The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1898-06-19
ANGLING FOR BIG TRANTS.
a SPORT TO RE ENJOYED BEST IN
THE SIERRA FOOTHILIS.

with great excitement minglinR with big beads
Of Precipitation on his face, came into the smok-
ing car Of u Pennsylvania Railroad train as 1t
was climbing the. Allegheny Mountains a few
days ago. lie carried q dinner bucket In one
hand and pressed its lid down with the other.
He was the express messenger OF the train.
'Tye ketched somethin',' no exclaimed.
ken anybody tell what kind of a pup IL isf'
A big man with long whiskers and q Panama
hat and smoking strong plug tobacco In q por-
colain pipe, said:
"Lemme see it."
The young man held the dinner bucket ct
arms length and raised the lid. The big man
looked in the bucket.
"a t'rantuly, by cedar" he said. and took
the bucket from tho young mans hand. "a
t'rantuly, sure as guns. A citizen Of Bermudy,
this chap Is. An . beauty, too"
Tho big man got out OF his scat and passed
the opon dinner bucket around among the pas
sonsers. 1t was nearly half full Of so mething
that seemed to BIO all hair and claws and eyes.
No one seemed pleased at the sight Of It ex-
cept the big man with the long whiskers. 1t
was a tarantulA, sure enough. There was .
unanimous request made by the passengers in
the car that tho hideous spider be pitched out
Of u window. But the big man eased at the
deadly insect with undisturbod interest.
"Where'd you run ag'in hint" he asked the
express messenger.
HE came out Of q bunch Of bananas In my
car" said the young man. II Cornered him
and drove him into the dinner bucket. What's
he good forf'
Hes o hrst-class benefactor of the Coroner"
replied the big man. "If there's any teller
citizen O. yours that you'd like to see planted,
take this stowawsy from Bermudy and turn him
loose in your friend's garden. II your friend fools
around much in his garden you'll see Grape on
his door in less than two days. I've heerd
folks say that these t'rantulies is pizen, and
/ reckon they are to them that hain't been
vsccinated fer t'rantulies. II war you, young
man, I'd take this chap and let your locomotive
run over him. A good, strong locomotive. iS
about the only thing that kin tackle one o
these chaps and make o success Of It,"
Tho big man handed the dinner bucket back to
its owner, who took 1t and carried It away.
After the train left the next station he came in
and said that the locomotive had met the taran-
tula, and that twenty feet Of grease on the rail
and q quart or so Of legs and hair indicated that
the locomotive had won.
THAT was q Bermudy t'rAnt," said the big
man 10 q passenger In the next seat. They're
q heap bigger than the t'rapts of the adobe
grounds on the Sierra foothills, but they don't
carry any moro fire In their jaws. I've seen
'em in Nassau "a big as q mans hat. Now, L
reckon you'd never think that fBhln' for tran
tulles was a very fascinating sport, would you'll"
About as enjoyable as bobbing for q rattle
snake, 1 should think" replied the passenger
In the next seat.
"Oh, it's q heap more fun!" exclaimed the big
man, examining some greasy chips Of black
plug tobacco into his pipe. "Playin' q t'rantuly
on q timber rod can give a lot o pints to tuggin'
at q RATHER on a bob. III bet you didn't know,
even, that some folks drives angwee OF by
bobbin' for rattlesl"
The passenger in the next seat said nothing,
but his eyes began to bulge and no hitohed
away TO the end d his seat. Tho big man Ut
his pipe and hitched up even with the passen.
ger again.
YES, indeedl" said he. 'T'rants and ~rattlers
does a heap to'ard hustlin' dull care ava out
among the foothills. 1 dunno what I'd a done
without 'em. But t'rant ishin' is the boss.
Never out In the foothills of the Sierras, I
rsckonl Thought SO. It's a great country. I
missed tho centipedes, though. 1 was used to
them, kind O. having spent q year or So with
'em In Bermudy and Nassau. Then another
drawback to tho adobe grounds in the foothills
was that they was q little short Of scorpions.
There WAS a few there. but not enough to make
1t cheerful, and it'd been q trifle dull for me out
there If 1t hadn't been for tho t'rants. They
was thick as flies. When the nights was warm
they was out on the promenade SO thick that
you had to be careful or you'd step on some OF
'em and hurt 'em. Many q morning I've seen
t~'rantuly hair enough on the ground to temper
q square rod of mortar. they havin' shed it in
free fights 'twixt themselves durin' the night.
THE proper bait for o trRntuly 10 q brown
lizard that'S a native Of the soil out among the
I hain't got none of that bait on me. and It'd
be as harmless as q wooden to9thpick 4 ] had,
adobe ground ~t'rantuly dotes on more than he
does on Thorn brown lizards. He'd walk ten
o. them lizards. And the funniest part Of il
all is that he never made a meal of o one Of
,sm SSst' T ! reckon S6% q SoIH y " TI tbst to tb En0T Ill h0T t a.
shake themselves loose from their tail as slick
and square as you kin snap e pipe stem. They
and he always grabs EN- by the tail. Quicker
than a wink tho lizard snaps a couple OF inches
vi was hi q ' fall U Fro Sna fFP Pss TlEHt tS Hni h nhSFo b msIe q
lizard trot away from him and leave nothin
but its tail in hts mouth hundreds Of times. and
yet every time 1t is done the t'rant's eyes hangs
out on his whiskers in establishment and he
don't seem able to understand It. But he bolts
the tail all the same and then looks around fol
Now. in givin' the lizard the power to whisk
safety OF the lizard, but she done the t'rantulS
n favor. The loss of the tail don't hurt the liz
ard, for 1t gro VS. another ono In a few days, but
with the tirant. The lizards tail is a whole
some dish for the t'rGnt, but II 4 shouldn't hap
pCl W COlho III .uILu lhO Y iulb buOuld kODblO vi
whole lizard, it'd be goOd.by, t'rantl There's
some kind Of juice in the lizards innArds thai
makes the ~t'rantuly swell up like a toad fish
and he keeps on swellin' I'LL he busts. like
Roman candle, and distributes hair and Leg
for moro than q roo around. l found out that by
corrallin' a lizard with 1. trant 30 that 1
couldn't get away: The spider soon surround
cd the lizard, and ten minutes afterward hi
went up like u rocket and came down like au
tumn leaves.
You might walk over the adobe ground Of
the foothills for a month and wouldn't motto,
that you was passin' over a t'rantuly settle
q heap o dirt make a sudden and unexpected
movement, but the chances is hat you'd think
IL was owing to the wind. But that wouldn'
be no heap o dirt: It'd be the t%raPdoor Of
self had been peekin' out. and not likin' thu
looks OF you had shut himself in. and you kiI
bet was holdin' the door, too. The t'rantuly
digs himself a hole in tho ground and, fits /
door over II with n hinge on one side. IL,
makes the door out of leaves and sticks anC
dirt. gluin' 1t all together with some patent ce
i'm open easy. When he's out ON the warpatl
he leaves tho door shut, and when he come
home he dashes up like a fash and gives thu
door some sort Of a hist. Tho tran flies up
and tho aRtdnH rnn On kIa Ian nad khn 400