Pittsburg dispatch. [volume] (Pittsburg [Pa.]) 1880-1923, 1891-05-31
REVEL OF REPTILES.
Death Valley Alive With Wriggling
Things When Night Falls.
SCORPIONS BATTLE TARANTULAS,
While Lizards and Serpents and Horned
Toads Seek Their Prey.
WONDERFUL FORMS OF ANIMAL LIFE
WRITTEN FOR THE DISPATCH

WRITTEN FOR THE DIsPATCH.l
The Government expedition to Death
Valley is bringing forth its first fruits.
Large consignments of dead creatures illus
trating what it has thus far accomplished IN
the study of the life of that amazing region
have reached the Department of Agricult-
ure at Washington. The collections thus
far sent there include 2,36S mammals, be-
side numerous birds, reptiles, insects and
other specimens 1t is desired by the scien-
tifc authorities in charge to find out just
what animal and vegetable life is able to pre-
serve existence under conditions so ex-
traordinarily unfavorable as are found in
this desert of horror, the like of which is
not found anywhere else in the world.
Of plants there is scarce anything to be
discovered beside cacti, which only repre-
sent sort of vegetable half life, and
clumps of chapparal that are gray instead
of green. One sort of cactus that grows to
be five or six feet in height, with extended
branches, is called the ''Dead Man," be-
cause each stalk in the night
Looks Like a Corpse
by the wayside. In rare spots where the
water has gathered may be seen singular
feshy bush without leaves and with thick
green stems Such vegetation as there is is
rank and spiny, its gray or dull olive hues
harmonizing with the parched and barren
aspects of the great alkah crust, extending
north and south between two precipitous
walls of mountains, the Amargosa and Pan
amint ranges 1t is beyond human powers
of description to picture the wholly unnatu-
al b. L. LII al 1a-a 4ha
stretches of white plain variegated with
black lava, the alluring mirages, the strange
appearance of the towering hills outlined
like the backbones of monstrous beasts
against the yellow sky, the total absence of
trees, the dearth of animal life, and the in
tense heat, from which there is no escape
Here and there, too, are pebble beds miles
in extent, made up of agate, moss-agate,
chalcedony, jasper and obsidian.
This astonishing design, however, is by
no means so devoid of life as its aspect by
daylight would lead the observer to imag-
inc. As soon as night falls it is all aswarm
with creatures Of various sorts.
Scene for Dante to Picture.
Countless lizards come out of their bur-
rows to look for insect prey; snakes wriggle
across the alkali crust; horned toads creep
about, and scorpions and tarantulas of enor-
nous size sharpen their claws for combat.
Rats, mice and squirrels trot about in active
pursuit of game, and wildcats and coyotes
forsake their lairs on the mountain sides
and roam over the plain in pursuit of all
sorts of smaller mammals. 1t is nocturnal
population, simply because the heat is so
great as to forbid going out in the daytime.
The Death Valley expedition has not at
tempted to encamp upon the desert itself
e. %ha 1ol~a of ofv,ann hos
been obliged to content itself with pitching
tents about the edge, at the foot of the
mountains, making brief expeditions across
the torrid plain, setting traps, and return
ing as quickly as possible. By this method
the traps could be emptied and set again
without much loss of time. Time is of con-
sequence in Death Valley, where a man re-
quires two gallons of water daily to keep
him from dying of thirst, and even thus is a
sufferer.
Traps Used by the Scientists.
Little traps of very simple and mos. ad-
mirable pattern are employed for catching
the small mammals. Two or three dozen Of
them can be conveniently carried in the
pockets of ones coat, ard the game can
enter from any side. Each one is hardly
more than wire spring, ingenieusly con-
triyed, SO that the quadrupal victim is not
obliged to enter hole, sees no danger, arc
does not dream of peril until he is caught.
Cornmeal is used for bait, and is found
most fetching
For the large mammals the gun must be
brought into requisition, while the reptiles,
usually slow of movement, are readily
gathered in. Of the birds there are very
few in the neighborhood of Death Valley,
though the raven, that funereal fowl, is
very plentiful in the woods that skirt its
edge, crying with mournful notes for the
many travellers whose dried corpses are
scattered over the burning level
AS quickly as possible after they are
caught the animals trapped and shot are
skinned by the explorers, all of whom are
skilled taxidermists. No great pains are
taken with the stufing. A lump Of
Raw Cotton Supplies the vitals,
and the tail is extended by wire thrust
through its length. Arsenic is sprinkled
all over the inside for preservative pur-
poses, and the specimen is stretched with
they have thus been made ready the pre-
partment of Agriculture at Washington
supply wagons travel constantly between
the expedition end the nearest outposts of
civilization to get provisions and convey
mails.
A great many individuals of each species
found have to be killed and forwarded, be-
cause individuals here and there differ, and
it is necessary to determine where these
individual differences end and new species
begin. For example, one kind of rat may
have ears of various sizes and different
lengths; but it is requisite to find out the
line which separates this animal from
another species.
Thus far the animals sent to the Depart
ment are merely such as have been found in
Death Valley, because the expedition has
been availing itself of the cool weather in
that region. Now it has retreated to the
mountain slopes, and it will not be possible
to conduct any further investigations on the
torrid plain until late next autumn.
A Squirrel Who Hustles at Night.
Nearly all the creatures found in the val
ley are nocturnal in their habits. Among
them are three species of ground squirrels,
which live in burrows and feed at night
upon roots, leaves and seeds of plants. One
Of them often climbs the stalks for the pur-
pose of getting at the seeds. At other times
it stands on its hind feet clasps the stems
with its fore paws and bites off the seed
pods, distending its cheek-pouches enor-
mously with the food. One fellow shot by
DR.. Morrison, chief of the expedition, had
80 unbrokeA seed-pods in his pouches.
Another most interesting animal that in
habits Death Valley is the kangaroo rat, !"
which makes its way about by jumping. 1t
has long and powerful hind legs and a sur
prisingly long tail. Its eoloring varies