The Iola register. [volume] (Iola, Allen County, Kansas) 1875-1902, 1886-07-16

in one town we struck they were going
to have o game they called neck pullin.'
the idea bein' to bury chicken in the
sand SO that only its head showed. and
to ride by at full speed and snatch the
chicken. which would. Of course, dodge
its head and make it rather difficult I
reckon q dozen Mexicans tried bird,
some getting pretty near it, but Tom
borrowed a horse, and jamming the
spurs into him, away he went, putting
the horse right over the chicken. SO it
didn't know which way to dodge; and
as he went by he grabbed it, and with
jerk. sent it thirty foot up into the air,
dead, then stopped the horse, wheeled
and caught the bird as it came down;
and wasn't there yell as he came
in? rather think there was. Well,
that is the kind of a rider he was. So.
among the sports he got up to entertain
this young man was one that he claimed
was game that all old Californians
was up to, but i must say l never got
into it before or since. 1t was nothing
more or less than chasing the rOadrun-
ner on horseback, running it down and
catching it from the saddle by the long
tail. Tom claimed to have done it many
q time, and don't doubt that he could.
but he missed it that day, sartin. We
went over into what is known as Eagle
Rock valley that day, and finally got
over beyond Pasadena, near the noun
tains, and after awhile started a road
runner. You know how it is with them;
they run down the opens and only take
to wing when hard pushed, and if you
keep at it with a good horse you can run
them down; that is. if you can keep the
bird in view. We let things 60 after
this one pretty lively, and in a minute
the four of us were tearing down a
clearing. between some sage brush at
rate that made the gophers and jack
rabbits fly. The pace was SO hot and
sguirrel-holes SO thick that expected to
land on my head every minute, but we
kept on, and the young Englishman
surged up to Toms quarter just as he
got within three feet of the bird, the
idea being to take it by the the tail that
it lifts up in the air. But Just as he was
about to grab it the bird rose under the
horses nose, and flew for about twenty
yards, then down again. This time the
young Engiishman got ahead; and when
the road-runner was under his horses
feet, he tried Toms game. and bent
over. but only having an English saddle,
he swung off on the grass as neat as
pin. He was lively lad though, and
in minute was mounted and after us.
l let him go by-my horse not being as
fo~f nc hic onI tb<, nov< ,v,;v,,to Il xxpo,
nip and tuck with him and Tom. Chiv-
ers got to the bird first, and as he
reached for it it ran up a little bank.
turned off kind of quick, and the next
minute saw Tom flying through the
air, and when l got there only his legs
were sticking out of the water of a
reservoir. My horse took fright at the
whole business and carried me of, but
when got back the lad had hauled
Tom out, with the mud streaming from
every pore. He looked like one of those
clay statues that sculptors make before
the finishing touches are put on. 1t was
some time before we could see him
laugh, and that was about the last game
on the lad he tried.
Though running down a roadrunner
may be possible, it is a difficult feat. l
have frequently tried it on the mesa,
but never with success. The birds run
with remarkable speed, and while it
might be easily accomplished in a wide
the birds that it was my good
or misfortune to follow, kept to the
bush and lodged or tackled about with
tactics worthy of fox or rabbit.
These birds have most remarkable
habit, so remarkable that for many
years l was extremely skeptical about
it, never being able to find any one who
had actually seen the performance, but
was fortunate this winter in cOnvers-
ing with two persons who can testify to
the truth of the story that is to be found
in at least one work on birds. 1t APP
pears that the roadrunner has a strong
and decided antipathy to the rattle
snake, upon what ground it is difficult
to tell-probably the snake preys upon
the birds. old and young. However,
the birds actually destroy the snake in
most methodical fashion, and in a way
that shows that something more than
mere instinct has been brought into
play.
When a RATHER is discovered asleep in
the sun the birds are very careful not to
disturb it, and proceed with great dill
gence to collect the detached leaves of
the prickly pear, in which their nest is
often built. These they place in an ir-
regular circle about the sleeping rep
tile. piling them up higher and high r,
until finally the snake is in the center
of a corral of the spine-covered leaves.
Now the latter is awakened by peck
from the bird, and strikes and is
by the spines. This enrages
it, and every move adds to its torture,
until finally i; is completely impaled by
the horrible weapons that cover the
leaves, and either dies from this cause
or falls a ready victim to the ready
bill of the roadrunner. One of my
stated that he watched
the operations of a pair of these birds
for several hours, during which time
they hauled the heavy leaves a consid-
cradle distance to pile them about their
enemy. My other informant had never
seen the birds at work. :. but in Arizona
had frequently found the prickly pear
corrals, in the center of which was the
skeleton of the rattlesnake. Instinct
prompts the attack upon the snake, but
it is intelligence that dictates to the
bird that the prickly pear leaves bear
spines that will be fatal to the reptile
San Francisco Call
THE BARBECUE.
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