
under decaying logs, and, if disturbed,
10, / II VII
tween a vinegaroan and tarantula.
The tafantula was lifted out of the pit
dead in one iniIfrte
THE SINGING LIZzARD
is found most anywhere, but principally
snugly ensconced in the folds of your
blanket when you lie down at night. He
always lets you know that he is there,
and have known strong men to tear
their hair and dance and pray in a very
tindignified and eccentric fashion, upon
discovering that a singing lizard had
rejected them as bedfellow. The sting
ing lizards weapon of 49, and Of
Tense is his tail, which 4 Io5g and as
full of joints as bamboo pole. When
he punches you with the sharp end of
this caudal appendage vou think of
sheol's fire and howl. The singing liz
zard is not good to eat. The application
of a fresh quid of tobacco viii take the
fire out of the spot where he salutcs
you.
THE DEVIL HORSE.
The body of devil horse is all of the
same size, and he looks not unlike
green walking-stick set up on twelve
other walking-sticks, six on side. The
scientific men who have sought to elias
sify the fauna of Texas have somehow
overlooked the devil horse, but he
doesn't seem to mind the slight and
continues catching flies with monoton-
Gus persistency. was never bitten by
a devil horse, and never met any one
who had been, but the natives class them
among the poisonous, and they ought to
know.
A COLONY OF FIRE ANTS.
My camp was once invaded by fire
ants. 1t was good place, convenient
to wood and water, and hated to leave.
] disputed the right of occupancy with
them for three weeks, at the end of
which time incontinently surrendered
and He'd During that three weeks |
dug them out, burned them out and
drowned them out. but they didn't seem
to mind it in the least They went on
burrowing the building and exploring
the surrounding country, and when my
tent got full of them, and / had been
bitten in about 100000 different
places, | thought it time to move. The
bite of the fire ant is like the sting of the
singing lizard. II hurts and makes a
sore place They increase with a rapid
ity that is alarming. and the more you
try to extermnate them the more nu-
merous they become. 1t used to be
test of courage among the Comanche
Indians for brave to thrust his barred
arm into nest OF fire ants and hold it
there without fiinching. while his COM
panions went through the movements of
a somewhat complicated dance around
his tortured body. They don't do it any
more. Once near Pope's Crossing, on
the Pecos river, raxDhed village of
fire ants and started to make detour.
We discovered Indian signs of recent
date, and halted to investigate. A band
OF indians had camped on the edge of
the ant village and 4 prisoner, who af-
ierward proved to be bc3--hunter
name.t .,sS -ss-uunn4%4rpeu. 'bsSnd~
faisJ \ "A loot, and laid down am ~
ant hills. You can imagine his hor-
1 u snflerings. We found his bones
aid lave them decent burial. The
fire amt is pugnaeious, and his mode
OF warfare is always aggressive. In the
aggregate, he will attack any living
thing, from an elephant down, kill him
by sheer force of numbers, and deyour
nil but the bowels .Sanderson, 1erdS,