Middlebury register. (Middlebury, Vt.) 1886-1937, 1916-09-08
COMMUNICATIONS.
A Y, NJ c. A, 100,

To the Editor af the Register
| think that the readers OF the
Register would be interested in an Sc
count Of the small 200 we are maintain
ing. 1t affords much amusement to the
men, and is interesting from the
scientific point Of view 1t comprises
quite a variety of animals; ! doubt II
even Barnum and Bailey could show
anything just like it,
The nucleus of this unparalleled col
lection of live stock was a horned toad
which was brought in one day and
given to Mr. Brown, 1t was smaller
than some Of the garden toads that we
have at home, and about as handsome
AS a Chinese idol, but perfectly harm
less. A few days afterward a small
desert turtle was brought in, and Mr.
Brown made a small cage for the two
II wasn't long before the men began
to bring in all the specimens that they
could lay hands on, and Mr. Brown had
to build larger cage. One day the
chaplain came in with bundle in his
hand, and said, "Col, Reeves presents
his compliments, and sends you another
horned toad. " We had three already,
but this was the largest we had seen,
larger than any of our garden toads,
and twice as homely They are found
in all sizes, from one that you could
cover with a twenty-five cent piece, to
one as large or larger than a bulI'trog'
After some time gopher or ground
squirrel was added to our mob OF turtles
and horned toads, and then the men
had something really interesting and
amusing to look at. 1t was a delight
to watch him dart around the cage, or
sit ~ and eat the mesquite beans and
bread which we fed him, holding them
in his paws, and combing his whiskers
after each meal. A few days ago
another gopher was brought in, and
the two are pretty good chums.
We did have a large crayfsh which
was caught in pond not far from the
camp, but it didn't last long in cap
tivity. We also had fine large cent?
pede which we put in the small cage
which MIR. Brown first made. We
thought that it couldn't possibly get
out, but the next morning it was gone,
How ever, there was one in ditch out
side the building which looked exactly
ike the first one. We put it in box
but it also got away and we haven t
seen it since. We have a dead one
which one of the officers pinned to a
stick after taking it to the hospital and
having it chloroformed. will not de-
scribe it in detail, as there is nothing
in the appearance of the creature to
appeal to ones sense of the beautiful.
1t is enough to say that the color scheme
is red, black and yellow, and that they
are much larger than the little brown
centipedes we sometimes see in Yer
mont. wouldn't recommend them as
pets for children.
Besides the other animals that have
mentioned we have a small rabbit, a
young sparrow and hound with a
litter of seven pups; not all in the same
cage, by the way. The puppies are in a
corner of the office, and the rabbit and
the bird are in the small cage, where
they live together on the best of terms.
The bird will perch on Mr.. Browns
finger and eat from his hand,
This afternoon there was a fight be-
tween one Of the gophers and a horned
toad. This particular toad had vicious
disposition, and whenever one Of the
gophers came near, it would make a
dash at the gopher, though it couldn't
possibly do any damage. This happened
several times in the past, and today the
gopher got his fighting blood up.
won't tell what he did to the toad
had to take the latter outside and put
an end to its sufferings.
The turtles have orange and black
shells which would be quite ornamental
if they were cleaned and polished.
think that they are of the variety
known as the box turtle. They GER
tainly are not mud-turtles, for they
prefer dry land to water.
| presume that by the time this is