The Mason County journal. [volume] (Shelton, W.T.) 1886-1927, 1890-05-23

his blanket, failed to arise in the morn
ing when his co-laborers called him.
Upon uncovering him they found him
stone dead, and near his body ella
Monster, which, in the hustle and con-
fusion of the moment, made good his
escape. The body of the man bore no
mark of bite or other wound.
Near Magdalena, Sonora, a man was
hunting rabbits with dog. The latter
inserted his snout into rabbit hole but
Immediately retreated, uttering fearful
bowls while he was trying to shake off
ella Monster which had fastened it's
teeth into the dogs nose, and although
snarling and splitting without Interrupt
ton could not be made to let go its
hold till it was killed. and even then
its jaws had to be forced apart with an
iron rod. The dog, upon being released,
began to act very strangely, and showed
something like the same symptoms as a
horse does when suffering from the
blind staggers;" but soon began turning
around itself in circle with the head
for it's center, and in about twenty min
utes fell down dead. The same actions
before death were observed in mule,
only this animal was bitten in hind
leg and lived for several days.
A young miner while prospecting was
bitten just above the shoe. Although
previously in the best health, he at
once began to lose flesh, became melan
chOly, and died after few months in
the manner of those who succumb to
what in Germany is called the galloping
consumption.
If space allowed, I could enumerate
many similar cases, more or less au-
thenticated; but suffice it to say, that
among the natives the universal belief
is that the spittle or saliva, and even
the mere breath and exhalation, of the
animal in an excited state is deadly
poison. l have been told by many
Mexicans that the Yaaui Indians hunt
the ella Monster for the sake Of it's
flesh, which is indeed appetising enough
to look at; but several Yaq uis to whom
spoke about the matter have denied
the assertion.
After this depression, let us return to
my prisoner in the grain-room. The
reader may imagine that, after the re-
peated cautions had received from it's
captors, personally gave the animal a
wide berth, although / tried to induce
o pointer, which we kept for hunting
quail, to Investigate the nature of the
newcomers temper. When the dog
perceived the big lizard he stood per-
fectly still and trembled with fear, then
turned about and fled. One of the men
now brought a very brave and even
vicious rat-terrier, who entered boldly
enough and walked, shifting cautiously,
towards the ella Monster, which, in its
turn, came forward to the length of the
rope. The two animals were now only
few feet apart; the dog began to whine
and bark alternately, advancing few
inches and retrea ling again, showing
plainly that he would like to 60 in and
shake his adversary, who by this time
had Strengthened his legs and was spit
ting furiously, shooting out his forked
black tongue, while his little black eyes
exhibited the ''uncanny" fire of an
angry snake. The dog could not be
induced to go any nearer, and the fight
was abandoned. The lizard was then
given the corner of wooden blanket;
into this it bit furiously, holding on
with such tenacity that we had to pro-
cure crowbar to pry its jaws open.
Cats placed in the same room-which |
had no door-with the suarian would.
upon perceiving the animal, bristle UP
ake the ''fret full porcupine" and make |
very speedy exit I placed some
chopped meat and bowl of water with
in the reach of my captive and left him
to himself. On the following morning
he was gone, having dexterously slipped |
the moose over his head-at least there |
was no visible sign of gnawing on any
part of the rope.
Since then have experime nted with |
many specimens; in fact, I buy a fe W
every summer, either for that purpose |
or for stufting. One 1 kept for over
three months. 1t appeared to be quite
old, and l used to place in It's prison-a
large dry goods box-rats, mice, lizards
and birds with clipped wings. 1t re-
NAMED entirely inoffensive, but the an
finals thus introduced into the box
would at once retire into the farthest
corner and remain there with evident
signs Of abject fear.
Finally resolved to stuff it, and now
became acquainted with a new feature
of this animals nature, feature 80 ex-
traordinary, SO altogether incredible,
that / almost hesitate to relate it, al
though / can produce several eye-wit-
nesSes to the performance. In order to
preserve the skin without the least
mutilatiOn, I thought that the best way
to kill the animal with the least posi-
BILE suffering would be to drown it, !
therefore attached heavy stone to the
wire which held the animal fast around
the shoulders and immersed it in a bar
rel full of water, keeping the lizard
under it's surface, anchored,
as it were. But when l found, after
twelve hours of continuous immersion.
that the saurian was as alive as ever, /
then, with the help of another man,
tried to strangle the animal, but did not
At this stage friend arrived
at the house, and l related to him nv
perplexity; and he native of Sonora
killed the animal in second by Civ
ing it moderate short dry knock with
the poker on the back part of the skull
where the latter joins the backbone,
telling me that the Gila Monster had a
soft spot there, which / found to be the
case while stuffing the animals.
In direct contrast with the last-men
toned: peacefully-inclined specimen
we're several which kept at different
times They would pounce upon any
thing that came IN an aggressive
manner near them; and / do not remem-
Der any small animal or bird that
lived longer than from ten to thirtv