The Daily Ardmoreite. [volume] (Ardmore, Okla.) 1893-current, 1905-03-01
THE MEXICAN LIZARD
DELICIOUS EATING, HIS FLESH LIKE
THAT OF CHICKEN.


Cr-u'or- ,sb .rov . New Append
az. In Place of O.. Zoe, or s,oI.s.
NJ tale " Of the tnil Of a lizard We
had siea med and rsilroaded many hun
oreds Of miles and ht the end OF cIvili-
Lation had started over steep and
narrow trail With horses and pack
nule.. buAlly finding ourselves en-
camped IN deep canyon or ba avrspcs
In west central Mexico.
lRuanas, great, black lisards, three
feet OF more in length. were abundant
In the deep csyet OF the clio, coming
out early in the morning to sun them
selves and bobblns up and down ~ an
owl ducks bis head 10 get better look
st us ~ our Mexican cook started the
nre or stirred about the camp. We
found them delicious eating Though
the Mexican dcInurred at first preiu-
dice Was soon cast aside. Their limbs
might be black skinned and scaly with
out. hut within all was sweet, white
meat, like that of chickens aud frogs
legs
The iruanHs. which had their bur
rows In the ground, would climb up
each morning, up, up to the topmost
limbs Of some trees. and there busk In
the sun. They had most startling
way of descending, n beadlong dive to
the underbrush or into the water. As
twilight fell the sight of these grent
black Bppsrltions spravliDg earthwRrd
was most rems ~ n hle. n one of them
had ever struck W. In lts descent our
interest in this strange hSbIt would
suddenly have become lessened.
our ususl method Of procuring theee
giant lizards for our lHrder was to
shoot them high above us, when they
would tumble he8dlong 10 our feet
Sometimes We could approach close 10
one when IL was fast asleep in the
scorching heat OF midday. Once !
seized big fellow 10y the tail. was
sorry II moment later, but Ms ! did not
want to Le beaten By lizard ! held
stoutly on. Never before had ! taken
hold OF such steel spring. The crea-
ture curied and twisted and snapped
lis body about, the sharp scales hav-
lng anything but a pleasant feeling on
the palm of my band. suddenly some
thing gave way. and fell on my back.
while the iguanu shot of ia the or
posite direction into a deep hollow
among the rocks. When | regaiDed
my feet | found some nine inches of
tail in my hand. almost one third of
the entire animal
This Is not an uncommon occurrence
among lizards, and the ability 10 part
with so considerable Il portion of their
anatomy insures many an escape from
what would otherwise he inevitable
death
Almost all animals with back bones
have thick, pliable cushion of cGr-
tllnge between each OF the homes In
their spinal column, whi,h permits
them to bend and twist II with much
freedom. The backbone OF the iguGnH
H. nj first all carthage. and when tie
hard cells of the bone begin to be de
posted Il deep, narrow wedge or crack
is left IN each tail bone. This Is filled
with soft CnrtilRge. sO these bones are
greatly weakened near their centers.
Instead Of nm accidental defect this is
ais all Wise provision Of nature, fore
, seeing that hawks, vagrant natgr"lists
and oihsf sntmIes may some day be
too QuicE for th. reptile aud will seize
its tail before II can escape.
when this happens, MS In my ease,
the strain Of the struggling creatures
bod, ~ too great for the weak spots In
its tail homes. ana one Of these gives
way. with the result above narrated
1 The muscles. too, are arranged 20 aid
this phenomenon. They are short aud
thick and Conical instead Of running
the whole length of the tail, and, being
only dovetHiled together, they readily
give way. only few drops OF blood
escape, then the stump heals over, aud
before long new tail begins 10 shoot
out.
This. uf course. contains no bones,
but instead n long, unjOinted rod Of
cartilage exactly Ike the ancestral one
which was present in the embryo iru-
ana. Stranger still, the scales on this
new tuil are unlike those on the rest Of
the creatures body and actually may
10 Ike those Of some bygOne ancestor.
In the smaller lizards, called geckos,
this seems always 10 be the case.
When | closely examined the tail
which the iguHna had left in my hands
| saw that II was one Of these fraud
tails Hnd had long ago supplanted the
original arpcudaro, with which some
other enemy. doubtless n feHthered one
had nhsconded. Two new vertebrate or
tail bones had come of with the base
OF my piece.
Hut the owner cares nothing for the
number or character Of his new tails
They serve him well and he is content
II IL n curious fact that the tail making
machinery In his backbone 10 NO active
that sometimes double or even q
triple tail will push ont at the stump
snd when tie original tail II even only
slightly injured at one side tiny tai
, will often sprout out where Il has u,
right "a be &. William Beebe IN New