The Ely miner. [volume] (Ely, Minn.) 1895-1986, 1898-10-12
LOTS OF LIZARDS AND SNAKES.
Saurians Found in Tasmania The
'BIue-Tongued" Lizard in Com
bat with Snake.

We are rich in lizards in Tasmania:
they abound everywhere, summing
themselves on the tree trunks, crawl
ing over the stumps, running about the
garden and occasionally investigating
domestic affairs of the house They
are mostly quick, lively little fellows
with brown skins diversified with black.
and eyes as bright as diamonds Then
there are the ''blood-suckers.' ashy
gray lizards with irregular black mark
ings upon the back, and covered with
spiny projections; most people are
rather afraid of them, and they do look
very ferocious when annoyed, for they
open their mouths with cape like a
crockodile, as If it would give them
great pleasure to swallow US whole.
The death adder" is another lizard
that grows to a good size, and is very
prettily marked; it is much dreaded in
the bush for its supposed poisonous
properties, and the most dreadful tales
are told of its envenomed attacks
Probably the idea has arisen through
the snakelike appearance of this sau-
rian as it glides through the heritage,
its body being very long and slender
and the legs comparatively short.
The largest Of all our lizards, how
ever, is the ''blue-tongued," stout,
formidable looking fellow clad in yell
low and black suit of plate armor and
much given to lying about the bush
roads and tracks asleep in the sun,
when one can often step over him, even
on horseback, without disturbing his
slum bers. This heaviness of DISPOSE
ton has earned for our stolid friend an
other name-the sleeping Hard
while from his fondness for taking UP
residence in the holes of dry stumps
he is also known as the stump lizard
Finally, his nickname among the bush
folk as "goanner," a corruption evil
IDENTIFY of 'iguana," to which family.
however, he bears 10 resemblance, being
a non-climber and of a thick. stout
build. Now this ''blue-tongued'' lizard,
the Tiliqua nigrolutea of naturalists,
deserves good treatment at the hands
of the bushman on account of one very
interesting popularity which it mani
tests in common with the lord of ere
ation-namely TO its great antipathy to
snakes. In Tasmania it takes the place
of that noted cobra destroyer, the In
dian mongoose, and ill-adapted as it
would at first appear to encounter such
foes, yet it generally comes off the vic
tor.
We spoke just now of the heavy,
stolid disposition of our black-and-yel-
low knight. but let a nice, medium
sized snake heave into sight and all is
changed. The sleepiness disappears as
if by magic, and every nerve seems on
the alert, every sinew toughened to
meet the enemy. This latter has evil
IDENTIFY mo stomach for fight" and
would straight depart" but his assail
ant bars the way and forces an en-
counter. Then quick as lightning the |
snake makes a dart, but our friend |
lodges with practiced skill, and ''gets |
in a bite himself. So they go on. dart |
ing and lodging and savagely swapping |
al each other, the snake getting the |
worst of it all the time, and soon ex-
hibiting unmistakable signs of being |
played out. Now is the 'goanner's"
WIN dOAiOiOQS
turn he twists the snake over. and gives /
him coup de grace under the chin"
Then comes the reward of valor; TAX
ing the head between his strong jaws,
our blue-tongued hero begins with
much relish to MUNICH his fallen foe,
and, sticking to him with the same per-
sistency as during the fight, soon dis
poses of the whole scaly length, and
having thus accounted for" another
child of the evil one, the victor retires
to the shelter of a hollow log to sleep
off the repast.-H. Stuart Dove, in Ma
ture Notes.