The Daily Ardmoreite. [volume] (Ardmore, Okla.) 1893-current, 1905-02-20
THE MEXICAN LIZARD
DELICIOUS EATING. -fs FLESH LIKE
Tt4ET OF CHICKEN


My tale i - The ta.l o. a lizard We
had stea med and railrYaueI many hun.
6re,is - nile and OF TIE end u ciyllr
IstOu hsd sisrrel over o. steep and
narrow trail with l1--e- and pack
mule, fusliy Ending ourselves On.
eampeI 60 deep canyon lr barraDca
In wet central Mexico.
Iguanas great. black ilza-ds three
fesf Of more Iu length. were abundant
IN the deep caves ~ the cHT. coming
out early lu the morning % sun them.
selves and bObbinc up and down a. an
ovl ducks h's head 10 get better look
At % as our Mexican c10g started the
Ere o. stirred about the camp. We
found them delicious eating Though
the Mexican dsul-red az frst prelu
dice was soon cast aside Their limbs
might be black skinned and scaiy With
out but within 900 was sweet white
meat ike that . chickens and frog-'
leg-
Tie igusuas which had their bur
rows in the ground. would climb Up
each morning Up up 20 the topmOst
limbs % some trees. and there bask in
the sun They had q most startling
way ~ descending. n headlOng dive 20
the underbrIsh or into the water As
twilight fell the sight of these great
biaos spparuOns spra wiling earthward
vas mO-t remarkable. ~ one % them
had ever struck us iH Us descent our
interest In this strange habit would
suddenly hsye become lessened
Our usual method Of procuring these
giant lizards FOR Our harder was 70
shoot them high above us. " hen they
would tumble hcadlong 10 our feet
Eomeumes We could approach Close 10
one when u was fast asleep 10 the
scorchiug heat OF midday. once /
seized big fellow by the tail | wss
sorry a moment later. but a. ! did not
want 10 be beaten by a lizard I held
,touily on. Sever before had ! taken
hold % such = steel spring The crea-
ture curied and twisted and snapped
it, body about, the sharp SCALES bav-
Ing anything but . pleasant feeling on
the palm u my band suddenly some
thing gave way. and | fell on my back,
while the guiana shot on IN the op-
pOsite direction into a deep hollow
among the rocks when ! regaincd
my feet found some nine Inches OF
tail Ia my hand, almost one third Of
the entire animal
This N not an uncommon occurrence
among lizards and the ability TO part
with so considerable a portion OF their
anatomy insures many an escape from
What would otherwise be Inevitable
death
Almost all animals with back bones
have thick. pliable cushion Of cur
innge between each Of the bones In
their spinal column, which permits
them TO bend and twist II with much
freedom The backbone OF the lguaua
~ at first all cartilage and when the
hard cells OF the bone begin 10 be de.
posltcd deep, narrow wedge or crack
is lcft IN each ta!l bone. This Is filled
with soft carthage 80 these bones are
greatly weakened near their ccnters'
Instead OF au accidental defect this Is
an all wise provision OF nature, fore
seeing that hawks, yagrant nnturalists
and other enemies may some day be
TOO quick for the reptile aud win seize
when this happens, AS In my case,
the strain Of the struggling creatures
body Is too great for the weak spots I'm
its tail bones. and one OF these gives
way with the result above narrated.
The muscles too are arranged to aid
this phenomenon. They are short and
thick and coulcul instead OF running
the whole length OF the tail. and being
only doyetailcd together, they readily
give way only a few drops OF blood
escape; then the stump heals over, and
before long new tan begins to shoot
out
This OF course, contains no bones
but instead long, unJointed rod Of
cartilage exactly like the ancestral one
which was present In the embryo igu
ana Stranger stIll the scales on this
new tail nre unlike those on the rest OF
the creatures body and actually may
Dc Ike those OF some bygOne ancestor
In the smaller lizards. called gcckos,
this seems always 10 be the case.
when / closely examined the tall
which the iguuna had left in my hands
! saw that Il was one Of these fraud
thlls ana hud long ago supplnntcd the
original nppcndagc with which some
other enemy. doubtless foatherod one,
had absconded. TWO new yertcbrac o.
tail bones had come of with the base
OF my piece
But the owner cares nothing for the
number or character Of his new tails
They serve him well, ana hc is content
II Is n curious fact that the tail making
machinery in his backbone is 80 active
that sometimes n double or even a
triple tail will push out at the stump,
and when tie original tail ~ even only
slightly injured az one side a tiny tail
Will often sprout out where it has no
right TO bee. William Beeb0 In New
York Tribune
Managing % IIusban nd