The herald., 1896-03-15
4 RESUME OF CURIOUS CALIFORNIA CREATURES
BY r. r. MINER

to detach. Stories have been told of
the deadly quality of its breath, but
they have no foundation in fact. The
peculiar feature of it's poison Is its lack
of moisture, which tends to preserve
its deadly qualities. Indian medicine
men have boiled the poison Of this rep
tile with the idea of ascertaining the
possibility of weakening its effect
After boiling several hours a white
sediment WAS found at the bottom of
the vessel, This sediment WAS kept
in a bottle for over year, when it
was found to be more powerful than
before, this fact being proved by in
lecting the poison into various ami
mails.
In striking contrast to this monster
although nearly as ugly in appearance,
is the horned toad which is perfectly
harmless and by many is made great
pet of. 1t is found in sandy places and
on dry hills. The horned toad is ovip-
arious, and they---like the chameleon
possess the power to adapt their color
to that of the soil about them. They
show great dislike to some of the larger
animals, such as dogs and cats, and
when approached by them will raise
themselves upon all fours and hiss
aloud, often squirting blood from their
eyes, which habit is thought to be
method of defense used to blind their
pursuers. They eat flies and other in
sects, which they catch by thrusting
out their tongue which is coated With
viscid saliva. Their backs are covered
with coat of mail which they delight
to have rubbed, and on their heads are
two horns. The Chinese use the skin
of the horned toad ground into powder
for certain fevers and skin diseases
There is lizard found on the deserts,
weighing from three to four pounds,
called by the Indians 'chawalla" and
which is eaten by them. The meat is
said to resemble in taste that Of frogs
hind legs. On the desert is also found
little snake called the "sidewinder"
because of it's method of locomotion.
II fiops out from side to side instead
of crawling as other snakes do. |. is
about eighteen inches long and has a
horn over each eye. Its bite is deadly
poisonous. A bright red snake called
the "red-racer" is occasionally seen. 1t
gets over the ground with wonderful
speed, and this trait together with it's
color gives it its name. There is
brilliant blue snake which follows the
rattlesnake about until the opportunity
offers to kill it, which it apparently
takes pleasure in doing.
Among the odd insects the tarantula,
an immense spider, ranks high. There
are two species, the brown and the
black. They sometimes measure as
much as five inches from the tip of
one leg to the tip of another, with
bodies two and half inches long by
one inch wide. It has eight legs, which,
with its body, are covered with hair. Ii
one of its legs gets broken off another
grows out to replace it. These spiders
are found only in certain localities,
where the soil is adobe or clay, in which
they dig their holes two or three inches
wide and covered usually with cob
web. The tarantula does not like wet
weather, and in September or October
it fills up the entrance to its hole and
remains inside until May. They do
not jump, as many suppose. and are
easily caught by pouring water into
their holes, when they will soon appear
and may be pushed into box or bot
tie. Care should be taken in captur-
ing them, however, as their bite is
venomOus. The tarantula has deadly
enemy in the pepsis, or tarantula hawk.
an insect similar to the hornet in shape
and size, with blue body and orange
colored wings. This hawk swoop5 down
npon the tarantula and stings it to
death. An insect resembling the
tarantula greatly, but Of smaller size
and of grayisn color, is the trap-door
spider. They live in nests of a very
curious construction. After digging
a circular hole about one inch in diam
eter. and several inches deep, they line
it with silk-like material, spun from
their own bodice, which Is water
proof. At the top Of this hole is made
perfectly fitting trap-door formed of
many layers of the silky material and
dirt. The hinge of the door is springy
enough to instantly close il as soon as
released, and on the inner side are pro-
jections which the spider grasps with
fangs, thus holding the door down in
case of an attack.
The scorpion is another peculiar in
sect. 1t resembles the lobster some-
what in appearance, having two largo
claws similar to it, but OF course is
much smaller. It has eight legs and
its sting is in its tail. The female scor-
pion is said to carry her young on her
back, as do certain species of the
ground spider. Although its bite has
been considered dangerous, it is really
no more so than the sting OF bee. The
same may be said of the sting of the
centipede, an insect with great many
legs, which it forces into the flesh if
disturbed, thus poisoning one. One
variety is of yellowish- brown color.
another light green. They grow some
times six inches long, and are found
under rocks and in freshly plowed or
dug earth.
Lizards are n umerous and are from
few inches 80 foot or more in
length, and of many kinds and colors.
The peacock moth and the great en-
peror moth are common. The latter is
as large as a humming bird, and great
ly resembles it while flying, also gath
ering nectar from the flowers in a
similar manner There are about thirty
varieties of the ant found here, most OF
them different from those in the east
ern states. They are of all sizes, from
those as large as bee to small ones no
larger than pinhead. They are red
and black in color and are found eve
rywhere. Twelve varieties of wasps
are found here, and blue dragonfiies
and butterflies of all sizes and colors
are common. One collector made a
collection of 5000 species of entomology
ical specimens, all of which were found
near San Diego.
Most of the birds of California vary
either in their color, song or habits
from the same birds found in the aast