Daily Yellowstone journal. [volume] (Miles City, Mont.) 1882-1893, 1891-10-02
WEE c4NNisAL LossTERs.
they Dig Caves in Sand. Whence They
Issue TO DO Fearful Battle

They Dig Caves In bands whence Ihey
Issue 60 DO Fearful Battle
By invitation of a well known natu-
ralist had not long ago an opportunity
to witness a curious sight in an aqua
rum in which about a hundred young
lobsters had been placed.
Young HOLSTERS are cannibals of the
very worst type. and can give points TO
the most terrible Inaneater in all Africa
The HOLSTERS had just passed out of
the swimming stage and we're seen
crawling about in the tank The tank
had glass sides. giving an excellent
chance for observation. and il had a
capacity Of about fifty gallons Of water.
At one side Of the interior of the aqua
rum had been piled large stones. with
fat sides. resting on sand. The sand
was about two inches deep. covering
the bottom
Ny informant said that the first per
formances Of the young HOLSTERS when
put into the tank were very interest
ing. They gathered around the sides
Of the rocks. and with their autenn@
almost against the stone. crossed their
claws in front of them and moving
backward dragged pinehes of sand
away from the stone. This was re-
peated again and again until a hole
had been made big enough to hold the
little lobster with space to spare.
Then the crustacean climbed over
the heap of sand into the excavation.
and. turning his tail to the stone. pro
ceeded to push the particles from the
bottom of the hole to the top of the
heap by placing its two claws together
with the tips tapping 50 that the sand
could not slide back In effect the
claws served as a shovel
After the HOLSTERS had In this man
ner built for themselves caves for de-
fensive purposes they planted them
selves with their backs TO the stone
and kept their little black. beadlike
eyes rowing outward In every direction
When | took my place TO watch
nothing was stirring.
Now and then a lobster would climb
out Of his retreat and explore the inn
mediate neighborhOOd.
Suddenly finding an intrenched lob
ster. the errant adventurer would as
sault il. Then would ensue the biggest
kind Of "A rough and tumble. catch-as-
catch-can contest II was a fight 20
/ the death
When the struggle was between only
two HOLSTERS the result was usually
drawn battle. each retreating % his
hole with the loss of a claw or of one
or two antennR.
But when two or three HOLSTERS at
tackled one In his shallow cave the
| fight was soon over. The miserable
victim was dragged out on the arena
by the sharp pincers of the besiegers.
aud IN "A trice he was killed IL re-
quired but a few winutes for the can
nibals TO dismemLer and eat up their
victim. dragging the bits TO different
parts of the aquarium. as dogs would
bones.
These attacks are always made at
night was 80 fortunate a. TO see an
other raid, but il was not Ike that de
scribed above One of the HOLSTERS
that had emerged from his lair in pur-
suit Of food was himself pursued in
turn. Caught mapping away from his
castle by three OF four enemies. IL scut-
tied over the sand toward one corner
of the aquarium After him went the
pursuers helter skelter, and while the
pursued resorted to dodging tactics
that would lie admired by football
rusher, the pursuers separated and
closed In around the doomed creature
Ii is by a curious instinct that the
pursuit is made in the night because il
is evidently to the advantage Of the
pursuer. on the principle in war that
night attacks are more successful than
those by daylight
Marks OF these midnight forays were
to be found in the morning in the frag-
ments OF shells. The result Of canni-
balism among the young HOLSTERS i
that out of hundred about twenty
five survive. a demonstration OF the
Darwinian Law Of the survival of the
ittest.
In the eannibal stage OF their en-
! istence they are about three-quarter'
of an inch in length. and when the sur
: vivors grow 60 be two and half inehe.
In length from the tail to the tip Of th<
claws they have outgrown their blood
thirsty instincts. New York Herald