Abilene weekly reflector. [volume] (Abilene, Kan.) 1888-1935, 1890-05-01


stone dead, and near his body Gil;
Monster, which, in the hustle and con
fusion of the moment, made good hi
escape. The body of the man bore NJ
mark of bite or other wound.
Near Magdalena, Sonora, . man wa
hunting rabbits with dog. The lattel
inserted his snOut into a rabbit hole bu
Immediately reiterated, uttering fearfu
bowls while he was trying 70 shake of
a ella Monster which had fastened i'll
teeth into the dogs nose, and although
snarling and splitting without Interrupt
ton could not be made to let 60 it:
hold till it was killed, and even theI
its jaws had to be forced apart with ar
iron rod. The dog, upon being released
began to act very strangely. and showed
something like the same symptoms as {
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 a 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 al
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, 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. / have been told by many
Mexicans that the Yaqui Indians hunt
the ella Monster for the sake of its
flesh, which is indeed appetising enough
to look at; but several Yaq uis to whom
l 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 1 had received from its
captors, personally gave the animal a
wide berth, although l tried to induce
a 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 fed. One of the men
now brought a very brave and even
~, 49,, Ill H.
enough and walked, shifting cautiously,
towards the ella Monster, which, in it's
turn, came forward to the length of the
rope. The two animals were now only
a few feet apart; the dog began to whine
and bark alternately, advancing few
inches and retrea ing again, showing
plainly that he would like to go 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 a wooden blanket;
into this it bit furiously, holding on
with such tenacity that we had to pro-
cure croSbar to pry it's jaws open.
Cats placed in the same room-which
had no door-with the suarian would,
upon perceiving the animal, bristle up
ike the ''fretful pOrcupine" and make
very speedy exit. l 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 experimen ted with
many specimens; in fact, 1 buy fe W
every summer, either for that purpose
or for Stuffing. One l 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-
manned 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. an d now
became acquainted with a new feature
Of this animals nature, feature so ex-
traordinary, so altogether incredible,
that | almost hesitate to relate it, al
though l can produce several eye-wit-
nesses to the performance. In order to
preserve the skin without the least
| 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 bar
rel full of water, keeping the lizard
under its 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 related to him my
and he-a native of Sonora
killed the animal in a second by Civ
ing it moderate short dry knock with
the poker on the back part of the skull
where the latter joins tie backbone,
telling me that the ella Monster had a
soft spot there, which found to be the
case while stufing the animals
In direct contrast with the last-men-
toned peacetully-inclined specimen
were several which l 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 thirty
minutes after being bitten, with one
exception Small creatures, like mice
and little pullets, would die almost i'm
mQdiatalv A mood 4