Cottonwood report. [volume] (Cottonwood, Idaho) 1893-1901, 1893-08-11
beneath il. Il

itate, when thoroughly angered
to make snap at the foe, be ii
man or beast. But it will never
attack anything that it does not
require for food unless first in
| terfered with. II escape be near
in the shape OF a burrcw in the
| ground or a hole in the rocks
large enough for its accommoda-
ton, the monster will discreetly
retire from view and remain hid
den until the enemy has retired.
Ii the reptile manages to get
grip with it's horny mouth, as
| hard and cutting as that of a
swapping turtle and filed with
sharp, needle-lile teeth, upon
the yielding flesh of an agrees
For, the vice.like jaws can only be
pried apart by great muscular
action with some instrument.
The wounds shc W all the indi-
cations of blood poisoning by
means OF venom, the limbs swell
| failure Of the nervous system be-
comes apparent, and death may
ensue, unless prompt medical as
sistance brings relief.
The story that the bite of the
ella monster is incurable is moi
true, but help must be obtained
quickly, as several well-authen-
Fticated cases have proved. Cur
iously enough, in the case of men
who have been bitten, it was
found that those who were strict
ly temperate recovered far more
quickly than those who were in
the habit OF taking stimulants.
1t turned out also that, unlike
many cases in which bites had
been inflicted by venomous
snakes of the North American
species, whisky did not act as an
antidote at all, rather aggravat-
ing the SYMPTOMS.
E. L. WETMoRE, taxefdemist
, of Tucson, who has disected many
of these lizards, says he has been
unable to discover where the ven
ON which they undoubtedly in
ject into the wounds they prod
uce comes from. In poisonous
snakes it exudes from sacs above
the fangs, but in the ella mons
ter the closest investigation has
failed to show any such glands
connected with the teeth. I'm
doubtedly it is the saliva of the
monster, lubricating its sharp
incisors,' that produces the change
in the blood. For that reason il
is believed that in the salivary
glands the venom will be found,
but that is the extent OF what is
, known of the Gila monsters dam
gerous power.
That the brute is fierce and
will fight hard. a.remarkable bat
tie fought at Tempe, near Phe-
nix, on May 23d, showed. Mr..
HEAvENRIcH of the Tempe Hotel
matched fine specimen which
he owns with one brought in by
a rancher living just outside of
town. No sooner did the lizards
see each other than, with fash
ing eyes and jaws wide open,
they proceeded to chew each 9TH
err up. They fought up and
down the room. The fonl odor
/, emanating from their mouths
. nauseated the room. The fight
lasted fully twenty minutes and
! only came to an end when the
reptiles were so exhausted that
they lay helpless side by side.
, They were then separated and
} placed in different cages. The
ranchers pet died during the
J night The hotel lizard did not
appear much the worse for wear.
butts its distended and swollen
! body later showed that the virus
| of it's opponent had been injected
/ into the bites and was having its
effect.
4 By reason of its slowness the
! monsters diet is necessarily lin
1 tied. 1t is climber and has no
I difficulty in robbing nests in
4 which there are eggs or helpless