The Portland daily press. [volume] (Portland, Me.) 1862-1921, 1888-01-19
Naturlisrs Experience with the Vim
agroom and Or -E ting Turtle.


G. w. Dunn, the queer old white-haired
naturalist whose 70 ms at the American En-
change Hotel form lhe oddestmuseum of ami
NAL life perhaps on the continent, leaves in a
day or two for Cape ST. Lucas to gather to-
gether line of animal life hithertO,unlnown
to scientists. Hundreds of people have in
the last few weeks called and peeped into
the old naturalist's strange collection. There
the most horrible reptiles, tarantulas, pois-
onous scorpions and the most deadly insects
from the burning climes of the South ara
be found.
"Since the world began" said the gray
haired enthusiast last night, st. ere hasn't
been but one naturalist at Cape st. Luca'
and that was thirty years ago. 1t is new
land, butI know there are some strange things
to be got down there that will startle even the
scientists. For twenty years i have been
travelling up and down the country, across
the deserts and in the mountains, getting
these strange specimens of animal life And
among the oldest in all my experience is the
ella monster Now, to this day, many people
think there Is no such thing as a ella mon
ster, And yet, throughout the Colorado des-
ert, especially along the ella river, you may
encounter thousands. On the contrary, TOO,
(Heloderma horidium) is almost as thick as
your leg and about eighteen or twenty in
ches long 1t has a head which is pretty
near all mouth, and open clear back to its
ears. The head Is about as big as nall OF q
cigar box, set with little, vicious eyes, and
the mouth is powerfully muscled and set
with four sharp fangs and lot of grinders.
The color of the monster is reddish with
brown spots, 1t has a blunt tail, as nearly
all poisonous lizards have. 1 found these
Vii In "A hOf rQ
are not good to fool with, and man who is
in the Gila monster business must know what
he is about. One day last June pulled up
from the hot desert to a little ranch on the
Colorado river: The man who owned the
place had pet ella monster which he kept
in a BARREL He stopped down to get him out
to show him to me and some friends Of his
who were there, and the monster shut down
on his thumb. He gripped 1t so tight that his
Jaws had to be pred open with an iron bar
The man only lived a few hours and died in
terrible spasins Another man bitten while
| was down there has ever since been para
lyzed in the side. Hardly ANYBODY ever gets
over bite from this terrible animal.
Now tarantula makes bad sore, but it
doesn't kill man. l have got awake fire.
quently in the morning, while camping out,
and found tarantulas curled up on the edge
of my blanket. They do that to keep warm
but il you are careful about disturbing them
they won't bite you.
by the Mexicaus, and meaning smelling like
vinegar, ranks next to the ella monster in
vicious and poisonous characteristics. The
vinagroom (thelepholus excubiter) is found
in the Oregon Mountains. There is nothing
like it but itself. 1t is kind of compound of
scorpion, lobster and three or four kindred
animals. 1t is four or five inches long, with
long, stout claws, and is of notified brown
color.
talking about strange features of animal
life, we have on the Mojave desert a turtle
that eats grass. 1t lives in holes in the sand
which it makes to escape the intense heat of
the sun. You may take stick and get them
out. They are the Xerobates Agassizii, just
lately named for the great naturalist, very
pretty turtle that gets on good feeding to be
about ten inches long and to weigh six to
eight pounds A woman down on the desert
last summer where / was had eight or ten
of them in an open pen, which she was fat
tening to eat They ate grass like horses
When these turtles get fat, as they quickly
do on the grass, they beat all the frogs OF
roast turkeys you ever ate. An ordinary one
of these turtles is worth So or 81"
Mr.. Dunn has been collecting for the Cali
fornia State University, but for years past he
has travelled thousands of miles for the
Smithsonian Institution, and he has also fur
nished Harvard and Yale and the older in
situations of Europs with rare specimens