Richmond dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1884-1903, 1885-07-29

classify the fauna OF Texas have some
how overlooked the desil-horse, but he
docsnt seem 10 mind the slight and
continues catching .ilies with monoto-
nous persistency. was never bitten
By a deyil-horse, and ] never met any
one who had becn, but the natives class
them among the poisonous, and they
ought TO know.
A COLONY or FIRE-ANTs.
There was mound OF sand in the
next cage. and this sand was literally
alive with what an unscientiic frontiers
man would at once have recognized as
flre.ants. | don't know his classical
name. but he is found in large numbers
all over the southwestern frontier.
Whenever a colony makes camp in your
vicinity il will be well to let them remain
in pcaceable possession. My camp was
once invaded by fire. ants. II was agood
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 | in
continently surrendered and fed. Du-
ring that three weeks dug them out,
burned them out, and drowned them
ont, but they didn't seem to mind 1t IN
the least. They went on burrowing
and building and exploring the sur
rounding country, and when my tent
cot full Of them, and | had been bitten
in about three million different
places. thought it time to move.
The bite Of the fre-ant is like
the sting Of the singing lizard. 1t
hurts and makes sore place. They
increase with a rapidity that is alarm
ing. and the more you try to exterml-
nate them the more numerous they be-
come. II used to be test Of courage
among the COmanche Indians for brave
TO thrust his barred arm into nest OF
fre-ants and hold j! there without
aincbing. while his companions went
through the movements OF o somewhat
complicated dance around his tortured
body. They don't do it any more.
Once near Pope's Crossing, on the
Pecos river, | reached a village Of fire.
ants and started to make Il dstOur. We
discovered Indian signs ofrecent dateand
halted TO investigate. A band Of In
dams had camped on the edge of the
ant village, and a prisoner, who after
wards proved to be a bear-hunter
named Goggin, was stripped, bound
hand and foot, and laid down among
the ant-hills. You can imagine his
horrible sugeriagS. We found his
bones ard gave them decent burial.
The fre-ant is pugnacious, 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 dcyour all but the bones.
AHAPPY FAMILY.
The cage that remained for my in
spcction contained three specimens
.stuHcd)-a rattlcsnakc, a prairie-dog,
and q narrowing owl. Their history
vii, bc IN interesting one for the Scien-
tiiic people to read, correcting, as it
does, a grave error into which they
have fallen. and shall be told by old
Roy himself
II started to make happy family
he began, butt wouldn't work. Some
blamed idiot, who had never been west
Of the Pecos in his life before, told me
that the prairie-dog, the rattlesnake,
and the ground-owl were the best Of
friends and always lived together in the
same hole in peace and harmony. !
believed him and labelled this cage
= Beans Happy Family The first
night they were together the prairie
dog killed the owl, and the next morning
the prairie-dog came out second best in
q rustic with the RATHER. Such lack Of
harmony riled me and killed the snake.
\ tramp who was put off the train
here stuffed EN- for me. I've read in
books that the owls, dogs, and rat
tiers burrowed in the same hole, but It
is a blamed lie, and III whip the man
who contradicts me-"