The Big Stone Gap post. [volume] (Big Stone Gap, Wise County, Va.) 1892-1928, 1893-10-26
DEATH VALLEY FAUNh.

Tho most striking element OF the
iauna In thot strange desert region
would seem 60 he the big lizards of
many species which cces,r IN sHch num-
bers and in forms SO strange as to woll-
nigh counterfeit 90 smaller scale the
vanished age Of mcsozoic sauriana
Some Of them carry bouquets OF lovely
dowera IN their stomachs while others
ca:, ont>trip The fastest race horse in
cunning. and others are clad in plates
- argnor. There is one kind which
Actually resembles ia miniature n gi-
can,ic reptilian type OF The chall<-form-
.NY spoch.
0ne species Is very good 20 cat It
at;aIns length Of about ono foot is
at, snd when properly prepared tastes
ike h"lfrog. Dr. A. X. Fisher and
others Of The expedition alto several
sp2cinons 81 xhis kind. lacking othcs
neat. and found them good. The In
.1ans of Shat r,Xica depend TO con-
.:'trahl~ exsens Cor food upon the
creature which thcv call chuck
vallr." They hook It ont from clefts
II The rocks by ul&aus OF . forkod stick
~ . biz OF wire To catch Il on tho
,.an 10 ous Of the question SO active is
- aniscaa! that 4 Is hari So &c; within
tu2sho. of IT, This remarkable lizard
,lhsis;H wholly on buds and flowers.
When eat oron It's stomach is usually
:onnd u contain y good-sized bouquet
~ yol!ow caSsias. lotus blossoms and
Nsllurn-co!ored nallo-rS
Oac q tac most remarkable reptiles
ino:,n IS the hoyoed ratticsnakc. This
species was considered very rare up to
the trc Of The expedition. but Its
name In Doath valley is legion. In
fact. there H:e ,nvriahs Of them there.
D.. Merriam kho. ono and stepped for
ward IL knock ore@ another, when one
x his nca c<.s,i. "LcroA ont. You are
.iuudi:,.s ~ oar" The doctor jumped
.,hart .ixte.n fcs&, The serpent hal
,ccn tight : coilc1 up, bnt the doctor
al stepped 80 squareiy upon IL tnat
Ms weight Ind prevented it from strik-
iN: Ia snake ie TIC smallest OF all
,atNc:. :ls t~o feet long, all spccf-
neal seeming 90 rrn anont the same
re 7, leeds on kangaroo rats and
pcrket' roicc, fl-7T In wait for them
- tAe mouth Of their holes. II is cx-
t,c'n>,y vicio:,s andit, bite issaid 70 be
eta, though this latter fact is dCrlbted-
The horned rattie-srrkc is commonly
allies tbs ":S,.e vintier. because when
disturbed {, lno,-?% sae7r!sc in order to
..rn.d tnrniua TAI Another kind Of
,.yrIeat va-r hnnercr1s IN the VALLEY is
me t'ce2 rstt]"snahe> Il is about three
ana half feet long. Rattlers in the
'ycat Go not grow much bigger than
th,t though there Is different race
II them sn Florida which attain 4
:ngth ri zen foot> Dr. Fishers party
lii}ed nineteen Of these snakes during
d Walk OF eight miles They got their
tanls from thc!r stripes. IN the same
reg-'s2 another kind of serpent Is
p|cn,iful. which. though not venomms
i-vcrr ill-tcnperei AMI will fight Hike
@nrthinc. p rs Of larger size, rneasur-
;rE nboa, iody feet, aud Is cream coz
..rcd VITA black rirsos and very thick
p zee BODY
Among sho nr,st corior,s creatures IT
hat strange rsEioD are the horned
. stfsS, ~nich stNc iound IL great num-
p1es everywhere. They arc peculiarly
,'',:crt snl4n1's. tlcir hidcousnoss mak-
NJ them appropriate 10 their surround
10 They live on harl-si,el!cd lNctlcs
,1n'l osh"r insects. One Of tho o;klcst
tAiEEs abou, them is their mode Of
cointa, vita enc another They fight
Axe balls, patting the:r heads down
and batting. Apparently, they make
- ei'ort - hcrt each other. h1t each
lies to t'Wn nj, adversary over. The
one that is 6nallr upset goes away at
olcc. Inundated, and hides itself. The
purpose Of The Contest Seems merely to
b u injnre the pride OF the opponent.
The popular belief that these batra-
cA;ast, squirt blood out Of their eyes
.y:en the7 are angry has long been r4~
Sar,aed as m ahSur;itv. Certainly u
-s:s never been crcdft,.d by science un-
Of NOW But that this is true has re-
Gently been proved by experiments.
on" OF he horned toads brought to
Washington WAS thrown into water
which immediately became Redeemed.
On being irrituted, the animal dis
charged from each eye u squirt of
blood too distance Of fifteen inches.
II was estimated that the quantity
omitted was hot less than IL quarter OF
teaSpoonfui The test was not
deemed wholly satisfactory until it had
been demonstrated Try microscopic
examination that The substance was
actually blood. Presumably this
squirting of gore IS intended to
frightcn III enemy as provision for
such a pnrposc it is unquestionably
antique.
not less remarkable aye the peculiar
'esert toads of Death valley. which are
found buried in the ebay soil and actu-
ally baked in the solid ground, so that
they have TO be split out. Thus they
Imam Cor a year or two together.
when a shower comeS-a very rare
occurrence in that countrywide clay
is softcncd, and they crawl out TO
enjoy themselves for few hours.
After day or SO the ground dries mp,
and they hastily dig into it and retire
for another long period Of repose. It
j, not difficult 10 imagine the harden
ing Of the soil into permanent rock,
rom which these creatures might be
split ont millennium hence, as is said
u have happened with toads similarly
buried centuries ago. When they TO,
cat. these toads Of the desert feed OH
insects. like others Of their kind.