The sun., 1908-12-06
1--we WITHOUT WATER.
Curious Features Of Animal Mfe on ii
Deserts Of tho Southwest.

| Deserts Of tho bOuthW0bS'
No one can travel the hills and plains
Of southern California very long without
discovering that rabbits, quails. squir-
rels and any number Of reptiles and In
sects 1.-Two at great distances from any
visible water.
Living on bugs and worms explains
why the lizard, tho toad and some other
reptiles can live without water. 90 also
snakes which eat them and animals that
In some way msfege to keep blood In
their veins. In many parts OF Mexioo
deer and antelope 60 without Weeer on
trely, but they eat cactus, and eat II with
all its spines In good order and without
waiting for the new spine!sss cactus
Cattle In places do the same. But they
are generally poor. while deer and ante
lope are almost always fat on IT, l have
shot many Of them, writes q correspond
ent Of the Los Angeles Tinss. and found
the spines In the stomach completely
softsned, though they must have been
stiff and sharp when eaton shortly be-
fore. I never found any sticking In the
tongue or mouth.
On tho great Mexican desert OF Chihua-
hua and northern Durango. known as
the Bolson do Mapini. once spent two
months hunting deer and antelope. which
were very plenty. 1t was known posi-
lively that there was no water Wftnin
sixty miles except what leaked from the
water cars Of the railroad, and these
were twenty-five miles apart Although
tracks showed that both deer and ante-
lone passed within few hundred feet
OF the water in the night there was never
a track on the edge Of the little pond
where they could have had drink. They
must have smelled 1t. but evidently did
not want II.
But It cannot in this way be explained
how the bighorn or mountain sheep
goes 30 long without water. There are
some still left in the hills Of the Mojave
desert and every spring where they can
possibly get water is well known to the
many prospectors about here as well
as to the Indians who hunt them. 1t is
quite certain that they do not drink In
winter or spring, Two Pluto Indians
who killed fifteen three years ago Few
miles back OF my ranch and have hunted
them all their lives are quite positive on
this point, as well as all prospectors.
They are quite as positive that there Is
no green feed in the mountains at times,
but IL makes no difference. Most OF the
time the sheep have nothing but bunch
grass and brush which is half or .two-
thirds dry.
Still more remarkable is the way the
hare or jack rabbit goes without water
without particle Of green feed in sight
for leagues. You find him happy and
fat spending the day under scrap OF
bush that makes little more shade than
, fish net His skin Is as porous as
, piece OF buckskin. and the heat is enough
, to &aporate every drop Of blood in hh
. body IL 1t were 80 much blood IN oa1
O; buckskiu. And all this time he
r evaporating water through his lung
by his breath the rame an you do. Ye'
, there he will sit all day until evening
when he will play for miles over the still
/ ferv plain and run the sun race to bed
r Then he may spend half the nigh
dodping coyotes or hunting an alfaift
4 patch 70 find himself fenced out, when h'
3 will be ready to run the sun another race
Z out OF bed, apparently for pure fun Ans
3 when you bag him you will find him jus'
I as full Of blood as the thoroughbrec
q Belgian hare Of few years ago that USED
r to sit in bis cage on exhibition and drink
, water and eat green feed every few
, minules.
/. Has the reader ever seen a jack rabbi,
drink? Perhaps they can learn to. but
20 to a brook or wet ground after the
grass that grows along it's edge, but
viii they drink? / believe that in the
thirty-three years ! have been IN Cali
fornia l have seen about as many aa
: any one and watched them as closely,
/ have canped on the desert for days
at the only water in maSy leagues. with
rabbits about everywhere, but not ono
Of them, came to the spring. have
examined the margins OF many water
hole on the same kind OF ground. yet
. never found a track OF ono in the mud
beyond where the grass grew.
last summer We had raid OF rabbits
Ibeyond all conception. They were &c
bold they would come in before eundown
Our bitches had the only water for miles
but never one could be seen drinking
was irrigating sixty acres alone and was
! up at daylight and on the ground again
till dark when rabbits by the dozen were
trying TO get at the alfalfa. but for the
three months OF extreme heat tho rabbits
poured in on us from the dry bills never
saw one touch the water.
| Inc COHOutdh 10 ~ idio vi .no eyci
parts Of the desert that IL In difficult to
say with exaotness what he does not
do But sone thirty years ago. on the
road from San Diego TO FL Cajon. some
twelve miles, one could count q thousand
most any morning or evening 10 making
the trip by wagon. Most OF It was miles
D from any spring, and at the sprinS level
, could a cottontail be seen drinking
There was plenty Of cactus. but | nevel
saw one touch It. and ln places 1t woule
have been eaten clean on In week II
they had eaten II. With this exception
! there was practically no green iced "
S. summer or fall excePt. the ohappara!
t as one could see. All old settlers car
D remember the same thing in hundreds o
places. -
On the desert the life Of the ohipmunhi
= In quite as remarkable as that Of tho haroa
= There are two kinds where l live, bott
A very active, and in going from the houss
!. to the gate at the ditch TO turn on watsl
; see a dozen or 90 almost every time
:, go all sumner. Yet never saw ono a
!, the water, though it Ia tho only water they
y can get for miles, And as / 20 back ans
. forth late at night, and sometimes befor'
on moonlight nights, II ID fair TO presurn,
!. that they do not 20 to water at night. j
O is probable that IN seven years / woulc
8 have seen at least one moving sonewher'
n II they did.
: They live In holes In the ground in whici
q they must bake almost as badly as ths
: hare under the bush. Their range is verJ
t limfted-probably not over q hundred
L. Co. ~ h-lA -