The Holly chieftain., 1900-08-17
TRADE IN ANIMALS.
Many Queer Species Listed a. Live
Material.
Skipped Alive Fro@ All Parss Of the
worid-Prtees Paid for Bull
frogs. Turtles. Snakes
and HaGs.

Kingdom. nor any corner OF the world.
that is not ransacked and explored
nowadays for the purpose OF collecting
natural history curiosities 10 supply
The commercial demand. Special -xpe-
ditions are sent TO remote and almost
inaccessible regions TO gather strange
and rare animals, for which the marke,
is as unfailing as for any staple product
of the soil or the factory. Firms deal
ing in such merchandise in a large way
are located in most big cities both in
this country and abroad. and. judging
from the comprehensiveness Of their
catalogues, il would seem as IL there
was nothing that flies or walks or
swims that they are not prepared to
furnish on short notice AT list prices.
says Rene Bache. in the Philadelphia
Saturday Evening Post.
One of these catalogues advertises =
large assortment of '.live material" as
it is termed. From this document one
learns tina, he can obtain large bull
frogs at three dollars dozen. alive and
kicking; medium-sized bullfrogs are
cheaper, costing only Sits for 12. Tur-
ties are two dollars dozen for
adults" and small ones for aquaria
are offered at is cents each. Pond
snails, lin assorted lots" are listed at
Is cents a dozen; crayfish cos, one dol
lar dDzen. and nevis are IS cents
each. In ordering crayfisb. il is request
ed that few days notice be given in
which to secure them in case the stock
should be low. No such reservation,
however, is made in the case OF earth
worms, which come at 60 cents a dozen.
II is safe to say that any small boy will
furnish earthworms under this rate.
II will be understood that all the
above animals are shipped alive. The
catalogue quotes small alligators at 50
to IS cents apiece. Live rattlesnakes
come higher-especially the diamond
rnttlesnake, which costs from Ave to
twelve dollars Economical persons
however, may prefer a ground rattle
snake at one dollar. The copperhead
is Supposed to be about as deadly as the
rattlesnake. and may be obtained for
two dollars, while chicken snakes. king
snakes and garter snakes sell as low as
80 cents each.
Crabs are not offered alive. but in al
cohol. and in this shape one can buy
sand crabs. blue crabs, spider crabs,
fiddler crabs, mud crabs and hermit
crabs at prices running from ten to
seventy Ave cents apiece. spider crabs
being the dearest. Insects. similarly
preserved, are so cheap as TO tempt
purchase. Squash-bugs cost only SO
cents a dozen. while giant water bugs
come Mt only half that price. Earwigs
are quoted AT 50 cents a dozen. ant
lions AT ten cents each, crickets at so
cents dozen, l'-year locusts at ten
cents apiece and June bugs AT so cents
dozen Horsetiies invite the buyer al
only ten cents the hv. true wasps"
may be obtained for the same price,
and bumblebees foot the list nj six
cents.
market OF the world. auctions OF in
sects are held every year, and startling
prices are paid sometimes for rare
specimens As much as $500 has been
brought by single butterfly. while an
out-of-the-way beetle may be valued al
many times its weight in gold.
Hamburg is a great market for wild
animals. largely from Africa, that city
having an important trade with the
Dark Continent. To London comes
much material Of the same sort from
Australia and New Zealand. and many
rare creatures are obtained from sail-
ors who fetch them from various parts
Of the world. An American dealer. not
very long ago. made special trip to
White bay, New Zealand. for the pur-
pose Of procuring kind of lizard
called the "sphenodon,' which is re-
garded by scientists as wonderful
curiosity. inasmuch as il is the only
survivor of an entire order of reptiles,
all the other genera and species having
long since become extinct. This lizard.
which is known to the native Maoris
as the "tuatera," is about foot and
half long and, odily enough. seems to
have affinities with the crocodile. OF
course, all the kangaroos, wombatS
and flightless birds come from Aus
iralia or New Zealand. Awhile ago the
American dealer above referred to
made special trip to South America
for the purpose Of obtaining guanaco
skeletons and steamer ducks. The
guanaeo is chiefly interesting because.
like the llama, il is representative Of
the camel tribe on this continent. The
steamer duck is particularly odd mas
much as it flies when it is young. but
cannot do so after it has matured. The
adult bird beats the water with it's
wings as it swims. and this suggested
the name given to the species at
period when all steamers were side