El Paso herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1901-1931, 1912-01-27

Fla. It IS Of enormous size and feeds
exclusively on human beings-particu-
larry negro pickaninnias- In form Il
resembles a huge crocodile, but IS Gov
cred with long, glossy fur and has no
legs or fins, except one long spike On
Its back. To enable It To travel
through the muddy waters in which II
lives, nature has provided IL with an
arrangement Of three bony plates on
ths end of its tail, mucn resembling
the propeller Of a steamboat. These
however serve an additional purpose,
for, when the creature catches a col
ored person it losses the victim up
and backward so as to impale him
upon the spike-fin. The snOligoster's
tail is then driven into the mud and
reTolves until a hole is scoOped out
wherein the prey is deposited and COW
cred up to furnish a SUBSEQUENT meal
The SquOnk Is Harmless.
The sQuOnk on the other hand, Is
an entirely harmless, though very curl
GUS beast It is said to be fairly com
mon in the hemlOck forests Of Penn
sylvaniaI and IL travels about only al
twilight. Because OF its misfitting
skin, which Is covered with warts and
moles, it is always unhappe Hunters
are able to follow the squonk by its
tear-stained trail for the animal Weeps
constantly When cornered and escape
seems impossible, it may even dissolve
user IN tears. On frosty, moonlight
nights, It is often heard weeping IN
der the boughs Of dark hemlock trees
j. Z. Venting, formerly Of Pennsyl-
Eanlas but now residing at St. Anthony
Fark, MIMI had disappointing ex-
perlence with squOnk near Mont Alto
ne made q clever capture by -mimickfng
the squonk ana inducing 1t to hop
INTO sack, in which he was carrying
II nome when suddenly the burden
aghtened and the weeping ceased.
venting unslung the stack and looked
In There was nothing but feara ana
bubbles
Every lumber region Csays Mr.. Cox
mas It's strange animals, almost or
Wnolly unknown TO science. Thus in
the Ioggy country along the Pacific
coast from Grays harbOr to Humboldt
pay, there ranges a kind Of creature
that has caused much annoyance This
IS the gumberoo, which, fortunately,
Is so rare that a specimen IS seen only
once In long while. 1t is believed to
remain in hiding most Of the time in
side OF huge, burned-out cedar trees,
from which il sallies forth on maraud-
ing expeditions. Occasionally II will
eat a whole horse at one sitting.
No other animal within It's range has
ever found a successful method Of at
lacking gum0sr0O. Whatever strikes
the beast bounds off A stone thrown
at it is liable to rebound from its elias
TIC hide In such way as to strike the
throWer q deadly blow. Even bullets
gumberOos is thought to be due to their
combustible character, and the preva-
lence Of forest fires Fire, indeed, is
the only thing that viii destroy them,
and they burn like cellulOfd, with ex-
ploslTe force. Frequently during and Z
after a forest fire in the heavy cedars I
near Coos bay, WOodsmen have insist
ed that they heard loud reports, quite
unlike the sound OF falling trees, and /
detected the smell OF burning rubber
In the air.
An Unfortunate Animal.
It is a sadness to speak oS the Flu /
neral mountain terrashot which is GER !
-ainly the most unfortunate OF animals. !
From il probably comes the name Of I
The Funeral range IN California The
creature has q coffin-shaped body, six 1
10 eight feet long, with a Tat shell /
running the whole length Of its back
L was first seen and reported by some .
Mormon emigrants, who observed /
peculiar procession entering the desert I
rom a certain range Of mountains, aft I
arward named the Funeral mountains I
they witnessed the tragic fate OF the 4
Orutes.
One of the Mormons, his curiosity
aroused, made an investigation. which 4
resulted in finding out all that is
znoWn OF the terrashOt-- II seems that !
he animal lives in the little meadows /
and parks in the higher portions OF 4
he range, where IL gradually IN
,reases in numbers until seized by
TRANCE impulse to migrate. The beasts
hen form long professions and march
n single file down into the desert val
ey. presumably with the intention OF
rossing to other ranges. that can be
cen in the distance Not one Of them,
-OWever, ever gets across As they en-
counter the hot sands they rapidly
well with the heat, and one after an
,ther they blow up with 'resoUnding
eports, leaving deep, grave-shaped
iOles in the sand.
Tourists Fear sIide-ROck Boiler.
In the mountains Of Colorado. where
n summer the woods are becoming in
ested with tourists. much uneasinesE
las been caused by the slide-rock
,Olter. This frightful animal lives only
n the steepest mountain country I
where the slopes are greater than As
egrees. It has an immense head, with
mall eyes, and. an enormous mouth, /
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