The Washburn leader. [volume] (Washburn, McLean County, N.D.) 1890-1986, 1905-01-28
THE MEXICAN LIZARD
DELICIOUS EATING, HIS FLESH LIKE
THAT OF CHICKEN.

A Tale Of the CurfOus Tail of the
IRuann h Way This Peculiar
Creature Can Grow IL New Append
age In Place of One Lost or Stolen.
NV tale is Of the tail of Il lizard. Wa
had steamed and railroaded many hun
dreds of miles and at the end Of civil.
cation had started over a steep and!
narrow trail with horses and puck
mules, finally finding ourselves en-
camped in a deep canyon or barrancs
in west central Mexico.
Iguanas, great, black lizards, three
feet or more in length, were abundant
in the deep caves Of the cliff, coming
II early in the morning to sun them
selves and bobbing up and down as ar
owl ducks his head to get Il better look
at us as our Mexican cook started the
fire or stirred about the camp. We
found them delicious eating. Though
the Mexican demurred at first, preju-
dice was soon cast aside. Their limbs
might be black skinned and scaly with
out, but within all was sweet, white
meat, like that Of chickens and frogs
legs.
The iguanas. which had their bur.
rows in the ground, would climb uI>
each morning, up, up to tue topnosL
limbs of some trees, and there bask In
the sun. They had a most startling
way of descending, a headlong dive to
the unde.brush or into the water. Al
twilight fell the sight OF these great
black %apparitions sprawling earthwara
was most remarkable. If n Of them
had ever struck us in its descent QUIZ
interest in this strange habit would
suddenly have become lesscned.
Our usual method of procuring thcS.
giant lizards for our lurder was to
shoot them high above us, when they
would tumble headlong to our feet.
Sometimes we could approach close {"
one when it was fast asleep in the
scorching heat of midday. Once L
seized a big fellow by the tail. l was
sorry a moment later, but as l did not
want to be beaten by n lizard l held
stoutly on. Never before had l taken
hold of such a steel spring. The crea
ture curled and twisted and snapped
it's body about, the sharp scales nav
ing anything but a pleasant feeling on
the palm of my hand. Suddenly some
thing gave way, and l fell on my back,
while the iguana shot off in the Op-
posite direction into u deep h0llOVs
among the rocks. When l regafpRd
my feet l found some nine inches Of
tail in my hand, almost one-third OF
the entire animal.
Thio 10 NOT IN Uncommon Ooc,srrnnco
among lizards, and the ability to part
with SO considerable a portion Of their
anatomy insures many an escape fbow-
what would otherwise be inevftGbtf
death.
Almost all animals with backbonea
have 9 thick, pliable cushion Of car
tilage between each Of the bones ia
ttheir spinal column. which permits
them to bend and twist it with much,
freedom. The backbone Of the lgunaa
IL ut nSt all cartilage. and WHEN thu.
hard cells Of the bone. AbeSin tesbe d..
posted a deep, narrow wedge O. crack.
10 left in each tail bone. This Il a1ed;
With soft cartilage. 80 these Homes ars
], greatly weakened near their aenters.
Instead Of an accidental defect this +
an all wise provision Of nature, fore
seeing that hawks, vagrant natdFalists
and other enemies may some day be.
too quick for the reptile and will seise
its tail before 1t a escape.
When this happens, az, in my q
the strain Of the struggling creatures
body is too great for the weak spots In.
) its tail bones, and n of these gives
way, with the result above narrated.
The muscles, too, are arranged to aid
this phenomenon. They are short and
thick and conical instead Of running
the whole length Of the tail, and, being
only d0vetailed together, they readily
give way. Only q few drops of blood
escape; then the stump heals over, ana
before long n new tail begins to shoot
0ut.
This, Of course, contains no bones
but instead q 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 are unlike those on the rest Of
the creatures body and actually may
be like those Of some bygone ancestor.
In the smaller lizards, called geck0g,
this seems always to be the case.
When I closely examined the tail
which the iguana had left in my hands
I saw that it vas one Of these fraud
tails and had long ago supplanted the
original appendage, with which some
other enemy, doubtless a feathered ne.
had ~absconded. Two new vertebrae or
tail bones had come off with the base
of my piece.
But the owner cares nothing for the
number or character of his new tails.
They serve him well, and he is content.
It is a curious fact that the tail making
machinery in his backbone is so active
that sometimes a double or. even u
triple tail will push out at the stump,
and when the original tail is even only
slightly injured at one side a tiny tai
will often sprout out where it has No
right to bee, William Beebe in New