The Roanoke daily times. (Roanoke, Va.) 1895-1897, 1896-04-17

phcvteI uIU2 nave run With the ami
mails, which at any other time they
dare not modest, for full grown dink-
lldorlum can eat carload of natives
as quickly as New York business man
devourS his lunch. The Shelters fear
them, for now and then one or two of
these animals will come down into the
plains, and the Shelters have to take to
the woods causing their towns to look
like an Indiana village on circus day.
Yet some dinkiidoriums have been cap
tured when young aud domesticated. 1
Saw one so tame that it would follow
me about like little dog and rub up
against me to have its back scratched,
but even the tameSt will ut times re-
lapse, and Us a result there will be
missing next day whole class of the
primary school. For this reason the ami
mails as pets are looked upon askance,
and their owners have to pay dinkii-
dorium tax. They are inconvenient to
have around, for it is obviously unpleas-
ant to have affectionate, we'll meaning
20 foot pets push over the house with
their long, horned noses in order to cud-
die up beside you Then, too, they have
n very aromatic, farreaching breath that
reminds one of a fertilizer factory work
ing overtime.
will tell you more about them ut
another time, but we will now hurry on
to another queer creature. This is the
gazooZa bird fish, which infests the
shores and the waters of the Spifiac river
Ill South America. 1t is funny sight
to see this animal, which no naturalist
can properly assign to its element, come
dartlng to the surface of the water, swim
about leisurely and then fly up and
perch upon n talolu tree and begin to
crack nuts with its funny beak, break
ing into joyous song now and then, as
II full of glee. 1t is an electric fish
when i'll the water, as is the electric eel,
which, by the way, is now being used
as motor for small boats on the ANA
Zon. When the gaZoOZa leaves the
stream and ahghts on branch or the
ground cracking sound is heard and
sparks fly from its feet. This phenome-
non is caused by the electric fluid s es-
cape, and, strange to say, the brilliantly
colored plumage of the gazooza fades
III the sunlight rapidly until it becomes
the color of tired oyster, but it is not
otherwise affected by the air, and its
colors are instantly restored by INNER
sion i'll water. Large flocks of gazooZas
frequently fly quite distance into the
interior and ravage the ricefields of the
natives The latter catch them with
hooks, both i'll the water and in the air.
In the air the baited hooks are fastened
to small kites, and great numbers of the
bird fishes are thus captured, but the
fishermen have to wear rubber gloves TO
avoid the severe shock of the electrical
discharge. enjoyed great sport catch
ing them with a light three ounce rod,
using wooZa bugs for bait
These bugs themselves are very curl.
ous corresponding 60 our cockroaches;
i'll fact, as they inhabit the houses and
fall into the soup in that country Just as
the reaches do here. But they have
special popularity that is unique. They
are natural dynamite bombs in minia.
ture and if stepped upon explode with
force that will throw II strong man off
his feet. l have seen bicycle tire so
shattered by contact with a healthy
wooza bug that it could not be repaired.
and the rider was thrown 20 yards by
the momentum of the shock.
The gazoozas are very fond Of these
bugs and often may be seen venturing
into the open doors of the houses in
search of them. They pursue them more
viciously because the bugs destroy their
eggs, which are laid in long festoons
from limb to limb Of the talolu trs,I.
The wooza bugs cut these strings at
both ends and then cat the tender eggs
at their leisure Oh the ground.
1t is most interesting to impart these
truths and wonders of natural history
10 you, children, and it is pleasant
task indeed / saw an advertisement in
Copenhagen paper of two volcanoes
for sale i'll Iceland at $500 each.