The Houma courier. (Houma, La.) 1878-1939, 1896-12-26
ooNcERNINe ANIMALs.

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a Cohesion q Interesting Notes Made
BY Dineraht Observers.
Qstriehes are usually plncked once
every eight months. The average yield
S. one pound Of feathers each.
Bats are most auriousIy
the hearts action being aided by the
Thythmic c~ontractions Of the veins o.
tie wings.
Few days ego Harvey Ritehey, who
lives "a q farm earAltoona, Pa found
q land turtle upon which was engraved
@sW. Walls. sIune 6, 1854
The love Of tobacco has recently been.
acquired BY horse in Bankers, Mich.
Some time ago its owner gave 1t some
tobacco Tor an internal trouble, and
ever since the horse has been fond Of
the weed.
Three thieves were caught trying to
ssteal a crocodile from the Jardin des
Piat1tes in Paris recently. They had
1assoed its nose and tail, and were haul
ing it over the railing Of its Enclosure
when the keepers arrested them.
Verona In Italy boasts Of q pair Of
twin sheep, each having six feet. The
se1tra legs are hind ones of the same
ssize as the normal ones, though they
do not reach to the ground. The owner
will not sell them to asmpseum, as he
thinks he can make more out of them
sas mutton.
A farmer in the south of England,
whose cottage is some distance from
amy OF the neighboring villages, has
trained his dog (Which, by the way,
Dis q spaniel) to tfpt to the South
westerns railway station, and there pick
up the London paper, which the guard
sof the train throws to him.
A gigantic specimen Of the Arctic
T~hinoceros has lately been discovered
frozen up in an iceberg which stranded
at the Lena delta. This specimen was
seven feet taller than thelargest variety
~of the ~rhinoceros Of to-day, and was
armed with two nose horns, the short
est OF which was three feet two inches
sn length. The animal doubtless be-
Ronged to a. long extinct species.
1t is likely that the wild European
bison will SEQ become extinct, though
the cars Of Russia have tried to pro.
tect it since the beginning of the cen
fury. Herr e. Buechner finds that the
celebrated herd in the forests of Below
.jesha in Lithuania, whichin 1855 num-
Aered 1900, has become reduced to less
than 500, He ascribes the falling of
to breeding in on account Of the re-
sstricted area 70 which the animals are
confned, and to the fact that the males
-outnumber the females,
Among the things that furnish oc.
scupation for the eyes and minds Of
TRANSATLANTIC voyagers are the house
flies which accompany great steam
ships from one side of the ocean to the
other, In fine, sunshiny weather the
lies buzz eheerfully about sheltered
places on the decks, and when the wind
blows high they take refugein the cab
ins and saloons. The flies often remain
with the ship while in port and return
with her on her next trip, thus cross.
ing the ocean several times in success.
SION and perhaps spending the entire
sseason at sea.
DR.. McCloud and Sam Wallace, two
Portsmouth (Ohio) fishermen, had ar
exciting adventure with a large cat
fish they had caught on a trawl 1ins
in the Ohio river a few days ago. The
fish was pulled into their skif, and
In attempting to land it, it Topped
goverboard. McCloud became ~entangled
IN the line, and the fish started for tn,
middle Of the river with him. He was
dragged over so yards before Wallace
overhauled them and killed the bis
fish with a Ratchet. The fish weigheC
-s7 pounds, and was the largest catfish
caught for several years in that vicini
ty.-Chicago Inter Ocean.