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TEXAS |

NATURE OBSERVATIONS

- REMINISCENCES

BY

R. MENGER, M.D. —

 

SAN ANTONIO, TEXAS
GUESSAZ & FERLET COMPANY

1913
Biographical Sketch of the Author

Dr. Rudolph Menger, of San Antonio, is a native of Texas, and was
born in that city in 1851. He is the son of Simon M. and Augusta Louisa
Menger, both parents being natives of Thuringia, Germany, who came to
Texas in 1846, landing at old Indianola. Mr. Menger had been well ed-
ucated in Germany, was a thorough musician, and had there taught
‘school and music. From Indianola he pushed inland to Comal County,
and located on a farm near New Braunfels; at the same time he began
teaching vocal music. He moved to Bexar County, and located on a
farm a few miles from San Antonio, and from his home he rode into San
Antonio and gave singing lessons: Then he located with his family at
‘Boerne, Texas. About 1850 or a little earlier, he moved to the city, and
probably continued teaching music incidentally for several years. About
1858 he started a soap factory, the first ever conducted in all the south-
west. Several of his sons were associated with him in, business, as they
grew to manhood, and his son, Erick, conducted the business later on.
August went to Houston and started in business there for himself, and
established a flourishing business which he conducted until his death, in |
1893. Two sons, Oscar and August, served in the Confederate army; Au-
gust served until the close, but Oscar was twice severely wounded, and
disabled from his wounds, and was compelled to return home. The
father died in 1892 at the ripe old age of eighty-five years; he was a
prominent Mason. The mother had died some years prior. Our sub-
ject’s primary education was secured in San Antonio, at the old Ger-
man-English school on South Alamo street, and he began life as a
clerk in Kalteyer’s drug store, and then under the able instructions of
the proprietor, he also began the study of pharmacy. He was thus en-
gared from 1866 to 1869, when he went to Germany, and entered the
University at Leipsic, in Saxony, where he began the study of medicine.
He spent five years in study there, and graduated in November, 1874. He
returned at once to San Antonio, and became assistant surgeon in the
United States army until. the close of 1875, when he was appointed city
physician, and served until 1881; then for several years he devoted his
time to his private practice which became quite extended. In 1892,
he was again appointed to the office of city physician, where he served
in that office to the satisfaction of-all. In fact, he greatly improved the
appointment of the city hospital, and that instifution under his direction
was almost perfect in its operation and utility.4 He also has a large gen-
eral practice; had been an active member of the West Texas Medical
Society, and contributed freely to various médical journals. He was
tor a long time medical examiner for the New York Life Insurance Com-
pany, and many other old line companies. He was married in 1879, to
Miss Barbara C. Menger, a native of San Antonio, and daughter of Wil-
liam’ L. Menger of the same family name, but no kin. Her father was
an old and well known pioneer to San Antonio, from Germany. He erect-
ed the Menger Hotel, one of the finest hotels in all the United States, and
a popular resort to all visitors to the Alamo City. He was a very prom-
inent and active citizen of San Antonio, and started the first brewery
in the city, conjointly with Charlev Degen, lately deceased.

_ To the union of our subject and wife eight. children have been born:
Minnie, (now Mrs. Wm. R. Hoffman), born July 4th, 1880, Edward, August,
Louis, Gustave, Rudolph, Theodore and Margaret Menger. The sons all
have prominent and responsible positions, and the elders are the proprietors
of the elegant “Menger Apartment House” on East Commerce Street,
 

 

 

 

 

THE AUTHOR
Preface

This little work of “Private and Personal Observations and Remin-
iscenses” is dedicated to all friends of Nature, and to San Antonians
in. particular. It is not pretended to be a atncdly 4 scientific work,
though based on scientific principles, but more a popular and _ res-
ponsible treatise on Nature observations around San Antonio, the most up-
to-date and metropolitan city of Texas; with over 100,000 inhabitants,
with unexcelled climate, sanitary surroundings, artesian water supply, sew-
erage ‘system, unmatched public utilities, superb city parks and amuse-
ment resorts, up-to-date public buildings, a world-famed military post,
and last but not least, unequaled historic reminiscenses. It is a treatise
on insect and animal lifé, and some outing and hunting reminis-
censes in particular; and it is nearly alla reprint of original articles pub-
lished lately in Texas Field and National Guardsman, of which Colonel
O. C. Guessaz and Louis A. Guessaz are the editors, and to whom the wri-
ter is indebted for many courtesies. Also is the writer indebted to the
San Antonio: Daily Express for the loan of engravings from original pho-
tos by the writer, and to Mr. Albert Friedrich of San Antonio for the loan

of the elegant halftone plates of his unexcelled collection of Texas deer
horns, etc.

A work of this kind takes many years of personal and accurate obser-
vations and reliable original data, as well as up-to-date and original illus-
trations of each subject, and, in how far this has been accomplished, is
left to the kind judgment of the reader.

For want of space, time and chronological data, it’ would be fu-
tile to attempt writing a detailed description of “Old San Antonio,”
of which only a few works exist, and among these the newest and best
is written by Charles Merritt Barnes, entitled “(Combats and Conquests of
Immortal Heroes,” published by the Guessaz & Ferlet Company of San
Antonio, Texas (1910). It is a work of superior merit and profusely illus-
trated with early day scenes.

‘Tue AUTHOR.
OBSERVATIONS ON TEXAS INSECT AND
ANIMAL LIFE IN GENERAL

With Reference to the Objects Seen on the
Miniature Views Herein in Particular

‘Formerly the quaint .and his-
toric old Spanish-Méxican town of
San Antonio, now the Metropolis
and pride of Southwest’ Texas,
due to its semi-tropical climate
and ‘luxuriant vegetation and soil,
in its frontier days harbored a large
number of dangerous insects, which
nowadays are nearly extinct; but
the scorpion and centipede, and
a few others of its kind, are
yet occasionally met with along the
river bottoms, under old bark of
trees, under large, flat stones,
and among accumulated debris
after a flood. Though dangerous,
they are not as fatal in their venom-
inoculation, as for instance, some
variety of scorpions and centepedes
of tropical Mexico; however, their
repugnant appearance is enough
for us to let them, as many other
poisonous insects, severely alone.

Being a great friend of outdoor :

life, whenever opportunity allowed
it I had lots of practical experience
in my younger years to study all
kinds of Texas insects and animals
during hunting and outing tours;
and after, or during such trips
also prepared a nice photo collec-
tion of various of the Texas fauna
of Southwest Texas. A small part
of this collection is represented in
the miniature photo submitted
herewith, on page 6, the original ob-
jects being prepared on 4x6 plates,
while the entire original framed col-
lection is 26 by 33 inches in size.
It would be going too far, enume-
rating in detail all the objects of
this miniature photo collection;
some of them, however, undoubt-
edly will interest the readers, for

instance, the first upper object
representing the headparts with
poison fangs of a very young Texas |
centepede which was, when alive, —
hardly two inches in length, and

‘which shows how boldly, even at

this remote age of its existence,
the poison fangs are already de-
veloped, as also the feelers and man-
dibles, and is readily seen on the
original and highly magnified photo-

micrograph of this same insect.

In the third lower row, a centepede
is depicted, which was about six
inches in length, and captured in
a stable by afriend, (Edw. Heus-
inger, Esq., Secretary of the San
Antonio Scientific Society.)
During an outing in the hills
of Helotes, north of San Antonio,
the writer once came across one
of the attractive and globular
Cereus Cacti in full bloom. It
was one large conglomerated bun- |
dle of about ten or twelve cactus, ~
one ingrown close to the other,
so as to form a perfect rounded
mound, the size of a large bucket;
and, for reason of its attractive
blossoms of golden-yellow color we
were induced to dig the entire con-
glomeration out for transplanta-
tion at home. First we tried this
with a piece of mesquite wood, and,
after coming down to the roots of
the cactus, I put my right hand
under the loosened plant in order
to give it the final lift. ‘As quick
as lightning, however, I withdrew
my hand, for I received a fearful
and excruciating sting in my index
finger, from a large female scorpion,
which had prepared its breeding
nest in a furrow leading toward the
6 TEXAS NATURE OBSERVATIONS AND REMINISCENCES.

base of that cactus, close to the
roots of same.

The sting was so painful that,
in spite of some chloroform. used,
it lasted the entire day. Usually
on such trips I carried my emer-
gency box with me, containing a
few necessary surgical appliances

Pe

"

photo, also seen in the miniature
collection, (second last row) after
having chloroformed all the scor-
pions.

The following statistics of the
tropical scorpion show same
to be a more dangerous type
than the Texas variety:

1:

 

 

MINIATURE ‘PHOTO COLLECTION OF TEXAS INSECTS AND OTHER ANIMALS

and also a hypodermic syringe,
carbolic acid, cocaine, iodine, per-
manganate of potassium, camphor,
etc., and some of these appliances
would have given instant relief.

Before disposing of the large
scorpion and its young brood,
which were quite fully developed
already, I managed to prepare a

From an authentic official source
from a border town of Mexico,
the following deaths occurred from
the stings of scorpions (mostly
children of the poor, and a few
peons rambling around barefooted
at night): In 1906 fifty-four deaths.
occurred; in 1907 fifty-one deaths;
and in 1908, forty-seven deaths.

 

 
TEXAS NATURE OBSERVATIONS AND REMINISCENCES, 7

Formerly, the report said, many
more deaths occurred, as scorpions
were then much more numerous,
and a bounty has been paid for
nearly 100 years for the extermi-
nation of scorpions in Mexico.
(Official figures from Probate Office
in Mexico, at Durango.)

These statistics, as compared to
our North American scorpions
show that our scorpions are a rather
harmless creature as far as death-

Mexican scorpion as compared to
our Texas variety. It is of nearly
one half size longer and of a light
yellowish-brown color, and its tail
end venom receptacle harbors a
most poisonous fluid which it in-
jects through its needle-sharp and
curved tail-end-claw. This speci-
men was sent to the writer by
Dr. Jackson of Durango, Mexico,
and it killed a mouse in confine-
ment with same, the experiment

 

A Texas SCORPION WITH YOUNG ONES

cases from same are concerned,
and as to Southwest Texas, no
deaths from the scorpion bite are
resorded in the official mortuary
records of San Antonio, as far as
twenty or more years back. (Jno.
U. Mueller, Secretary of San An-
tonio Bureau of Deaths, having
looked up this record for me.)

The separate photo-view of three

scorpions in natural size, shows
the great difference in size of the

being conducted by my friend,
Dr. A. Lange, veterinary Surgeon
of San Antonio. Such experi-
ments, I may add, whilst they
appear horrid to some, it should
be remembered that mice and
rats, being great public nuisances,
they are often cruelly dealt with
by drowning or strangled to
death in traps, or poisoned, and
a chicken or a turkey’s head is
without much feeling, chopped off
8 TEXAS NATURE OBSERVATIONS AND REMINISCENCES,

with a hatchet, a daily .occur-
rance, and hogs killed with a
butcher knife—all offer a slow death
and the incarnate fiend in
human flesh, the murderer, stabs
or shoots a fellow being to death
without much warning. The
venomous animals, however, in seek
of food or as a means of self-defence

found on a prairie in a_ hilly
region, below a large conglom-
erated globular cactus where the
whole brood was dug out and
photo reproduced. It is quite a.
rare specimen and more fully
described already in another chap-
ter of these reminiscenses on Texas
insects and reptiles.

 

 

 

 

 

1. Narurat Sizz or THE Mexican Scorpion. 2. Futt Grown TEXAS
Scorpion. 3. Texas Scorpion (Witu Curvep TalL)

inoculate their victims with a
powerful narcotic secretion which,
after paralyzing the nerve centers,
gradually kills the victim or makes
him immune against resistance.
THE TEXAS SCORPION

On page 7 is depicted the female
scorpion with nearly full grown
young ones, magnified nearly one
time its natural size. It was

The second illustration (p. 9)
shows endparts of two scorpion’s
tail considerably magnified and
exposing some of the interior anat-
omy, with the venomducts, and the
glandular protuberance at the base-
part of each of the claws, all of
which is encased in a horny shell,
which covers the entire tailjoints.
and the upper body parts.
TEXAS NATURE OBSERVATIONS AND REMINISCENCES. 9

A sub-species of scorpion, the
so-called vinaigron or “nigger-
killer,” is nowadays a rare item in
the inland sections of Texas, how-
ever, they are said to abound quite
numerously around the frontier
towns. I always had been inter-
ested to see one of these long-
sheered, black scorpions alive and
study their habits, but never had

ducted with the said Del Rio
specimen. It was my intention
to get a mouse, and put it alive in
the bottle with this specimen,
for scientific observation, but not
being able to get one at the time,
I had several cockroaches caught
and put them all in the bottle,
to give the giant scorpion company
and to note what would happen.

 

Two VIEWS oF THE SCoRPION’S STINGING APPARATUS (Considerably Magnified).

an occasion until about two years —

ago, when a railroad friend, Mr.
Edwin Menger, Engineer on the
8S. P. R. R., presented me with a
large live’ specimen which was
caught around Del Rio, Texas,
and brought here in a wide-mouthed
bottle. So much has been said
and contradicted, ‘that they are
as poisonous as a rattlesnake,”
and that they sting with their long
-eurved tail, that I was anxious to
find this out, if possible. The
latter, however, could not be prov-
edjby a little experiment I con-

Hardly was this done when the
roaches became exceedingly lively
and crawled like mad around the
bottom part of the bottle, while
the vinaigron also became more
lively and fully outstretching its
sheerlike arms suddenly grabbed
one of the roaches and drew same
in a curved line toward its mouth-
parts, and sucked its lifejuice out.
Then it began mutilating its body
with its powerful. and moveable
endsheers, and to feed on the
fleshy parts. In a short while,
two more of the roaches were thus
10 TEXAS NATURE OBSERVATIONS AND REMINISCENCES.

kiued by the vinaigron. But
in no instance had we observed
that it used its long tail to sting
and inoculate its victims; it simp-
ly grabbed the roaches quickly
with its sheers and held them thus
to the mouthpiece for further
‘disposal.

 

 

 

Rio specimen, as seen on the min-
iature picture (third row, second
last picture) and a magnified orig-

‘inal view of same on this page show-

ing one nearly entire cockroach
and the mutilated bodyparts of the
others, with one of the roaches in
in tight embrace of the giant’s arms,

Res

 

 

THE TEXAS VINAIGRON WITH THE RoacueEs 1T MUTILATED

My friend, Mr. P. G. Lucas, a
prominent druggist of San Anto-
nio, and others witnessed this scene
with me as described; and, after
the vinaigron had finished its
meal, I took the bottle with all
the contents to my private office,
chloroformed the prisoner, and
prepared the photu of this Del

In rambling around the prairie
plains a multitude of interesting -
nature-objects often confront the
observant hunter and naturalist,
and it would take volumes of
print to enumerate in detail
the numerous insects and ani-
mals of Western Texas, and only
TEXAS NATURE OBSERVATIONS AND REMINISCENCES, 11

a few more of the miniature ob-
jects seen on the photo may be
mentioned.

The two large specimens of
arachnids (second last row) are
quite common in falltime and are
quite attractive when met with
suspended on their large round

and the huge spider, lodging in
the center, had a large devilshorse
(mantis) between its-:jaws, and I
succeeded in preparing a nice photo
of the unusual sight, but unlucki-
ly, the plate spoiled after develop-
ing.

In the third row, (8rd and 5th

 

PHOTOMICROGRAPH OF Fancs oF A YounGc TEXAS CENTEPEDE
(Highly Magnified)

network over branches of a bush
or tree, with their brilliant gol-
den-yellow colors, and jet-black
feet, with perhaps a grasshopper or
some other prairie insect between
_. the mandibles. During a hunting
trip last winter, I met a beautiful
network of such a spider along the
romantic San Antonio river’s bank,

views,) are seen the breeding-nest
or cocoon of this same spider spe-
cies. It was found in ahilly region,
suspended on a small-leaved acacia
bush, with myriads of the young
spiders crawling along the suspen-
sion network, which concealed the

~ cocoon, like so many acrobats.

It is interesting to note the ana-
12 TEXAS NATURE OBSERVATIONS AND REMINISCENCES,

tomical difference between the head
_of aneel and that of a rattlesnake,
(lower row), and the close resem-
blance of an eel to a nonpoison-
ous snake. The depicted beast
(Crotalus horridus) came near
making the writer ‘“immune’”’ from
writing about it for good. A
party of us were hunting quail and
wild doves in a friend’s pasture
where lots of sunflowers ripen in
falltime, and millions of doves

signal, only about four or five
feet in front of me. Luckily,
however, I had not crossed the
wire, or else the reptile would
have struck me, since it had al-
ready coiled into a spiral shape
and was rattling fiercely. As quick
as I noticed the beast, I put a shell
into the gun and shot its neck in
two. The snake had unusually
large fangs, and I took a close
focus view of the head afterwards—

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A Texas CENTEPEDE .

congregated on mesquite trees by
a nearby tank, for their nocturnal
rest. We were close to the wire
fence of the pasture, when several
doves were seen alighting close to
us but inside the wire enclosure.
With the gun unloaded, and in
the act of crossing between the
wires, I was horrified to hear a
huge rattlesnake giving its warning

nicely depicted on page 13. Had
my leg been entangled in¥ the
wire fence, I certainly would have
been struck; but as it was the rat-
tler got the worst of it.

As to Texas prairie snakes in
general, occasionally one comes
across queer freaks of nature,
such as have been also described
in the Texas. Field some years
TEXAS NATURE OBSERVATIONS AND REMINISCENCES, 13

ago. During an outing with a
number of friends last. fall along
the San Antonio River, below San
Antonio, one of. our party, whilst
getting ready to put his fishing
line into the water, was surprised
by a rustling among the leaves and
shrubbery along the river bottom,
and upon closer search, one of

 

the multi-colored kingsnakes was
seen battling with another variety
of prairie snake. It had the other
shake in its mouth, and had
nearly entirely swallowed it. At
‘another outing, near the same
- fishing place about a mile below
the Mission Espada, we came across
a very large kingsnake, which had.
in its mouth and throat a young
kingsnake, and we were in doubt
whether this latter instance was
a case of protection of its offspring,
or, as with the other specimen,
a case of cannibalism. Both of
these snakes were photographed,
and one of the views is the second
one on the lower row seen in the
miniature photo collection. Dur-
‘ing that same day of our out-
ing, whilst getting a bucket of
water from a spring close to a
ravine near the. river, I met a
moccasin about one and a half
feet long in my path, and the
snake at once showed fight by
thrusting its head upward with
wide-open mouth. This genuine
moccasin. of the ‘‘cotton-mouth”’

variety, when first seen was of.

unusual thickness, and therefore
I.was the more anxious to. kill
it, to note what it had swallowed.
With a stick and heavy blow, I
nearly severed its head from its
body, and bringing it on a forked

stick to camp, we all guessed what
it might have in its stomach,
some guessed it was a frog, others
said it was a toad, and: a lady
naturalist of our party suggested
a rat. On opening its abdomen,
we immediately saw that our lady
naturalist had guessed correctly,
for it contained a full-size water-
rat. The photo in the second last
row, shows the same small moc-
casin with the rat exposed in its
stomach. Near the neck-part of
the snake, which was split open
from the severe blow, the photo
shows the tail of the rat protruding
outside.

As to the various types of the
Texas tarantula spider, much su-
perstition and ignorance still exists. |
Asarule, they are quite as harmless
as many other poisonous animals,
if not annoyed oy incidentally
touched. A detailed account of our
Texas prairie spiders has been pub-
lished some years ago by the writer
in Texas Field, which will be found
on the following pages. The small jet
black and reddish-striped jumping
tarantula, encountered occasionally
in gardens and forests, is about the
most dangerous type.to be encoun-
tered, and the writer could cite sev-
eral serious but not fatal, cases of
venom-inoculation from these in-
sects. One large type of tarantula,
rarely -met with in these days
in inhabited places, but occasionally
encountered in open prairies, where
they sometimes move in large
colonies, is seen: depicted in the
third row of the collection. This
same huge tarantula was captured
by Private A. F. Denton, U. S.
Army, in camp near Fort .McIn-
tosh, Texas, and Mr. Denton sent
the animal alive to San Antonio,
where pictures of same were taken
by Wm. Stucke, Dr. A. Lange,
Veterinary Surgeon, and myself,
and Isubmit one of the photos on
page 15 showing the monster tar-
antula in front of the rat it killed.
(The photo being taken in the
sunlight through the glass panel
of the box at close range). In
14 TEXAS NATURE OBSERVATIONS AND REMINISCENCES,

order to note its venomous char-
acter, and the way in which it
inoculates its victims, Dr. Lange
put a large gutter-rat in a secure
glass box with the tarantula,
which inoculated the rat several
times, and it died in about five

and the venom serves at the
same time to preserve the victims,
insects, birds, mice, etc., as food
supply to them or their offspring.
Such is also known to be the case
in the tarantula-killing wasp (first
view, second row) which, however,

 

|
}
1
t
|

  
    

 

 

 

Texas FEMALE TARANTULA--(Natural Size). -

hours. This shows that the ve-
nom of this spider is a slow acting
poison, gradually paralyzing the

motor centers, with pralysis of —

the extremities and respiratory
centers, according to the amount
of venom inoculated. Usually
these, and other poisonous animals
inoculate their victim only once,

is not the regular tarantula-killer,
which is of more slender structure,
but powerfully built and which
inoculates its victims with its
sharp daggers, situated at the
abdomen, and which communicates
with the poison bladder of. the
wasp’s abdomen. (Abdominal
parts of this wasp species depicted
TEXAS NATURE OBSERVATIONS AND REMINISCENCES, 15

in third row, last two photos).

_I prepared the accompanying
separate photograph of two poison
fangs of the same species of taran-
tula as the one described above,
the specimens being also sent by
Mr. Denton from Fort McIntosh.
The venom of these animals seems
to be stored away, so to say, in
the mandibles, between the flesh
(muscular tissue) in ducts of two
separate cavities which communi-
cate with the poison fang. The
photos show the right and left
mandibles opened artificially, the

both mandibles and the fangs are
instantly put in motion in an
erect posture, and the fangs are
suddenly plunged or hooked in
the flesh of the victim, when an
infinitesimal quantity of the dead-
ly poison is injected into the
tissues and absorbed by the capil-
lary circulation. On examining
the original tarantula mandibles
sent by Mr. Denton, with a mag-
nifying glass, both of the fangs
showed at the upper curvature
and close to the apex, a very
minute outlet, and the lower photo

 

 

 

Texas TARANTULA (Wits Rat It KitzEp.)

upper one in part and the lower
one in its entirety up to the apex
of the curved poison-claw or fang,
showing both specimens magni-
fied about three times their nor-
mal size. The mandibles and fang
consist externally of a hard, dark
brown shell, and both mandibles
are covered with black, hairy
bristles. When at rest, the curved
fangs are retracted toward the
base of the mandible: but when
in the act of inoculating its
victims (as noticed by Dr. Lange
and myself in the case of the rat)

herein shows»the thin wire piece
which had been placed through
the artificially opened mandible
cavity along the opened fang,
with its exit near the point of
the fang, resembling in this respect
the anatomical arrangement of
the rattlesnake fang.

Finally, the miniature photos
show an interesting group of mos-
quito-larvae (first row, second
view), with stinging apparatus,
and nearly fully developed, to
escape their watery element, and
also depicted in the separate photo-
16- TEXAS NATURE OBSERVATIONS AND REMINISCENCES.

micrograph herein, showing, in up-
per row, some of the larvae mos-
‘quitoes nearly fully developed, with
the long, curved sting, etc., and
below some remotely developed
mosquito larvae are seen. They
were originally gathered from a
stagnant pool of rain water ina
bucket in the rear of a drug store,
which contained millions of them in
all stages of development. On the
third row of the photos, two
views of the pestiferous house-

 

 

 

“MANDIBLES WITH FANG OF THE TEXAS
TARANTULA

fly with eggs and ‘larval flies are
seen; and on first view, last row,
the sharp daggers of the blood
thirsty horsefly; also the eye-
globe of a fly; a number of tobacco
beetles and larvae of such, infest-
ing tobacco. Another view shows
the eggs of the Texas cattle-
tick; two views of heleramites, or
“water-centepedes; ;” a large col-
lection of poison fangs of various
venomous animals. of Texas; three
waterhen eggs in nest, and a
‘pair of young wild doves on nest,

as well as other views, all of
which, more or less, have been en-
graved from the original photo-
graphs and to be seen in other
chapters of this work in special
articles on same.

 

 

Two INTERESTING FLEAS OF a Mouse

_ Fleas on various types of quad-
rupeds vary somewhat as to size,
shape and color; and the photo
herein represents a male and female
flea of a mouse. Note the long
outstretched hindlegs, and the
stinging apparatus, which is nicely
represented in the following separ-
ate photomicrograph.

 

Tue Knives ann Daccers oF FLEAS
TEXAS NATURE OBSERVATIONS AND REMINISCENCES. 17

This photomicrograph shows
a flea’s stinging apparatus, magni-
fied considerably, with sharp out-
lines of the slightly curved daggers
—which the insect inserts into the
tissues and capillary layers of
its victims’ skin to draw blood;
‘the stinging and_blood-sucking
act being accomplished through
rythmical muscular action of its
head and stinging apparatus and

suction tube. Some of the tropical
and local sand-fleas have very
powerfully developed stinging im-
plements and cause intense irrita-
tion with inflammation and ulcera-
tion of the parts injured.

The second photograph shows
a small part of one of the hairy
front feet of the flea, adjoining
the long daggers.

New Texas Antkiller

A peculiar and rare insect in
our climate had been sent to me
‘some time ago by the Daily Ex-
press for identification, which
had been previously sent to the
Express office by V. 8. Kowalk of
Pana Maria, Texas, in a small
‘square box, including remnants
of earth and sand from an anthole
and large numbers of butchered-
up ants. When sent to me the
ant-destroyer was still alive, and
I subjected same and all the ants
and earth remnants to a close ex-
amination and photoreproduction.
It is seen on the photograph here-
in, about natural size, and readily
illustrates how this ant-killer had
disposed of its victims—our large
‘and poisonous red earth-ant, and
‘shows the powerful, large claws,
‘or fangs, its front head possesses
—unlike any other insect of its
‘size that I am aware of.

As stated, when received, this
ant-killer still showed signs of life
—as it moved about in a warm
room and the first impression it
made was the resemblance to some
tarantula spider for a young vin-
‘aigron, an animal which has some
characteristics of the scorpion and
of some spider species alike. On
-aeccount of its divided body be-
tween head and thorax (meso-tho-
rax), the position of the eyes and
being supplied with haired and
clawed legs, both of these animals
belong under the class of arachni-

dans or the spider family. As the
letter sent along by V. 8. Kowalk,
of Pana Maria is of much interest
and importance in connection with
the ant-killing qualities of this
insect, it is herewith reproduced
in full as follows:

‘‘T am sending you under separ-
ate cover one bug. that will eat
red ants and I want you to find
out what kind of a bug it is. I
found it in the ants’ nest just kill-
ing them and eating them about
a week ago, and I kept him in that
box ever since. I turn him loose
once a day in the ants’ nest to
have his meal.’’

In viewing the photo herein, it
is seen how this animal had
cleared up with the anthole and
dissected the ants, fragments of
which—heads, bodies and single
feet— being scattered all over the
photo-view. This it accomplished
by a regular ‘‘saw mechanism’’
the insect is supplied with at its
head mouth parts similar to an
ant itself. In examining the in-
sect it was seen that two large
projecting and mandible-like or-
gans supply its front head, and
that each of these organs had two
extra scissors-like movable fangs,
which it uses in grabbing and cut-
ting up the ants.

The head is small as compared

-to these protuding powerful fangs

and the head is supplied at its
frontal margin with two glittering
18 TEXAS NATURE OBSERVATIONS AND REMINISCENCES,

black eyes, also seen on photo. Its
ten feet and its entire body is sup-
plied with yellowish-red hair, and
the joints of the two front feet
are of black color, and they serve
as feelers rather than legs in loco-
motion.

The technical name of this arach-
nidan is Galeodes araneoides.

‘‘A recent traveler in Palestine
relates that when living in tents
on the plains of the Jordan, near
Jericho, each night as nearly as
possible between 9:30 and 10
o’clock, several sulpogids entered
the tent room, running and racing
with great speed over everything
—tables, ‘chairs and beds—just

 

 

 

 

 

 

amil

New Texas Ant KILLER

It is certainly a rare inhabitant
of Texas, but perhaps from fav-
orable (sandy) soil conditions and
our sub-tropical climate, it was
implanted, or it may be indigen-
ous to that particular district of
Bexar County where it was found
and observed killing ants. It be-
longs to the order of Solpugidea,
a small but remarkable group of
tropical or semi-tropical arach-
nids. This is ‘what one authority
relates of its life habits:

like mad creatures, but apparent-
ly with no definite object, per-
haps only attracted by the lights
burning in the tent. When dis-
turbed in their diurnal hiding
places they showed fight and were
extremely pugnacious, but their
being venomous is doubtful,
though the Arabs seemed to dread
them quite as much as they dread-
ed the scorpions, which were also
numerous under the large stones
lying about.’’
TEXAS NATURE OBSERVATIONS AND REMINISCENCES, 19

The Tobacco and Drug Store Beetle

In beginning to enumerate some
of my private reminiscenses in na-
ture observations, including ob-
servations on Texas insect life, in
the ‘‘Texas Field and National
Guardsman,’’ the peculiar life
history of one of the minutest and
boldest of injurious insects, the
tobacco and the so-called drug-
store beetle, may find first place
in these sketches; and the follow-
ing is substantially a reprint from
the Guide to Nature; a monthly
magazine devoted principally to
nature study, and edited by Prof.
Edward F. Bigelow, Sound Beach,
Conn.

In his editorial columns, Prof.
‘Bigelow introduced the above
matter in the following compli-
mentary and highly appreciated
words: <

‘*No. letters and contributions
come to the Guide to Nature,
which show more faithful and ef-
ficient interest in nature than

-‘ those from Dr. R. Menger of San
:» Antonio,
'- other correspondents, he does not

Texas. Unlike some
get provoked if we are obliged
to return now and then an account
of observations for which we can~
not find room.

““Then, too, he says and does
something; he does not send mere
words about what he would like
to do, nor does he send indefinite
eulogies of all the glories of na-
ture and of nothing in particular.
He gets down to business. He sees
things. He ascertains facts. He
does not get discouraged. He is
just the kind of faithful worker
we commend to other workers.
See his article, ‘‘Peculiar Meta-
morphosis of the Tobacco Beetle,”’
on page 94 of this number.”’

To begin with, about three
years ago, the Hon. P. G. Lucas,
oi San Antonio, -proprietor of the
**Mission Drug Store,’’ handed
me several samples of cigars and
other tobacco goods which had

larvae to a close focus

‘near focusing lens.

been perforated and otherwise ac-
cidentally mutilated by a min-
ute insect, one cigar in particular

‘being of much interest as it con-

tained larval vestiges (small

curved worms). The latter I gave
close attention since I was aware
that it was the larval state of the
tobacco beetle. The second cigar
contained three such larvae lying
snugly in furrows they had pre-

 

Fig. 1
Cigar with Tobacco Larvae Imbeded in
Furrows of Tobacco, slightly magnified

pared by their active jaws. I sub-
jected part of this cigar with the
photo-
graphic reproduction with extra
The result
is seen in the illustration here-
with submitted, (Fig.1) showing
the cigar and the imbedded larvae
(in the upper specimen) about

 
20 TEXAS NATURE OBSERVATIONS AND REMINISCENCES,

to transform into the pupa state
of development.

When under the powerul rays
of a bulls-eye reflector in this at-
tempt to photographically repro-
duce these larvae in situ, they be-
came quite lively and, fearing the
result would be spoiled, I dropped
some chloroform near the furrows,
when they ceased moving at once.
The photograph shows the larvae

 

Fig. 2. (1) Plug Tobacco Infested with the
Tobacco Larvae. (2) Tobacco and Drug Store
Beetles with Larvae. (3) Drug Store Beetles

at Normal Size.
in their natural positions as they
had not been touched.

Near these larval tobacco beet-
les are seen some holes and fur-
rows in the cigar which the ma-
ture beetles and afterwards these
developing larvae had prepared.
It seems that during the fall-and
winter the mature insects perfor-
ate the tobacco and also other
material such as food stuffs and
drugs, producing a round deep
hole not larger than the body of
the insect, and. then deposit. the

ova inside the tunneled holes when
after a certain length of time the
larvae seen on the plug cut tobac-
eo (FigJI.) and the cigar
specimen develop. This process
has been witnessed off and on
years ago and again lately by the
writer when the furrows of these
beetles had been exposed in to-
bacco and some drugs, either of
which they feed upon but with
preference for the tobacco and
usually for the best brand of to-
bacco goods.

These minute insects are occa-
sionally and numerously found in
dried vegetable drugs and house-

‘hold goods. But lately my friend,

the druggist, happened to find an |
old package of orris root powder

‘in which numerous round and oval.

shaped bodies of granular appear-~
ance were present which after
mounting and microscopical ex-
amination I found to be composed
mainly of the cocoons of the min-
ute tobacco beetle and I prepared

 

Two Tobacco Raa cee Drug Store
Beetle (Lower) and Larvae.

a photograph of.them magnified

slightly (Fig. IV.).. Nearly all of

these beetle cocoons: were in. the
TEXAS NATURE OBSERVATIONS AND REMINISCENCES. 21

breeding cycle, i. e., most of them
after opening the minute globular
capsule showed a small live and
curved larva. In others the ma-
turing larva beetles could be seen,
the larval state being in appear-
ance identically the same as photo-
graphed in Figs. 2 and 3. On
closer inspection of Fig. 4 several
of the whitish larvae of this beetle
are seen, for instance at the places
marked 1, and also two of the ma-
ture tobacco beetles, (center right
rear). Some of these larvae were
quite disfigured in general ap-
pearance from the fine orris root
powder adhering to their fine

 

~

Fig. 4. ,
Cocoons of the Tobacco Beetle with Larvae
Partly or Entirely Encapsulated.

hairy filaments. In a few artifi-
cially opened cocoons the larva is
seen quite plainly in the illustra-
tion.

It is an interesting fact, also
stated by Mr. Lucas, that these
tobacco beetles prefer the best
brand of tobacco and the more so
as they are occasionally found in
tobacco which had been sealed air-
tight in tin or wooden boxes and
therefore the probability presents

itself that these pests had been
conveyed through tobacco goods
in the tobacco factories before be-
ing put on the market, it being
very difficult to detect the minute
ova. How these beetles develop in
all sorts of tobacco is seen, as a
second example, in the so-called
plug tobacco, Fig. 2 (1), which
I also procured from the druggist.
I prepared the view with an ob-
jective lens applied to the camera,
showing the tobacco larvae about.
one-half times magnified, also the
second figure of the same photo-
graph, showing some of the larvae
of the drug store beetle and the
tobacco insect and also the ap-
pearance and size (about one-half
larger of the tobacco and the
drug beetle (the latter being more
slender).

In further experimenting with
this matter, I succeeded in pre-
paring the view, (Fig.3,) using an
extra strong lens to the
camera at quite near focus, show-
ing six of the tobacco larvae, two
full-grown tobacco beetles and
one drug store beetle (the lowest
one in the photograph) magnified
considerably.

The third illustration in Fig. 2
shows the closely allied drug store
beetle, named because of its pref-
erance of invading drug’ store
goods and infesting precisely in
the same manner as the tobacco
beetle. This view shows. the
beetles in very slightly less than
normal size. This drug store
beetle is more slenderly built than
the tobacco beetle, but otherwise
is of a similar, reddish brown
color and very active in its move-
ments. Both the tobacco and drug
store beetle, it seems, undergo
about one and the same cycle of
development and’ when the ova
are deposited in favorable media
of a powdered nature, such as rhu-
barb, orris root, slippery elm, lin-
seed meal, tobacco or cayenne
vepiper, the ovum transforming
into the larval state is encysted
22 TEXAS NATURE OBSERVATIONS AND REMINISCENCES.

into the globular forms similar to
these seen in Fig. 4 and similar to
the genesis of other forms of in-
sect life. ;

The harm these minute insects

are liable to do to tobacco, food

stuffs and drugs is often enor-
mous, and they are often a great
plague to dealers in tobacco and
drugs and, because of their minute
size and rapid movements, are dif-
ficult to exterminate. Being
winged as other beetles, they can
fly and migrate to distant places
‘and there perform the same havoe
and multiply enormously.

Both these minute beetles above
described tally with the observa-
tions of Dr. L. O. Howard, (Farm-
ers’ Bulletin 120) and Dr. F. H.
Chittenden (Bulletin No. 4, Divis.
Entom. U. 8. Department of Ag-
riculture and in our case the
matter is the more. interesting,
having found and depicted -the
larvae in situ and the larva of the
drug store beetle encapsulated in
the peculiar globular cocoons de-
scribed and illustrated herein. Dr.
Chittenden says in regard:to the
tobacco beetle, ‘‘as a tobacco feed-
er it outranks that species (the
drug store beetle) and also ap-
pears to favor certain medicinal
plants not so often affected by the
sitodrepa (drug store beetle.)

‘‘Of household supplies it has
been found infesting cayenne pep-
per, ginger, rhubarb, rice, figs,
yeast cakes and prepared fish
food. It has been reported as
destructive to silk and plush up-
holstery and the past year did
considerable damage to dried and
preserved herbarium specimens in
Washington, Of drugs it is par-
tial to ergot and turmeric and to-
baceo it devours in every form.’’

The druggists and tobacco deal-
ers throughout the country un-
doubtedly are familiar with the
above minute pests and this mat-
ter, I believe, will be appreciated
by reading these memoranda on
same.

On another occasion I happened
to shell out another larval beetle
from a cigar in its maturing cycle
of development—and a most in-
teresting study it was! Its eubie
length was only about one-eighth
of an inch, and it was in its shed-
ding stadium. After detecting
this specimen, which was partly
(its thoracic and head parts, an-
tennae, legs and part of the ab-
domen) denuded of its previous
external integument or hull and of
white color. I mounted it in

 

 

 

 

Photo-Micrograph of Maturing Tobacco
; _ Beetle Larvae
Highly Magnified.Original one-eighth inch.

glycerine on a slide glass, and at
once prepared the pho-micro-
graph seen herein, which I believe
an unusually interesting and rare
specimen to study the genesis of
such minute beetles.

The microscope and the photo-
graphic reproduction from the
original specimen show how the

-developing offspring of this min-

ute larva (hardly one-eighth of
an inch long) sheds its previous
integumental environments and
gradually, by means of rythmical
TEXAS NATURE OBSERVATIONS AND REMINISCENCES. 23

contraction and expansion of its
flexible body—similar to the shed-
ding process of a snake—frees
itself entirely of all its’ former
hulls. The latter are nicely seen
on this photograph—about half
way stripped of its new anatomy
—the lower dark outlines with the
characteristic hairy integumental
covering (a) and (b) being grad-
ually peeled off and folded up at
the base part (ab) of the new
beetle’s abdomen, when the thus
“newborn”’ little fellow is about
‘‘ripe’’ to escape into the world—
after further evolution of its tho-
racic organs, the wing parts and
other of its anatomy. Some out-
line of the (ringed) abdomen of
this maturing tobacco beetle are
quite plainly seen through the
dark outlines of the old hull (b)
and the developing feet (c) and
two antennal appendages—the

jointed and curved organs (d) at
the head parts (e) with both dark
eyes with lens, and the thoracic
outlines (f) are quite consnicuous.
The entire process resembles some-
what the shedding process of cer-
tain hairy caterpillars (larval
butterflies) and other forms of
insect life, including the vast
numbers of all genera of beetles.
When I first detected this speci-
men it showed life, but its move-
ments were very feeble and hard-
ly perceptible, mainly from ex-
posure, perhaps. It was found
snugly imbedded between some of
the cigar foldings, in a furrow
similar to the larvae found and
described and illustrated by the.
writer in the June issue of The
Guide to Nature, but it is a much
further advanced pupal state than
the one seen in the previous speci-
men of the single cigar specimen.

The Texas ‘‘Devilshorse’’ or Mantis Insect and Its
Breeding Nest

It is a noteworthy axiom in in-
sect life that all insects, even
those minute species hardly visi-
ble to the naked eye, develop from
ova or eggs, each ovum undergo-
ing a regular cycle of develop-
ment, typical to its sex; and the

sects, but it was only of late that.
I became aware of the manner in
which this mantis insect breeds
and develons its offspring.

It was in- the summer of 1911
that a friend, a farmer from the
Olmos settlement, north of San

 

 

ee

 

 

Younc ManTIS AND Ova--(Magnified one-third)

genesis of the devilshorse or man-
‘tis insect makes no exception. It
is but little generally known how
this peculiar insect does develop.
The writer is quite familiar with
the breeding history of most in-

Antonio, brought a small, square
paper box to my office contain-
ing the peculiar breeding nest of
a devilshorse and its contents—
hundreds of small and_ slender
shaped young ones, in various sta-
24 TEXAS NATURE OBSERVATIONS AND REMINISCENCES.

ges of development, and some of
the ova.

A number of these tiny, long
legged insects and the ova in va-
rious developmental stages, were
mounted on a glass slide and pho-
toreproduced. The engraving of

same herein shows the small in- |

sects plainly, enlarged about one-
third ‘time original size.

During outings, later on, several
of such peculiar breeding nests of
the devilshorse were encountered
along the river banks and hilly
regions south of San Antonio, on

 

 

 

 

 

Fig. 1. Nest cut in two, showing cell apartments.

Fig. 2. Nest intact.
various trees and shrubbery, with
preference on the mesquite tree
and a small leafed acacia brush,
loaded with scarlet red and glob-
ular blossoms. A small branch of
this latter brush containing one
such mantis nest was removed,
and the photo of same herein
shows the peculiar ‘‘caterpillar-
like’’ shape of this nest, showing
the inside appearance and some of

the many ‘cell apartments in
which the old insect had deposited
its eggs. These nests are about
one to’two inches in length and
worm-like shape; and its oval
shaped body is ribbed and of ex-
ceedingly compact structure—the
old insect using some kind of a
gum, perhaps mesquite gum, or
perhaps it manufactures a gum of
its own, to build its nest, and
glues it on the branches or the
trunk of a tree. The tubular cell
apartments of which this breed-
ing nest is composed and which,
when finished, is as hard as rock,

-reminds one of the cell arrange-

ments of the wasp nest and some
other insects; and the ova develop.
on about the same principle as the
wasps and bees, etc.

The full grown devilshorse, of
which an original picture from
nature is appended herein, is
nearly too well known generally
to go into details herein about
it. There exist various types of
these mantis insects, and some of
them attain enormous proportions
and they all are of a repugnent
and fearful looking nature— how-
ever, they are entirely harmless.

They are remarkable for their
slender grotesque form. One spe-
cies has a pair of legs in front re-
sembling a person’s hands when
folded in prayer and _ is often
called the praying mantis.

In writing one evening years
ago, attracted by the bright elec-
trie light, one of these long leg-
ged insects suddenly appeared
near my writing paper, and a
queer aspect it was to see the
insect standing erect on its hind
legs, and twisting its large bulg-
ing and glossy eye globes from
one side to the other—watching
the movements of my hand in
writing. Some timid persons nat-
urally get very excited, in encoun-
tering a devilshorse insect, but:
these insects nossess no weapons
of inoculation, and they only scare
a. person by reason of their pe-
TEXAS NATURE OBSERVATIONS AND REMINISCENCES. 25.

culiar. and characteristic position
of the two front legs as seen also
on the photo.

These insects have many ene-
mies, especially birds and tree liz-
ards. Some time ago during an
outing and camping under a huge

body and off it went into a hol-
low of the tree to finish its meal.
These tree lizards, by the way,
are very useful animals, as they
live entirely on insects, and they
should not be molested in any
way. There are various types of

 

 

FuLt Grown Mantis IN ‘PRAYING’? ATTITUDE

pecan tree a commotion was
heard, and looking around the
broad tree trunk two black liz-
ards were ncticed trying to catch
a large devilshorse. With a sud-
den jump, several feet off, one of
the lizards, grabbed the insect’s

tree lizards in our forests and
prairie plains and an interesting
lot they are when seen circling
around a tree trunk ‘‘playing hid-
ing,’’ like the wild squirrel in its

~ haunts when trying to evade the

hunter’s gun.

The Cotton Boll-Weevil Pest

In the following memoranda,
some of the original private data
are enumerated herein anent the
tiny pestiferous cotton boll-weevil
inséct that has caused millions of
losses to the Texas cotton crops
in late years; and, for better un-
derstanding the matter is illus-
trated with several original photo-
micrographs which, at this time
were prepared by the writer many
years ago, and were considered
the first illustrations of boll-wee-
vils ever made before by the pho-
tomicrographie ‘process, (being
used also in Leslie’s Weekly).

The insects proper at the time
shown in one of the illustrations
herein were obtained from Mr.
P. G. Lueas, druggist, and at pres-

ent alderman of San Antonio, who
procured them from a German
farmer and had a large number
of live specimens concealed in a
wide-mouthed bottle, supplied.
with. buds and bolls of the cotton
plant. The insects were not lar-
ger than a common fly; six legged,
winged, very lively and excéed-
ingly greedy. From what could
be observed in Mr. Lucas’ collec-
tion and- on sdéme of our cotton
fields near town, the insects lay
numerous eggs inside the punc-
tured bolls or buds or rather they
crawl inside the cracks of the boll
capsule and perhaps breed there.
The eggs develop numerous mag-
gots and these are soon trans-
formed into the young boll-wee-
26 TEXAS NATURE OBSERVATIONS AND REMINISCENCES.

vils which at once crawl or fly
around, if disturbed. One of the
photo cuts shows several of the
mature insects; they are so lively
and tenacious to kill that they had
to be chloroformed before a photo
reproduction could be made of
them. The following cut shows

 

 

 

 

Microscopic appearance of the Boll Weevil's
Nostrils, or Boring Apparatus, considerably
magnifi d, showing part of head, eyes, nostrils,
antennez, and the curved fangs on end parts.

the microscopic appearance of the
nostril or boring apparatus of the
boll-weevil. It shows the front
part of its head with both eyes
(partly destroyed from pressure
in mounting), the long and slight-
ly curved proboscis with two deli-
cate feelers (antennae), and its
extreme end part is supplied with
two curved fangs. The latter un-
doubtedly serve to lacerate the
tissues of the cotton plant, espe-
cially the cotton bolls and buds
whence they bore further and
through the entire capsule or buds.

A sub-species of this insect is
occasionally very numerously en-
countered in other plants, espe-
cially in cereals; and perhaps
those injuring corn, acorns, beans
and peas, etc., belong to the same
class. They bore, with a similar
proboscis as the one of the boll-

weevil, through the outer hull of
the corn, ete., and perhaps hiber-
nate there until favorable condi-
tions produces new crops of these
pestiferous insects. Some months
ago I noticed in the so-called
Mexican beans a great number of
these insects; they had not been
noticed until cooking the beans,
when the shriveled, dark objects
were noticed inside the shell in
the corner of the beans and they
resembled very much the cotton
boll-weevil.

The body of the boll-weevil is
of dark grey color, broad at the
rear and narrow toward the head
which is supplied, as stated, with
the long, curved proboscis and
antennae or feelers. Some writer
in the Galveston News related his
experience on boll-weevils cap-
tured alive and placed in a tightly
corked bottle. He brought this
bottle to an ice factory and there
froze it in the middle of a 200-
pound cake of ice. After this the
cake of ice was put on exhibition
on the street. ‘‘After melting,

  

Seven Cotton Boll Weevils Magnified
Slightly

the weevils were exposed to the
sunshine and after thirty hours
captive in this frozen state it was
proven that the weevils showed
signs of active life.’’ No wonder
the search for an agent, chemicals
or otherwise, is baffling the minds
of researchers. Fortunately though
some ways and means undoubted- .
ly will be found to capture and
destroy them.
TEXAS NATURE OBSERVATIONS AND REMINISCENCES, 27
The Fly Nuisance.

There exist in all communities
and outside of these, two main
types of pestiferous flies—the com-
mon housefly. and the socalled
blowfiy—or dumpingfly, as they
dump myriads of eggs on decaying
and offensive material, as. well
as on meat of all kinds. Both of
these fly species are a great public
nuisance, for various reasons. Both
of them can be kept outside of
dwellings by properly screening
the houses, stables, etc. The call
is to exterminate them—kill as
many as possible, as thereby mil-
lions of offspring will not exist
in the near future, which would
perhaps molest you or contaminate
your food-articles or transmit dis-
ease germs directly. ,

Just now again sanitarians and
our health department are giving
considerable thought to the eradi-
cation of the fly nuisance, and
they urge to screen the houses
and premises and keep them clean
and in a sanitary condition. Sta-
bles especially, and outhouses,
slaughter houses, hog pens, and
in fact all such’ places where
decaying and offensive material
is liableto accumulate, should
constantly receive sanitary atten-

tion, as flies and other injurious.

insects breed therein. By keeping
such places as clean as possible
and occasionally through sprink-
ling with lime and coal oil, carbolic
acid, etc., much good can be
done.

With our common houseflies,
always more ‘or less flies with
sting-weapons commingle, and
many such, especially of the stable
variety, resemble the common house
fly very closely. The cluster-fly
also often commingles with the
housefly; it is somewhat larger,
with smooth colored dark abdomen
and studded with yellowish hair.
It is, however, not as active
as our common fly and is often
subjected to a peculiar reddish
fungoid growth or parasite, which

often kills the fly and is thus
seen adhering to the window panes,
walls, etc.

A large variety of other obnoxious
fly species are the blowflies, those
large and shining flies, with glitter-
ing blue or green body. The
majority of them belong to the

‘viviparous insects, the eggs being

matured inside the fly’s abdomen,

.and deposited in form of minute,

wriggling yellowish-white worms.
Some such species, however, lay a
large number of very minute,
oval-shaped and elongated eggs,
depositing same on all sorts of
fresh or decaying meats and food-
stuffs, and with much preference
also on venison of all kinds,
and they therefore are the most.
disgusting flies. on record.

In slaughter-houses (not screened)
hog pens and on dead animals
they swarm by the millions and
they breed and multiply
in an exceedingly short time and
inimmense numbers. On the prai-
ries and plains dead animals are
usually covered with them, black
masses of such flies and billions

_ of their larvae, and while feeding

on such decaying animal matter

they are liable to be swept by the

wind currents into inhabited places
and here infect occupants of dwell-
ings or the domestic animals.
By their immense numbers and
multiplication they also do some
good in absorbing putrid fluids
and tissues, but. our common
turkey buzzard—that great sanita-
ty scavenger of the prairies and
plains—does_ vastly better serv-
ice in disposing of a dead animal.

These so-called ‘‘dumping flies”
or blowflies are also and especially
a great nuisance at certain seasons
of the year in camp, during
outings, fighing time, hunting, etc.,
and parties attempting a pro-
longed outing trip in the woods
should provide themselves with
mosquito netting or wire screens
to cover the foodstuffs and game
28 TEXAS NATURE OBSERVATIONS AND REMINISCENCES.

in particular, as the blowflies
will sure be there in a short time
and game and fish of ali kinds if
not properly protected are in-

fected.
In order to show the reader the

inside anatomy of a blowfly variety,

The small worms seen on the
photo were alive and crawling
but were made motionless, for
photo reproduction, with a few
drops of chloroform.

The view was taken with an
extra-near focusing lens, showing

 

Larce Type or FemaLe Houserry Depositinc Maturep Ecos.
(Magnified from Nature.)

a photograph of two such flies are
appended herein, (page 29) magni-
fied several times. The abdomen of
one of these flies had been opened
artificially. It was not the com-
mon blue bottle blowfly variety,
but, a sub-species of a larger
variety of,;our common housefly.

both flies magnified several times.
This illustration proves that some
species of these flies are viviparous
during the extreme hot weather.

‘(The photograph was taken last

summer, end of July, about the

‘time of writing these notes.)
-had’ previously put one of these
TEXAS NATURE OBSERVATIONS AND REMINISCENCES. 29

flies in a gmall and thin glass,
and it was observed how the fly
deposited the living larvae, which
soon crawled around the interior
of the glass. As a rule, however,
most species of flies deposit prema-
ture ova and sooner or later,
according to temperature and other
environments, these are developed
into the larva and pupa states.

 

Two Common HovusEFLigEs
--« Slightly Magnified: Lower One with Opened Abdo-

men, Showing the Man tee ease or Flyworms (Lar-
va ies).

Both of these flies, I may state,
when captured on a window pane,
were quite large and the abdomen
distended, and one deposited living
worms shortly after being put into
the small glass.

How immensely the flies breed
and multiply during the hot season
is well known and _ illustrated
herein—each of the small creeping
“worms” on the photo representing
a future fly. I had prepared the
view during an outing and hunting
trip to a relatives farm where
the entrails of a small cotton tail
rabbit were purposely hung up
on a board to attract the blowfly.
Tt was in hot summer time, and
hardly had an hour passed when the
entire ‘intestines and the board
itself swarmed with blowflies and
others of the pestiferous insects.
Fly eggs-and living 'flyworms were
soon present by the: millions,. and

the photo seen herein was taken
on the second day with a close
focusing lens and a Bausch & Lomb
extension camera, showing the
uncountable swarm of living fly
worms. Had this same board with
the rabbit entrails been properly
screened not one of these fly
worms would have been presént.

Now, this also gives us a good
lesson in how to destroy a fu-
ture fly scourge in its incipient
stage—simply by pouring a quart

-of boiling water on such masses

of blowfly worms and eggs of
flies. In camp also, this method

of putting a piece of entrails,.

some rotten cheese, or meat, dead
fish, etc., ‘to a place outside

of camp, but near same, will

attract all or most of the flies in
the near vicinity and keep them
from molesting the campers.

-Chief Entomologist Howard, in

‘his admirable works on_ insect

life, states that the. period of
development of the fly ova were
found to be about as follows
(in the climate around Washington,
D. C.): ‘Egg from deposition

to hatching, one third of a day;
hatching of larvae to first molt,

 

Myriaps oF Live Larval FLIEs
(Maggots) and-Eggs Deposited by Swarm of
Flies on Entrails of Rabbit (One-half Natural
Size). : :
one day; first to second molt;
one day; second molt to pupation
three days: .pupation to issuing
of ‘the adult, five days; total life’
round, approximately ‘ten days.
30 TEXAS NATURE OBSERVATIONS AND REMINISCENCES.

The number of eggs laid by

individual fly averages about 120,
etc.

In our warm Texas climate.
flies and other insects usually
in a very

develop rapidly and

ary

 

 

With the greater interest taken
by the public in general and the
laudable work of the local press
and city officials on educating |
the people on the fly, mosquito
and other insects, the time will

 

 

 

 

 

-PHOTOMICROGRAPH OF MouTH Parts oF HouseFriy

1. Capillary Absorption Tubules of the Flexible Tongue. 2. Muscular Sheath Containing Tubules
Leading to the Stomach. 3. Antenae. 4. Part of the Eyeglobes (Prismatic Eyecapsule.)

short time, and the blowfly variety
especially can often be noticed
depositing live larvae, also such
species as the common house varie-
ty as thefirst one in the photoview
herein, which usually seeks a
horse manure pile to deposit their
offspring in.

undoubtedly arrive soon when the
populace will be decidedly less
molested and endangered by such
pests; the main point is to heed
such advice more and exert a
little common sense and do some-
thing to keep the houses and
premises free of injurious insects.

 
TEXAS NATURE OBSERVATIONS AND REMINISCENCES. 31

Sprinkle lime or crude carbolic
acid or kerosene oil, or boiling
hot water with a sprinkling can
once every week—but thoroughly
—on all manure piles and other
filth around the yard, and note
the decided absence of the fly
pest around your kitchen and
dining-room in a short ‘time and
during the hot summer months
to come. Try it and do. it. the
year around, and. thus avoid such
insects as depicted. herein .from
nature from daily and..constantly
annoying you and ‘creeping into
your soup, milk éaris, foodstuffs,
etc. It is to our ‘own ‘interest
to do something and: to keep it
up during the warm season.

‘As is well known a fly’s head-
parts consists of the two dark
and globular eyeballs and the
mouth parts at its interior base—
comprising the protruding, long
tongue or proboscis; and, in such
genera of flies which sting—with
extra stinging implements—knives
and dagger-like implements which
the insects gradually work into
the skin -tissues and capillary
layers until blood oozes, which
is then absorbed by special suction
tubules. The mouth parts vary
considerably in different species
of flies; the common housefly,
and as seen on the microscopic
photo above, being void of special
knives and daggers, but supplied
with a long tongue or suction
tube (1 and 2 on photo.)

This tongue of our common
fly species is wonderfully composed
of a network of delicate absorption
tubules (at 1) which during the
act of feeding is supplied by aid
of the muscular and very flexible
neck part of the tongue’s body
(at 2) and communicates at the
inner base of the flies head and
thorax with the stomach.

' The eyeball of the common fly
consists of numerous prismatic
segments (4) which vary but little
in various fly species, though some
show more or less: arranged lense
‘segments. wets :

“ In the vicious fly species these
lense segments seem to be more of

‘a cubic formation; however, they

vary slightly in appearance during
‘microscopic and photomicrographic
reproduction—according to the an-

‘gle of light reflex applied to
‘Wluminate such otherwise invisible

objects.

‘In the common housefly, as
stated, the tongue’s suction appara-
tus consists of numerous hair-fine
capillary tubules arranged in spiral-
shape at the apex or lobe of the
tongue with which the fly sips its
food and absorbs it through these
delicate capillary loops.

In some of the vicious prairie
flies and the cattle fly there exists a
combination of such suction appar-
ati—besides the tongue with which
the fluids are aspirated after
searifying their victims with their
powerful sting implements.

Some Rare Prairie Flies

Our ‘Texas prairie conceals a
large variety of more or less
vicious fly species among which
the so-called humpback fly and

' «the horse fly will be considered

here. ed ;
One of the prairie fly pictures

peculiar fly species which, in one
way also, is a useful fly, as it
attacks and destroys wasps and
other vituperous insects. This fly
has‘ somewhat the general ap-

‘pearance of a wasp itself, . but

it has such peculiar and characteris-

tic anatomical arrangements that
I am sure these insects belong
to the fly family, for these reasons:
First, they have the same number
of haired feet, with the characteris-
tic footclaws and footpads, and

“ shows same in the act of carrying
-- its victim—a black wasp.

Among the numerous and various

-- types of prairie flies, for instance.

there exists a peculiar and not

generally known type of a most
32 TEXAS NATURE OBSERVATIONS AND REMINISCENCES.

secondly they have about the same
netwings and eyes—the latter of
a greenish color and of the same
prismatic and cubic arrangement
of the lens segments; and third,
the mouth parts have a cimilar
anatomical arrangement as the

vituperous horse-fly species. The .

most prominent characteristic of
this fly, however, is the peculiar
humpback-like thorax, which pro-
trudes considerably over the balance
of its body. In flying, these flies
make a humming noise with their
wings, and they are exceedingly
swift in their flight, flying however
only a short distance, and always
with aloud buzzing noise, which
is suddenly cut short when they
alight on the ground or brush.
During a hunting trip in the
lovely Leona Valley and also at
the Olmos, north of the romantic
head of the river, some years ago,
the writer first encountered these
insects; and one in particular
attracted my attention, as it carried
a large black wasp in its claws dur-
ing its flight. I followed. it a
short distance, when it lit on a
sunflower bush, and on closer

 

Vicious Prairizg Fry Witu Its Victim,
A Biack Wasp.

(Normal Size from Nature)
inspection it was seen that it had
perforated the wasp's abdomen
with its long proboscic implements.
Being supplied with some chloro-
form, a few drops gradually made
the insect loosen its hold and drop
to the ground, still having the
wasp in its clutches; and, after
bringing this specimen home, I

prepared a photo view of it,
showing also the captured wasp
beneath it, though the feet were
somewhat relaxed and the mouth
daggers of the fly also retracted—
placed in normal condition.

As to the harm some of the
Texas insects and also reptiles
are liable to do, while the great
majority of insects and reptiles
in Texas are of a harmless nature,
some genera are supplied with

 

 

 

a

THe ToncuEe anv Daccers cr THE TEXAS
HorsEFLy

special weapons of defence,as

well as with venom apparati, com-
municating with separate inocu-
lating (stinging) implements, which
they use with more or less deadly
effect during combats among them-
selves or aS a means of self-
defense or of food supply, by
inoculating and killing their victims
and, whilst the majority of the
dangerous types of insects and
reptiles are liable to inflict very
painful, and, in rare instances,

‘deadly wounds upon'‘human beings,
‘they rarely attack a person unless

they are molested, either purposely
or accidentally.

After the above humpback-fly
had been captured and _ photo-
graphed with its victim in its
clutches, I prepared a photomicro-
graph of this fly’s suction and
stinging implements.
TEXAS NATURE OBSERVATIONS AND REMINISCENCES. 33

‘The photo herein shows the
thick and broad tongue and the
long, sharp and dagger-like sting,
of which the central dagger is
most prominent and with which
it had perforated the wasp’s abdo-

 

PHOTOMICROGRAPH OF THE MOUTHPARTS OF
THE HuMPBACK PRAIRIE FLy.

men. The stinging apparatus
of the horsefly is of nearly the
same anatomical structure, but

it has even bolder daggers, with |

which it mercilessly tortures the
horses as well as all kinds

 

 

 

Texas HorsEFLIES
(Slightly Reduced)

of cattle. They scarify the skin
and bore down to the blood
capillaries until blood oozes in
streams from the wound.

Our prairies also harbor among
other such vituperous fly species
a very large, jet b'vck fly, about

the size of a cockroach. It, however,
is not as numerous and otherwise
conspicuous as this fly and the
common prairie cattle or horsefly,
but it occasionally attacks cattle
and horses, and it is supplied
with a. number of fearful looking
knives and daggers at its mouth
parts, and which the insect plunges
into the hide of the cattle, causing
tke blood to ooze freely from the
large scarified wounds.

Having captured one such fly
during an outing in Medina County
some time ago, I prepared a
photo-micrograph of the stinging
implements of the fly, showing
a-number of sharp-edged knives
or lancets and dagger-like cutting
implements, with a main central
suction tube with which this insect
aspirates the oozing blood of ani-
mals, after scarifying the skin
with the other sharp instruments
which resemble those of our com-
mon prairie horsefly.

The original micro-photo, of shily
fly shows the mouth, stinging and
suctionimplements magnified abdut
fifty times by means of the photo-
micrographic apparatus’ and con-
centrated lamplight exposure.
Some vicious species of wasps and
the vituperous bumble-bee and nu-
merous other prairie insects show

 

STINGING IMPLEMENTS OF A LARGE, VICIOUS
PRAIRIE FLY
34 TEXAS NATURE OBSERVATIONS AND REMINISCENCES.

similar stinging implements,
though varying in certain genera.
The stinging implements of most
insects, in the inactive state, are
concealed in a hollow sheath along
the base and interior part of the
proboscis, which comprises the

flexible suction tube or tongue,
in some insects. -

When in the

 

 

PHOTOMICROGRAPH OF A Mosguito’s Heap

AND STINGING IMPLEMENTS :
act of stinging the needle-pointed
daggers are separated from the
hollow sheath and, through muscu-
lar action at the base parts and
rythmical motions are gradually
pierced through the skin up to
the, capillary layers, when blood
is liberated and absorbed through
suction.

The original photograph of a
mounted mosquitoe’s mouth parts
shows one of the daggers inside the
central sheath, and two slightly
curved daggers outside of same. The
knoblike end part of this broad, hol-
low proboscis is jointed at its lower
part, and consists of two hairy pads,
which is also set in motion by the
mosquito during the suction act,

 

and serves to accumulate and ab-
sorb the blood particles.

It is quite well known that a
variety of insects, in particular
blood sucking insects, are liable
to transmit morbid  tissue-pro-
ducts and pathogenic micro orga-
ism upon man and animals. This
is the case with some species. of
flies, which can transmit anthrax

_bacilli, after feeding on some such

diseased animal, and produce the
malignant pustule; and the horsefly
with its powerful developed mouth-
parts of daggers and lancets, scari-
fies the thick hide of animals
until blood oozes from the wounds,
and these scarified places often
suppurate later on, and are then
infested by other insects, especially
the blowfly, which deposits numer-
ous eggs, from which the screw-
worms develop; or the small gnat-.
flies, and mosquitoes, feed on
the suppurating surfaces, trans-
mitting pus and blood corpuscels, ©
etc., upon other animals or man,—
for instance, opthalmitis,  etc.,

when coming in contact with the
conjunctiva of ‘the eye. Ticks,
and especially the common bedbugs
are also on record as_ bacteria
transmitters,—notably also the tu-
bercle bacillus from phthisical pati-
ents; and the cattle tick, It is

 

EyELENS SEGMENTS OF THE TEXAS HORSEFLY
quite conclusively proven, pro-
duces the so-called Texas cattle
fever through inoculation.
TEXAS NATURE OBSERVATIONS AND REMINISCENCES. 35

Of late years the mosquito
pest has lost its hold in those
cities following and exercising mod-
ern methods of mosquito exter-
mination, and San Antonio has

 

Mosquito WIGGLERS
(Upper Row, Nearly Full Grown Mosquitoes).

(Lower Row, Larval Mosquitoes in Remote
Stadia of Development.

done its share in that line. Much
of this also is due the oiling of
streets by the county and city
authorities. In former years it
was impossible to have a good
nights rest on account of the
mosquito pests throughout the
warm summer months—up to late
in fall; but, since the oiling of
stagnating waters and breeding
places of the mosquito have been
inaugurated and especially also
the oiling of streets, the mosquito
pest, and in fact, all sorts of
annoying insects have been driven

to outside haunts, as it is simply
impossible for such insects to with-
stand the odor of oil. Inhabitants
along oiled streets in particular,
corroborate this, and they are
relieved of a great annoying insect
burden since .the city’s streets
have been subjected to occasional
oiling along the carlines, etc., and
the terrible dust nuisance is also
thereby abated and the streets
put in a better trafic condition.

 

 

 

‘STINGING APPARATUS
(Suction Tube and Dagger) of a Full Grown Mosquito

 
36 TEXAS NATURE OBSERVATIONS AND REMINISCENCES.
The Forest Tick

Who has not during an outing,
or traveling through a forest,
or along the refreshing banks
of a romantic rivulet been exposed
to the tortures of the small crablike
wood-tick? Many a pleasure and
recreation seeking party has often
been made miserable and disap-
pointed at a beautiful camping
place on account of these mean little
creature3; but a little precautionary
measure usually will prevent this’

Our ‘bottom land, and in par-

  

Heap AND MovurtH Parts or Forest Tick

ticular certain trees and plants
in mountainous regions, and the
live oak, forests, conceal immense
numbers of the pesky parasites,
and, in camping at such places,
it is always well to'be provided
with some camphorated oil or
carbolated vaseline as a precaution-

ary measure to ward off the
intruders—as well as other insects
of the pesky tribe.

When once perforated with their
powerful mouthdrills, the small
reverted hooks of the  boring-
machines cling to the body tissues
like a leéch and only the forcible
tearing off of.the tick’s head
lessens the excrutiating pain these
pests inflict.

The original microscopic illus-
tration herein of our common wood-
tick exposes the powerful boring,
cutting and suction implements
of a young tick, considerably
magnified. _

With these three strong, boring
instruments the tick bores, cuts
and dilates the scarrified tissues
until blood oozes, and the entire
boring machine is inserted down
to the base parts of the head,
at the same time the smaller and
broader cylindriform suction in-
strument (seen on the photo)
serves as the main suction and
absorption apparatus of the tick
with which it sucks the blood.

This boring and cutting act
into the skin is very painful,
and the riveted hooklets hinder
the boring apparatus to be re-
tracted and usually is so tightly
entangled within the tissues that
only by force the tick’s body
can be removed—usually leaving
the entire mouth-parts and the
head of the tick inside the skin.

The Texas Cattle Tick and Eggs Under Microscope

It is hardly conceivable to the
casual observer how immensely
the cattle tick really propagates
but a mere glance at the photo-
engravings herein, at once ex-
plains the matter.

Through courtesy of a farmer
friend at the Olmos settlement,
Anton Krug, the writer had oc-
casion to peruse a few private ob-
servations regarding the interest-

ing development of the pestiferous
cattle tick, how it breeds its eggs
and how they develop into the

. mature insect.

Some years ago, Mr. Krug had
gathered trom his cattle, during
the months of December and Jan-
uary, numerous cattle ticks in a
small perforated box, and some of
these I preserved in a plain small
pill box, partly covered with cot-
TEXAS NATURE OBSERVATIONS AND REMINISCENCES, 37

ton. This was January 18, 1910,
and six days later, on examining
the ticks two of them had hatched
myriads of pinhead size eggs of
oval or rounded shape and red-
dish brown color and of uniform
size. These er-~ were conglomer-
ated together like a bunch of
grapes and hundreds of them were
hatched by a single tick in a few
hours and the photo-reproduction
of this tick seen herein, with
a portion of the myriads of tick
eggs it had deposited a short time
before, gives us an idea how im-

developing, and on February 20,
a few of the latter specimens were
again mounted on a slide glass,
and a microscopic photo plate
prepared. This view shows how
the eggs progressed developing in
the meantime, and how the cellu-
lar and other elements of the egg
contents developed into a separate
oval-shaped body—the future cat-
tle tick—these embryonic bodies,
of course, still being under de-
velopment, until the advancing
warmer weather was to eventually
develop all of the embryos into

 

 

 

 

 

_ Texas CaTtTLe TICK, MaGNIFIED SEVERAL TIMES
AND Ecos Ir Larp 1n CONFINEMENT.

mensely these ticks breed. The
tick, with its eggs on this view, is
magnified about five times, show-
ing the tick on its dorsal side,
with the surrounding glistening
eggs. |
Being now more interested to
note the further development of
such eggs, numbers of them were
‘mounted in an artificial blood
‘preparation (bovinine) and_ gly-
cerine and, though observed dur-
‘ ing .cold weather we had at the
time, the eggs slowly progressed

the mature insect.

These developing eggs show
how the outer egg-shell—its cal-
careous environments—has separ-
ated from the inside delicate cgg
membranes, inside of which the
developing tick embryo is snugly
imbedded.

When examined several days
after the first crop of eggs
is laid, the original fresh egg shell
assumes a darker color, nearly
black, from accumulated caleare-
ous and other matter, but later
38 TEXAS NATURE OBSERVATIONS AND REMINISCENCES.

on much of this calcareous outer
shell is absorbed by the growing
embryo. Some of the eggs were
disintegrated through artificial
means or partly dissolved in the
preserving fluids in which the
eggs were mounted for microscop-

but in this case they. were about
three times larger than when first:
laid by the old tick, when they
were more of a yellowish r. G, glit-
ttering color. In its further devel-
opment the inside, oval-shaped

body, the developing tick embryo

 

 

CattLe Tick Eccs In Various StTaGes OF DEVELOPMENT, SOME MATURING
(Very highly magnified)

ie examination, in order to make
the outside hulls and the egg cav-
ity more translucent and the form-
ing tick embryo better visible.
The original size of these same
tick eggs is not much larger than
an ordinary small sized pinhead,

keeps growing and absorbing its
eggs elements, assuming the shape
and consistency of a miniature rub"
ber ball, with several indentations
along its dorsal and abdominal
side, and gradually eight legs
form, when, after another cycle of
TEXAS NATURE OBSERVATIONS AND REMINISCENCES, 39

shedding process, the maturing
tick shows three pairs of legs on
its clumsy body. The suction ap-
paratus of this tick also develops
early and serves the insect, after
crawling on its host to work its
way into the tissues of the ani-
mal’s skin,when it sucks its body
full of blood. It can be imagined
how the poor cattle suffer from
these minute leeches when thou-
sands of these insects are adhering
to the cattles’ body and sucking
the life juice out of them. The cat-

tle thereby become anaemic and

sick, with high fever and diseased
inner organs, and often die by the
wholesale—all on account of these
minute bloodsuckers.

The enormous loss to cattle
breeders by these ticks may best
bé seen by consulting the official
reports of the United States De-
partment of Agriculture, and I
take the liberty to; append herein
reports of W: D. Hunter, Shreve-
port, La., and Dr. J. R. Mohler of
the Bureau of Animal Industry of
this department. They have made
most careful, comprehensive esti-
mates of the losses caused by
ticks. The following summary is
taken largely from their writings:

1. Loss by death from disease
jin young animals and those re-
moved from temporarily tick-free
localities (as, for instance, all
cities,) to places where they, be-
come infested. The enormous loss
under this heading will be under-
stood when it is recalled that ev-
ery bovine animal in the tick area
must suffer an attack of fever if
it becomes infested with ticks. In
an instance that came to the at-
tention of the writers, 39 out of
40 calves dropped ina city dead
of tick fever when removed to an
infested pasture.

2. Loss in weakened condition
and stunted growth caused by
the fever.

3. Loss by gross tick infesta-
tion. At the present time (March
1907) hundreds of cattle in South

Texas are dying from gross infes-
tation resulting from a mild win-
ter. In extreme cases, Mr. May-
er estimates that as many as 200
pounds of blood may be withdrawn
from the host during a single sea-
son. This makes a gain in weight
impossible, even in the best of pas-
tures. Morever, Prof. H. A. Mor-
gan and other observers believe
that gross infestation and the con-
sequent general debility induce
acute attack of fever even in ani-
mals ordinarily immune.

4, The tick makes hazardous
the importation of pure-bred cat-
tle. This prevents the upbuilding
of Southern cattle and at the same
time largely deprives the North-
ern breeder of a market that he
should have. Moreover, the in-
ability of the Southern breeder
to exhibit his stock in the North
and of the Northern breeder to ex-
hibit his in the tick area ig a
handicap, the importance of which
will be readily seen.

5. The necessary restrictions in
the shipping of Southern cattle al-
so handicap the breeder and af-
fect the price:

6. The maintenance of the
quarantine involves considerable
annual expense for the protection
of the cattle owners north of the
line.

7.. Minor losses may be grouped
as follows: (a) In Texas, espec-
jially, the tick induces the attack
of the screw worm fly (chryso-
myia macellaria Fab.) ; (b.) there
seems to be, as pointed out by Mr.
Mayer, a considerable interference
with the fecundity of the infested
cows; (c) the railroads are put
to'the expense of disinfecting cars
and maintaining separate pens and
the stockmen to the expense of
dipping—items which react on the
price that Southern cattle bring.

‘All the losses that have been
mentioned total approximately
$100,000,000 each year. At present
the loss, as indicated by Dr. Moh-
ler, amounts anually to at least 10
40. TEXAS NATURE OBSERVATIONS AND REMINISCENCES.

per cent of the value of the cattle.
The quality of the animals is low-

est and the loss is greatest in the.

regions where the natural condi-
tions without the tick should pro-
duce the finest cattle with the
least loss. But the damage may
be better expressed by the state-
ment that the tick makes profit-
able production practically im-
possible in the South. Any suc-
cessful system of agriculture must

rest upon a diversification of
crops, and this, in turn, depends
upon animal husbandry to main-
tain the fertility of the soil. There-
fore, until the tick is eradicated
or placed under control a rational
system of agriculture in the infect-
ed area is out of question, and
that achievement would mean al-
most as much to the North as to

the South.

The Hog Louse

Among the hundreds of various
types of animal lice the above
louse of a hog takes the cake.
Note the fearfully large and curved
claws of each leg with which it
molests the animals and often
causes ulcerations and general sick-
ness. The specimen was gathered
at a Texas farm, the louse ac-
cidentally crawling. along a fence-
rail. It is considerably magnified

and represents a nice specimen

of photo reproduction of that par-
asitic creature.

 

 

 

 

THe Hoc Louse

The New Human Parasite of the Sarcoptic Tribe

In April, 1896, when acting as
city physician of San Antonio, a
peculiar chronic disease in an
aged person, (Doctor R: ) came
to my notice through a friend, Dr.
Wn. Fleming of Georgetown, Tex-
as, who was attending the case.
Concerning the symptomatology,
Dr. Fleming -kindly favored me
with the following data: ‘‘ About
eight months ago my patient be-
came afflicted with the disease
and has been a great sufferer ever
since. The disease appears with
small papules here and there, from
a pale to firey red, and at times
under treatment will seem appar-
ently well, but on application of
ointments or lotions reappears in
greater or less numbers and larger
or smaller lesions. The disease
is not attended with itching, but
when very red has a slight burn-

 

ing sensation. The dnimaculae,
it seems, on maturing, emerge
from the skin, in some places seem
to discharge germs covering a
space more or less dense from a
half to two inches in diameter. The
various remedies I have used have
caused many of all sizes to come
to the surface, some bore under
the skin again, and although IT
have picked off thousands, I have
never seen one move. One of the
annoyances to the patient is their
crawling on the skin. Their bite
is much like that of a flea or a
chinch, and often so rapidly is it
done that the mite will bore in
before you can pick it off with the
point of a knife. The bites and
pimples never suppurate nor ex-
ude serum.

“T have given six months of
study and investigation to the dis-
TEXAS NATURE OBSERVATIONS AND REMINISCENCES. 41

ease and have found nothing in
our medical literature which at all
resembles it. I have carefully
watched him, so that he could not
deceive me nor anyone else. Be-
sides, he is too anxious to get well
for a malingerer.”’

The doctor and also his patient
have forwarded samples of the
material gathered from the sick
man‘s body for me to examine mi-
eroscopically. After proper mount-
ing (in glycerine and dilute acetic
acid also, in Canada balsam) the
main ingredients seemed to be in-

dressed a letter to Dr. Fleming,
and received the following an-
swer:

“‘T assure you that every par-
ticle of the samples I sent you
eame from his body. He never
has taken a sand bath; he always
washes himself in hot water, as
it gives him more relief. I have
watched him closely for six
months and have tried every
known remedy without success.
The particles of sand-like material
or shells, or whatever it is, all
come from him, and are not put

 

"PAN

 

 

 

 

Tue CuTenzous Parasite, Highly Magnified.

LARVAL STATE OF THIS PARASITE.

1.

2,

3. Dots an CircLE SHOWING NorRMAL SIZE OF THE PARASITE.

4, GEOERAL APPEARANCE OF CUTANEOUS MaTERIAL SENT FoR Microscopic EXAMINATION

organic and of a calcareous nature
(giving off carbonic acid on ap-
plying acetic or nitric acid) and
a major portion showed remnants
of cuticular tissue and detritus,
a number of oval bodies, which,
on »ressure under the cover glass,
produced a crackling noise. In a
number of these slides I noticed
several peculiar microscopic mites,
and in few instances larvae and
casts of these parasites. Being
somewhat suspicious, I again ad-

on him by washing or any appli-

“eation.' ‘When I use vinegar on

him there will come out on his
body more sand or shells, and in
the morning his body contains
more than in the daytime, keeping
him awake through the night. I
have scraped regular ‘barnacles
formed by the insects at night
from between his toes and creases
of the arms and elbows,’’ etc.
After these statements I gave
the matter closer attention, espe-
42 TEXAS NATURE OBSsrVATIONS AND REMINISCENCES.

cially regarding the parasites
found, as, from first appearance
it appeared to me that the mite
was not a species of the common
acari, found occasionally in de-
caying material or detritus, or
fruit, vegetables, cheese, flour,
ete., but that it was a true sar-
coptes—not, however, the common
itch parasite of man. In this onin-
ion I was sustained by Dr. A. EH.
Boeckling, an expert on parasitic
mites, and also by Prof. Allen J.
Smith, Pathologist of the Galves-
ton University. Both of these
gentlemen had taken a great in-
terest in the seemingly trivial
matter, which, of course, could on-
ly be settled by a close microscopic
examination and comparison with
other similar mites. Having se-
cured one especially fine specimen
among the cuticular scrapings, I
mounted it separately from the
other remnants and forwarded it
to Prof. Virchow, after having it
investigated by our Smithsonian
experts, etc., but never received a
reply from Berlin (perhaps it had
not reached its destination).

This mite is of the size of the
common itch mite, hardly visible
to the naked eye, of yellowish-
brown color, supplied with eight
legs, jointed, and the pedal ex-
tremities are supplied with a suck-
ing disk—characteristic of the sar-
coptes or itch-parasite. The eight
legs are decidedly thoracic, not
marginal, and the specimen pre-
served was a male one—the sex
found being considered by ex-
perts as of rare occurance. In
comparing this mite with the com-
mon cheese mites and fruit acari,
our mite shows the legs, jaws, ab-
domen and bristles more fully dev-
veloped, the latter closer to the
base of the abdomen and larger
and thicker.

As seen on the photo-reproduc-
tions, I succeeded in making sev
eral microphotos of the parasite,
in different stadia, and also of the
larvae. The latter is six legged;

the body and legs were semitrans-
parent and dotted throughout. I
have not encountered any such
larva in microscopic mites before.
The Smithsonian experts also de-
elared it to be the larva -of the
parasite under question:

Prof. Allen Smith in October,
1896, had given me a very inter-
esting report on sarcoptic mites
in general, and of our acarus in
particular, and I only include here
the following points: *‘ I have
been looking up all the data I can
get hold of in my endeavors to
identify the dermal parasite.
There seems to me to be no doubt
of the parasite being an acarus.
The mode of articulation of its
legs, the fact of its having five
divisions to each limb, its choli-
form or pinchers-like jaws in my
mind place it surely among the
sarcoptides. (Here follows an ex-
haustive explanation of the five
tribes of the sarcoptes family,
having used as euide, Meguin:
(‘Les Parasites articules.’’) The
five tribes are: Sarcoptes detri-
colles, S. plumicoles, 8. cysticoles,
S. glicicoles and S. sporae.** The
specimen in hand cannot belong
to the first tribe. It differs in
being provided with a somewhat
rugous integument, in having un-
equal limbs, and, I believe, dis-
similar in having a distinct cleft
in the abdominal extremity. It is
not to be mixed up with the bird-
infesting sarcoptes (S. plumicoles)
the latter has all its legs well de-
veloped and never even tending to
be abortive (as in the last pair of
R’s parasite) and never produce
painful or itching sensations (by
some poison in its bite.* * *

I would place R.’s parasite, from
its shape, its somewhat striated
coat, its undeveloped hind pair of
legs, and its power to produce
itching, among the true itch-sar-
coptides. * * * I believe the R.
parasite to correspond with the
genus of chorioptes. As to species.
I am still uncertain, but believe it
TEXAS NATURE OBSERVATIONS AND REMINISCENCES. 43

to be C. ecaudatus. * * * I see no
hairs on the third pair of legs
(they are present on this parasite,
but were unclear or not visible on
the microphoto. R. M.) and only
two clearly on the abdominal bor-
der. I cannot make out the dor-
sal plate, etc., since the photo-
graph from which I must take my
points only gives the ventral sur-
face. * * * Aside from these, the
deseription suits well, and if these
differences are real I believe that
at least the genus is correctly
fixed, and the species perhaps a
new one.”’

Dr. Boecking called to my at-
tention that, if the above diagnosis
of the parasitebe applied to a
mature specimen, it seems, indeed,
to point to a cheiroptes, were it
not for the fact stated in regard
to the position of the extremities,
which are thoracic in our mite and
not marginal.

I have compared our parasite
with a number of mites of old
fruit and cheese, and it diffeys in
being smaller and ‘‘bolder’’ ap-
pearing acarus, and the endpads
of the legs, on high-power exami-
nation, showing a stirrup-shaped
diseus or sucking-cup. This dis-
tinguishes the sarcoptes from sim-
ilar acari. In microphotography,

-of course, only such objects and
outlines can be copied as come un-
der sharp focus of the lenses of the
microscope, especially in making a
microphotocopy of such a minute

-object as our mite under a very
high magnifying power. For this
reason the outlines of the terminal
parts (sucking-cup) of the legs are
not so sharply outlined as the rest
of the’parasite’s body.

This case of parasite disease
seems to be unique in many par-
ticulars regarding etiology and
symptomatology. With the excep-
tion that it was noticed over near-
ly the entire body, the symptoms,
as stated by Dr. Fleming, would
distantly tally with those of the

common itch sarcoptes of man;.

but, as noticed, had patient the
usual itch plague, there certainly
would have been found remnants
of the itch parasite and its larva,
ova, etc., and then, the itch disease
is easily amenable to rigid anti-
parasitic treatment. The speci-
mens or remnants from scraping
of the skin sent to me were, of
course, in a dried-up state; they
formed a yellowish-brown, granu-
lar powder, showing cn proper ex-
amination, numbers of cuticular cr
more deeply-seated remnants, ca-
pilli (sparingly), calcareous rem-
nants, some granular (apparently
hemorrhagic) detritus, shed skins
of microscopic mites, and the par-
asites, either entire, but contract-
ed, or in remnants (partly incrust-
ed). The latter were dead aca-
rinae, and the one specimen, now
under question and _ illustrated,
had its legs contracted when first
found, but, under coverglass pres-
sure, the legs were gradually

_ Spread out.

In conclusion, I beg to call at-
tention to the fact that an article
on this subject has been published
some time before, but the same
was full of typographical errors
and the photo-illustrations of the
parasite were not as good as de-
sired. It is for these reasons that’
the matter is hereby again brought
before the profession. I may also

‘state that I had sent the article

(in pamphlet form) to a large
number of experts and medical in-
stitutions here and in Europe, and
received from none any data con-
cerning a similar parasite. The
authorities of the Zoological Lusti-
tute of Genoa, Italy, have sent me

‘in return, some literature on mi-

eroscopie mites, with illustrations,
but no such mite is mentioned.
Whether, in our case, the parasite
had been implanted accidentally
on the patient from some animal

infested with a sarcoptic disease,

or from some other unknown
source, of course can only be con-
jectured, but the fact remains that .
44 TEXAS NATURE OBSERVATIONS AND REMINISCENCES.

the entire case, as above described
is unique, and the parasites found
are some uneatalogued sarcuptes
species—in my own humble opin-
ion at least. The cuticular serap-
ings, as stated, contained 2 vast
variety of superficial cuticular ab-
rasions and deeper-seated pro-

ducts, especially of the follicular .

system of the derma, and among
these were remnants of the para-
sites, some seemingly incrusted
and surrounded by a caleareous
encasing.

The sarcoptes species in differ-
ent animals differ from the one
under consideration in many re-
spects, and it is for this reason,
and in particular, also, as the par-
asites, larva and remnants of same
etc., were found in scrapings re-
moved from the body of man, that

this is such an interesting study,
even were there found no parasi-
tic vestages, :

Referring to the microscopic
illustrations herein, the photomi-
erograph, Fig. 1, shows how
immensely this parasite is magni-
fied— compared to the smallest
hardly visible dot in Fig, 3,
and it shows the bold outlines ,of
the legs, body and _headparts
plainly. Fig. 2, represents the
cast off remnants of the larval
state of this mite. Fig. 4,
shows the general appearance of
the raw cuticular material sent for

examination ; and the large dot in
Fig. 3, shows the average size of
the globular bodies expelled, some
of which revealed the encased lar-
val parasite.

Some Observations on the Echinococcus Disease
(Bladder Tape Worm.)

Of the Texas Jackrabbit ‘in Particular.

The near relationship of the
echinococecus parasite of man to
the same parasite disease in ani-
mal, and the question often asked
of the writer whether this disease
was the cause of the widespread
and common tapeworm pest, in-
duced me to investigate this inter-
esting matter thoroughly in the
following paper published some
years ago in a medical journal.
There is no doubt to me, as to oth-
ers who have given the matter a
close consideration, that there oc-
cur cystic tumors in man which
are really echinococi in advanved
and degenerated state, but were
overlooked as such for want of a
microscopic examination. My pa-
per, therefore, and the photo-mi-
crographs of the echinococeus par-
asites, which I prepared from mi-
eroscopic testings, I hope, will be
welcomed in throwing a little
more light on the matter. Besides
_ the more common and well-known

species of tape-worm—the taenia
mediocanellata, taenia solium and
bothriocephalus latus—there oec-
curs in this climate a very minute
and but little known taenia, the
embryonic or larval state of the
bladder tape-worm, which, in ani-
mal, infests with narticular pref-
erence the prairie rabbit; and to
hunters it is well known that
among the rabbits it is nearly ex-
clusively the large so-called jack-
rabbit which is often infested with
peculiar tumor-like protuberances
or cysts in different parts of its
body, and that, especially during
a protracted drv season, a perfect
epidemic of the disease exists
among the large prairie rabbits,
and that the small bush rabbit is
nearly exempt from the disease.
In consulting a number of
works, medical as well as veterin-
ary, I find no mention of the echi-
nococcus disease among the rab-

. bits. It is a noticable fact that,
TEXAS NATURE OBSERVATIONS AND REMINISCENCES, 45

while this parasite in other ani-
mals invades nearly all the inter-
nal organs, the echinococeus tu-
mors in rabbits, with but a few
exceptional instances, have been
found with particular preference
in the muscular system, especially
in the muscles of the lumbar re-
gion and the muscles of the thighs
and ribs. A common idea prevails
among the laity that these tumors

from which they generally start
to develop and multiply or mi-
grate to other parts of the body.
During their growth the cyst
sacs protude below the skin and
they can easily be felt in the shape
of roundish, oval or flat, single or
conglomorated, and elastic tu-
mors, from the size of a marble
up to a child’s head, thereby giv:
ing the different parts of the rab-

 

 

 

 

Tue AutuHor (At time of writing of the article some fifteen years ago)

are some sort of ‘venereal dis-
ease,’’ ‘‘ulcerations,’’ ‘‘grub-
worm,’’ ete. I had occasion to ex-
amine a great number of cystic
diseased rabbits, some of which,
in rare instances. showed over one
half of the entire body covered
with cysts, reaching along and be-
tween the muscles of the lumbar
and thoracic region down to the
abdominal and thoracic cavities,

rabit’s anatomy a very deformed
appearance. On dissecting these tu
mors, in advanced cases, a firm
fibro-cystic membrane with the in-
ner or endocyst, similar to the py-
ogenic membrane of some abcess
cavities is noticed which is filled
with some albuminous like or gela-
tinnous fluid, and each separate
eyst and even surrounding parts
of such, contain myriads of small,
46 TEXAS NATURE OBSERVATIONS AND REMINISCENCES.

whitish, hard kernels not larger
than a pinhead. These kernels, if
compressed between two slide
glasses and examined with a mag-
nifying glass, show an oval or
roundish worm-like body with a
short and rather broad neck (in
its contracted state) and a mi-
nute head. If put under micro-
scopic examination, it is at once
apparent that these bodies are
some species of the larval state of

appearance of these minute taenia
bodies plainly. In general these
echinococei of rabbit correspond
to the echinoccoccus parasite of
man, only that in man, while it
is found in nearly all organs, but
especially in the liver, it is a para-
site that, as stated, nearly exclu-
sively infests the muscular sys-
tem of the rabbit—similar to the
trichina spiralis of man, arid some
species of cysticerci—only _ that

 

Eccurnococcus Disgasz 1n Rasair,

Section of Lumbar Muscle Infected with the C

ysts1,2and3. At 4the Disected Muscle is shown;

and 5 represents Numerous Ecchinococci, not Encysted.

the taenia echinococcus—showing
the peculiar segmented apartment
across the body and neck of the
worm, and the head-part shows
a number of round sucking-cups
generally fcur or six, and a num-
ber of delicate curved hooklets.
Some of the micro-photographs
herewith submitted and prepared
from a rabbit killed only a few
days ago, show the histological

the latter in the rabbit, like the
echinococeus of man, more often
invade the liver, kidneys, dia-
phragm, lungs, pleura, intestines,
the bulbus, pelvic organs (espec-
ially the subrectal tissues), lym-
phatics and subcutaneous cellular
tissue, ete. The  echinococcus
tapeworm in man is described as
a very small taenia, with only
four or five joints.
TEXAS NATURE OBSERVATIONS AND REMINISCENCES. 47

The most accepted theory re-
garding the migration of the echi-
nococcus into the substance of the
liver in man is this one: that after
the echinococcus embryo is set
free in the intestines from the food
or drink containing the ova, it
starts on its migration into the
portal vein, and through that
source into the liver. Besides the
portal vein and its hepatic branch-
es, some authors claim the gall

tered, and in Pepper’s system of
medicine on echinococeus of the
liver, mention is made of an oc-
casional anomalous development
of the multilocular parasite, which
from its resemblance to colloid
cancer, was supposed to have this
character. Peper states: “‘Its re-
semblance to colloid cancer is the
more striking because of the tend-
ency of the interior of the mass to
undergo degeneration, to disinte-

 

Oe

 

 

Soe

Hzapparts witH HockLets IN THE CENTER AND SUCTION CUPS OF THE
Eccuinococcus Parasite IN Rassit (Highly Magnified.)

ducts and the lymphatic sinuses
as the main source of migration
into the liver substance, remnants
of the narasite having been found
within the lumen of these vessels.
The medium of transmission of the
so-called echinococcus multilocu-
laris or conglomerated cyst sacs
has a somewhat different patho-
geny than the other typical form,
because well-defined scolices or
parts of same are seldom encoun-

grate, and to break up into pus
sacs. An echinococcus multilo-
cularis tumor is of almost stony
hardness; it has a very dense fi-
brous structure, intersected by ca-
vities with thick gelatinous cavi-
ties,’’ etc. I have myself not en-
countered just such conditions as
the above mentioned in examin-
ing echinococecus conglomerations
in the rabbit, hut I do recollect
many years ago having removed:
48 TEXAS NATURE OBSERVATIONS AND REMINISCENCES.

an enormous and nodulated cys-
tie tumor of one of the’ ovaries,
showing precisely the same condi-
tions, but the case undoubtedly
was one of cystoma or cystic de-
generation of the ovarian follicles;
it weighed thirty pounds, the lady
living yet, in good health. It is
quite well known that in these

cent. of the cattle carry the echi-
nococcus, and that in some other
countries, Iceland for instance,
aceording to Kuchenmeister, the
echinococcus disease is so wide-
spread among man that the native
physicians there in 1872 reported
one-eighth of all the diseases oc-
curring there as having been

 

A S1IncLE EccuiNnococcus with HooK.etTs IN CENTER OF UPPER Bopy.
(Very highly magnified

slow-growing cystomas, as well as
in other more rapid-growing neo-
plasms, strangulation and degen-
eration of the tumor substance
with formation of pus cavities oc-
eur, even in small sized neoplasms,

In order to consider the pro-
valence and etiology of the echino-
coccus disease, history shows that
in India, where dogs are said to
be very numerous, seventy per

caused by the echinococcus para-
site.

The propagation of the disease
is thus described in Niemeyer’s
Pathology, in connection there-
with: ‘‘ Animals infested with the
taenia echinococcus at times eva-
cuate joints, the eggs or embryos
contained therein, by some means
get into the drinking water or
come in contact with articles of
TEXAS NATURE OBSERVATIONS AND REMINISCENCES. 49

food which are consumed raw.
Having thus entered the alimen-
tary canal, the minute embryos
bore themselves /with their six
hooklets into the stomach walls
or intestinal canal,
gradually migrate further and
eventually enter the liver or other
organs. (The hooklets in echinv-
eocci of rabbit are very numerous
and the sucking cups _ also,
but generally six, while in
common _ taeniae there are
only four cups to be seen). Here
the small embryo swells up to a
large cyst and in this cyst a colony
of small unripe taenia or scolices
sprout up,’’ ete.

The main cause of the disease
in Iceland, according to Kuchen-
meister, is attributed to the many
dogs kept there; these and the
warm drinking water being re-
sponsible for the enormous spread-
ing of the disease in man, as the
dogs devour the cystic deposits
which are carelessly thrown
about the yards, and the people
are reported to sleep with the dogs
in one and the same hut in many
imstances. In {the case of our
jack rabbits, undoubtedly the
same process of propagation or
auto-infection takes place, and it
is a noticable fact that when our
prairies are covered with an abun-
dance of luxuriant green grass,
cystic diseased rabbits are rarely
met with; as soon though as a
prolonged droughty season pre-
vails, such as the present one, and
the rabbits are compelled to eat
nearly directly from the ground,
they also perhaps devour numbers
of the echinococeus eggs or taenia
embryos, and the prairie is thea
found to be covered with diseased
rabbits. The wolves, and perhaps
sheep also, undoubtedly . spread
the disease. The wolves kill and
eat the remnants of the Ciseased
or killed rabbits and deposi: the
ova or embryo in their manure.

It is an accepted fact by au-

thorities (Leuckart, Sicbold, Vir-

until they.

chow, Kuchenmeister, and others,)
that the echinococcus is a sort of
cystic tapeworm and the embryo
state of the taenia echinococcus—
the same as the cysticercus cellu-,
losae is related to the taenia so-
lium. Experimental tests with
echinicocci of man introduced
into animals have proven negative
so far, but, acording to Niemeyer’s
pathology, it has been proven that
animals fed on echinococci of an-
other animal developed the taenia
echinococci in the intestines of
such animal experimented upon.
The immense proliferating proper-
ties, each vesicle containing, ac-
cording to Friedberger (Patho-
logy of the Domestic Animals), as
many as thirty scolices, and in one
echinococcus alone as many as a
thousand; its very minute size and
its vitality and tendency to mul-
tiply in the rabbit faster than the
same species of parasites in man,
readily explains the immense and
wide-spread infection in the rabbit
and canine’ species. Luckily

‘though, we Texans are not living

in Iceland, and our advanced civ-
ilized methods of preparing and
cooking food, our protected and
wholesome hydrant drinking wa-
ter, and also the abondonment of
eating raw meat has cut a great
figure and added immensely in the
prophylaxis against all sort of par-
asite disease, and we owe it to our
good housewife and hotel cooks in
general that such narasite disease
as echinococcus in man is rather a
very rare occurance in Texas.
Among Texas cattle.and sheep this
disease also is hardly known, as
far as I am informed, and _ the
question naturally arises: Is this
parasite in our rabbit of the same

_ Species as the one that produces

such havoe in some other coun-
tries? That, from its description
and histological appearance, this
embryo-coceus of the jack-rabbit
is near related to the echinococeus
of man, there hardly can be any

doubt. At any rate, though, it
50 TEXAS NATURE OBSERVATIONS AND REMINISCENCES.

has no relationship with the wide-
spread and common tapeworm
pest, the taenia medioconellata
and solium, it is a parasitic disease
sui generis as far as the Texas
jackrabbit is concerned. | The par-
asite, therefore, does not produce
any tapeworm in man, as some
persons are led to believe, and
good cooking and frying will de-
stroy the fins or cysts in the meat
of any rabbit; but, of course, it
is better that such infected rabbit
meat should not be used at all.

In order to hear the opinion of
other professional gentlemen on

 

 

 

 

 

Dr. FERDINAND Herrr.
Late Veteran Physician and Surgeon of San
Antonio, and Nestor of the Medical Fraternity
of Western Texas, (From life size and life’
like painting.)

the subject, I addressed some
years ago, a few lines to Dr. F.
Herff, (who by the way, has had
an immense amount of practical
experience in this line, also), and
the venerable old gentleman kind-
ly forwarded me the following re-
ply on the subject: ‘‘The taenia
echinococcus is a verv small tape-
worm with well-developed head
(scolex) and three or four, joints
(proglottides). It lives in the in-
testines of the dog, and is not so
very easy to find and the roundish
appearance of the body, which at
first sight looks like a small nem-

atoid worm. Only by examining
it in water, by which the intestinal

_ mucus is washed away, and with

a common loupe you can disclose
its true organization. J stumbled
on it during the examination I
made on a dog which I had fed
with trichinotic sausage, while
hunting for intestinal trichinae.
Afterwards I found it many times
in the intestines of many dogs
which were killed by the police
during the rabies scare and fur-
nished by Dr. Petterson, then city
physician (in 1873). The embrvon-
ic state in the rabbit has been
known to me long ago, as it is also
to many hunters who have shot
rabbits, and, in consequence, cre-
ated a disgust in people to eat
them. The embryo lives in the
peritoneum and between the mus-
cles in the connective tissues, and
is a true  echinicoccus—that

is, a scolex—which multiplies in
its cystic surroundings by spzrout-
ing or budding anl ereating new
scolices. In that respect it differs
from cysticercus, which lives in a
solitary cyst, and to which family
the taenia solium, mediocanellats,
etc., belong, while the botrioceph-
alus latus develops free in water
at first, but probably enters then
a host (cistern, sink or waterpool)
and then is developed in the body
of man, as botriocephalus. These
of course, will not cause to
man, much _ less _ echinococcus
which is only produced by the in-
gestion of the eggs of the mature
animal, the taenia echinococcus
which came from the dog that had
eaten infected meat from rabbits,
or through wolves or foxes who
also harbor the mature: parasite.
Insofar the eating of infected rab-
bit meat is onlv disgusting, but
will not produce taenie. The dog
however, is the evil-doer, and so
the fondling and kissing’ of. lap-
dogs or the sleeping. in the same
room with dogs is to he
avoided. * * *

* “T have found the echinococcus
TEXAS NATURE OBSERVATIONS AND REMINISCENCES. 51

in man twice in the liver (in one
case over two quarts and one
quart in the other case) ; between
the extensors of the thigh; one in
the bulbus of an eye extirpated
for panovhthalmitis; once it
passed from the bowels of a lady
who had often suffered from pain
in the liver, but did not show any
tumor. My son took a great many

echinococcus from the bladder of

a child; they were large, trans-
parent and elongated. All these
specimens I mentioned contained
hooklets, and so the diagnosis was
eorrect. I understand that Dr.
McLaughlin, in Austin, also re-
moved echinococci from the vagi-
no-rectal cellular tissue. I am sure
if proper inquiries were made it
would prove to be so. The speci-
mens of which you send the photo-
graph is a true echinococcus, as
‘the multiplicity of the heads in-
dicate.’’

Besides above, I have a few
other cummunications on cases of
echinococci in man, including one
of Dr. R. H. L. Bibb, of Saltillo,
Mexico, stating that he had re-
moved a cystic tumor. several
years ago, situated in the cellular
tissue between the ‘‘trapezius’’
and the ‘‘latissimus dorsi’? mus-
cles, which the microscope showed
to be due to this parasite.

The microscopic mountings
which I prepared from specimens
of diseased rabbits, I may state,

were examined by friénds with
much interest; especially also in
the private bacteriological labora-
tory of Dr. Julius Braunnagel. -~

After above had been written,
an additional paper on the sub-
ject heading this article was con-
tributed to the Texas Medical
Journal, and I herewith submit the
main part of same:

These investigations will show
that after the development of the
premature or embryonic p:rasite
of the echindcoccus tapeworm
from the ingested ova of the ma-
ture taenia, up to the migration,
encystment, and snrouting of new
embryonic colonies inside the
cyst membrane in different parts
or organs of the human. and ani-
mal system, that all of these par-
asites in their most primitive sta-
dia already show quite a well-
developed head with characteristic
suckers and hooklets and after
further development, free them-
selves from the endocystic mem-
brane, although still adherent to
its linings and ultimately, after
still further development, some of
the more mature of these embry-
onic parasites isolate themsclves
later and free themselves entirely

from the other more premature
crop, and can then be found in a

free state cither near the base of
the endocystic membrane or in-
side.of the cyst fluid.

Something About the Texas Prairie Spider.

In his ramblings about the
prairie-plains, river-bottoms and
forests, the hunter and lover of
nature encounters a large variety
of interesting arachnids, from the
smallest, hardly visible spinning-
variety up to the hand-large black
or brown-colored and fearful look-
ing jumping tarantula. :

With its immense area of over
274,000 square miles and sunny
clime, Texas naturally’ harbers a
‘large variety of spiders .of differ-

ent type and colors; and, al-
though the more dangerous types
are not as numerous as encoun-
tered in the tropical zones of oth-
er countries, we have among the
smaller variety of interesting
arachnids some very vicious speci-
mens; and among these the small
speckled vagabond’ or jumping
tarantula is most conspicuous.
For reason of a lecture before
the San Antonio Scientific So-
ciety, the writer had the pleasure
52 TEXAS NATURE OBSERVATIONS AND REMINISCENCES.

to submit a lengthy report on Tex-
as prairie spiders and others, con-
jointly with numerous photo illus-
_trations which are now also re-
produced herewith, and the read-
ers undoubtedly will recall most of
the different tynes they may have
met on their hunting trips. These
photos are all original, and as
seen in nature.

As stated, Texas harbors in cer-
tain favored localities numerous
spiders of more or less vituperous
type; but the majority are entire-
ly harmless, and many are useful
creatures. During summer and
especially during the breeding
time some species are exceedingly
vicious. At this time they prepare
their delicate breeding nests either
underground, or in hollows of
trees, under jogs and rocks and
the loose bark of trees, old rotten
wood, ete. In gardens they are es-
pecially dreaded at this time, on
account of oecasionally invading
the fruit trees, in particular ba-
nanas, grape vines and ripe grape
bunches ete. Undisturbed by their
many enemies—man and birds and
wasps, they are cntirely harmless
and in one way useful. In the Is-
land of Madagascar, it is well
known, the natives gather the spi-
der web material of a particular
spider species directly from the
spider’s spinning apparatus. It is
of yellowish-gold color and glitters
like silk, and the most delicate
and costly fabrics are woven from
the silk-like spinning material of
these useful insects and there ex-
ist special spinning factories in
which the natives prepare the
most gorgeous silk-like domestic
products known in the world.

In Texas the most dangerous
species known is the small speck-
led snider belonging to the ge-
nus Letrodactus Mactams and
Phydippus Trinunctatus. a small,
jet black or brown Tarantula,
striped with white, orange yellow
or vermillion red specks on its up-
per abdomen.

These spiders have, camparative-
ly, short but powerfully strong
fangs and legs, a very large quad-
rangular head and thorax, and
four to six very sharp eye lenses.
They jump a far distance to catch
their prey—mostly flies and other
insects.

The poison of these spiders is
contained in a poison receptacle
near the headparts, and it commu-
nicates in tubules with the small
but sharp and curved fangs. The
venom is of an oily consistency
and even a very minimal quantity
produces so severe venom-inocula-
tion symptoms that it is consid-
ered more venomous, comparative-
ly, than the venom of a rattle-
snake. The curved venom ciaws
can be seen at the end part of the
strong mandibles in the form of
deep steelblue and glittering pro-
jections, and more so if viewed
with a magnifying glass.

The inoculation symptoms are
either of local or of systemic na-
ture, according to the amount of
venom and the parts inoculated.
Generally a severe sting is felt,
with inflammation or blisters af-
terwards; or the venom is ab-

_sorbed rapidly into the blood and

lymph current, and symntoms of
‘a severe nervous nature, with
pain radiating over the abdonien,
chest and spine set in—-as if a
band was tightly constricting the —
body. In such severe cases vomit-
ing spells oceur and the heart
centers may be affected——-:ymp-
toms similarly oceuring in snake-
bite.

The medical profession ‘occa-
sionally meets with such eases, and
I recall a case that happened some
years ago which I treated with
Dr. Cafferey: A young lady from
the Salado settlement was bitten
on her leg by one such spider and
she suffered excruciating pain
and nervous attacks before being
relieved under special treatment,

and it was over two hours before
TEXAS NATURE OBSERVATIONS AND REMINISCENCES. 53

‘she could be safely returned to
her home.

In his publications on ;Texas
reptiles and spiders, Dr. H.
W. Cruse of Victoria, Texas, re-
lates the following interesting
case of spider bite of the small,
Jumping variety by some hunter:

‘*In the month of October, 1865,
I was hunting in the woods three
miles north of Halletsville, La-
vaca County. Thrusting my hand
into a blackjack stump, I felt a
sharp pain in the back of my
hand between the thumb and fore-
finger, of my right hand. With-
drawing it quickly, I found a spi-
der (Latrodactus Mactams) fast-
ened to my hand. I crushed it and
proceeded with my investigations.
In a few minutes my hand began
‘to tingle, like it had been asleep,
and a place around the bite, the
size ‘of a half dollar, began to
discolor. I started for home about
one mile away. In the meantime
the tingling had turned to a thou-

 

Wuite anv Rep SPoTTeD JUMPING TARANTULA
(Magnified alive three times. )

sand needles being thrust into my
hand and arm as high as the el-
bow and I got sick at the stomach,
and when about half way home I
laid down and vomited freely. Ar-
riving at home, I had another
vomiting spell and felt very faiut,
and the pain in my arm was going
up. There was little swelling in

the arm, but the spot around the
bite had turned the color of dead

. flesh, and the nausea was very

great. I secured a horse and start-
ed for town, three miles to a doc-
tor. Six times in the three miles
I stopped to vomit, and when I
got to town the intense pricking
pain had gone up my arm and
around to the shoulder blade. I
went straight to the office of Dr.
Troup. My eyesight was dim. My
brain was muddled, the nausea
was intense, and the pain in my
hand, arm and shoulder was very
severe, and I lost all mental fear
of what the result might be. The
doctor gave me something which
relieved me of all pain and I went
to sleep. When I awakened he
was examining my shoulder and
arm. About where vaccine is
generally placed on the arm was
another place similar to the one.
around the bite, and still another
on the shoulder blade. They were
all about the same size and color,
slightly raised and hard. I was
in bed two days. About the fifth
day a sharp line had separated the
healthy flesh from the diseased
flesh at three swollen places, and
the dead flesh fell out in a lump,
leaving a clean, healthy hole that
would hide about two half dollars.
I lost flesh and it was about a
month before I regained my usual
health. I do not know what reme-
dies Dr. Troup used.”’

The breeding nest of these spi-
der species is an interesting study.
They do not dig funnel shaped
nests underground, like some of
the larger tarantula species or
prepare web nests in hollows of
trees, like some other spiders, but
they prepare a neat, flat, or glob-
ular, dense nest in some corner—
probably under loose wood or
bark of old trees or rotten wood.
or in secluded places. of stables
and old-fashioned privy vaults.
During an outing in the post-oak
valley of the Olmos settlement,
north of San Antonio, some time
54 TEXAS NATURE OBSERVATIONS AND REMINISCENCES.

ago, the writer came across a
large broken oak tree trunk, with
its bark leosely adherent to the
fallen tree. In removing this
bark with a stick an interesting
scene presented itself. In one cor-
ner two large scorpions, with tail
erect, were seen, coiled up and
ready to strike, and several feet
apart two small jumping spiders,
with their breeding nest were to
be seen. They were both of the
deadly speckled type, and the jet
black colored variety with its

which the spider dwells and lures
for some insect that may be en-
tangled in this upper web (just
as seen in the illustration).

A similar rare and rather queer
and scientificially interesting
breeding nest of a spider is also
seen in the photo illustration in
these pages, showing a spider’s
breeding nest in a large silver
spoon. The spoon with its inter-
esting contents was handed the
writer two years ago by the sec-
retary of the San Antonio Scienti-

 

 

 

 

 

PHOTOMICROGRAPH OF a VERY YOUNG CRABLIKE SPIDER AND Ecc

three carmine red specks. It was
hidden under the cover-lining of
its dense webnest—exactly as
seen in the original photo in
these pages. In the center part of
this illustration is seen the round-
ed or oval-shaped cocoon of these
spiders, which contained myriads
of eggs, and perhaps developed
young spiders. The mother spider
of this species covers its breeding
nest with delicate, yet dense and
strong, upper weblining, under

fic Society, and later I happened
to prepare a photo copy of same
for a lecture before the Scientific
Society of San Antonio, on Texas
arachnids. This spoon, as the il-
lustration shows, was nearly en-
tirely covered with a densely wo-
ven, network cover, and a funnel-
shaped breeding nest inside the
hollow part of the spoon. We
noticed numerous living spiders
crawling over the edge of the
spoon and along the web-lining—
TEXAS NATURE OBSERVATIONS AND REMINISCENCES. 55

-not much larger than a pin head.
They were of crab form, hairy,
and showed well-developed spin-
ing claws and six eye-lenses, on
microscopic examination. The il-
lustration shows how the mother
spider, after preparing the inside
funnel-shaped breeding nest—
and which contains innumerous
spider eggs—artistically spun its
delicate threads from one edge of
the spoon over the other margin,
thus covering the breeding nest
which serves to protect the young
developed brute as well as to en-
tangle insects, which later serve
as food.

The greatest enemy of spiders

rolled around and around, until,
after several attempts, it succeed-
ed in plunging its sharp stinger
into the spider’s body, and it ex-
pired at once. After this it car-
ried its victim to a nearby hole,

‘ and disappeared with the tarantu-

la under ground. The illustration
in these pages I reproduced for
this article from Harper’s Ilus-
trated Journal, as it is a fine and
lifelike presentation of this pe-
culiar vicious and useful wasp. ~
It is an interesting study to
note the breeding cycles of spiders
and some years ago, whilst engag-
ed in some private entomological
research and microscopic study of

 

 

   

A Pair oF SMALL PRAIRIE TARANTULAS WITH BREEDING NEsT AND
Cocoon 1n Hottow or a TREE Bark.

#
&

is a. fees yellowish-brown wasp.
—a, ground wasp. This wasp
haunts the tarantula’s breeding
nest, attacks ‘the spider unaware,
inoculating. it after a deadly duel.
and drags it into its underground,
breeding hole. ‘A friend. of mine
—a farmer—witnessed such a bat-
tle last year in a eotton field. It
was. a large, black. tarantula,
crawling along the mesquite grass,
and cotton furrows, - whence all
of a sudden one of the “ ‘tarantula
killers’’—a long, brown, wasp—
came along, attacked the spider—
always from the abdominal side,
and a fierce battle to the death
ensued. Wasp and _ tarantula

the arachnid family, several mi-
croscopic mountings of the ova in
different stages of development
were prepared, Also, a breeding nest
with myriads of young spiders,entan-
gled in the interior web linings of
the cocoon is seen elsewhere, rep-
resenting the broodnest of our
large orange and black colored
prairie spider—the same species
represented in the photo illustra-
tion showing three prairie spiders.

It was during a hunting trip, in
a severe cold winter month, out
in the postoak valley of the Olmos,
that I ease across thos interesting
nest. It was suspended on the
56 TEXAS NATURE OBSERVATIONS AND REMINISCENCES.

branches of a dry mesquite tree,
with some of the dry mesquite
leaves interwoven to a branch at
its base. After removing the en-
tire branch with the oval shaped
and silk-like glittering nest, I pre-
pared at home the fine photo seen
elsewhere in this issue with ex-
tra focusing lenses to camera.

 

SPrIneR BreEepinc Nest 1n a LARGE
SILVER SPOON.

After the outer capsule of the co-
coon was opened with scissors
and some of the weblinings con-
taining myriads of pinhead large
spiders and ova were artificially
expelled outside the cocoon, as
seen in the photo. The young spi-
ders proved on microscopie exam-
ination, to be of the same type of
arachnids as the two large prairie
spiders described and this speci-
men illucidates how wonderfully

these and. other spiders provide
for their offspring, as this nest,
with its living contents, was pre-
pared by the mother spider to

 

 

TARANTULA-KILLING Wasp CARRYING
OFF a SPIDER.

survive during a bitter cold winter
when the nest would have been ex-
posed to severe cold and rainy
weather, and afford the young in
spring or summer time to escape
its. protective hull and escape on
the prairie plains.

The trapdoor spider species,

 

 

 

TRAPDOOR SPIDER (Slightly Maenified.):i.. .
TEXAS NATURE OBSERVATIONS AND REMINISCENCES. 57

(being a type of ground spiders,)
a photo of which is _ here
with submitted, prepare their
breeding nests entirely differently
than the above species. With their
powerful mandibles they dig long
underground cylindriform holes,
which they outline with a dense
silk-like white web lining, and one
particular species provides its nest
with a tight fitting door, which
the spider closes or opens at will,
especially during danger time of
. its enemies—in particular, the

which ensnare birds and lizards
in their golden webs:

“Far up in the mountains of
Ceylon there is a spider that spins
a web like bright yellowish silk,
the central net of which is five
feet in diameter, while the sup-
porting lines or guys, as they are
called, measures sometimes ten or
twelve feet. The spider seldom
bites or stings, but should anyone
try to catch him, bite he will, and,
though not venomous, his jaws
are as powerful as a bird’s beak.

 

 

 

 

 

¢
Cocvoon oF a LARGE AND BEAUTIFUL PRAIRIE SPIDER WITH MyRIADS OF THE YOUNG Broop,
SusPENDED BETWEEN Drizp BRANCHES AND LEAVES OF THE MESQUITE TREE

large brown lycosa tarantula.
One of the illustrations shows the
microscopic appearance of the
hinge part of the door, showing
numerous silk ‘thread-like spin-
ning threads interwoven with
earth remnants—the yellow clay
or adobe earth and remnants of
sand and other matter.

Regarding spiders of other for-
eign countries, the following is an
interesting report of spiders in
Ceylon. They must be monsters,

*‘The bodies of these spiders
are very handsomely decorated,
being bright gold or scarlet un-
derneath, while the upper part is
covered with the most delicate
slate-colored fur.

“*So strong are the webs that
birds the size of larks are fre-
quently caught therein, and even
the small but powerful scaly liz-
ard falls a victim. <A writer says
that he often sat and watched the
yellow monster—measuring when
58 TEXAS NATURE OBSERVATIONS AND REMINISCENCES.

waiting for its prey, with his legs
stretched out, fully six inches—
striding across the middle of the
net, and noted the rapid manner
in which he winds his stout thread
around the unfortunate captive.

He usually throws the coils °

about the head until the wretched

suspended on brush or tree or a:
wire fence of some pasture, being .
of golden yellow, with jet black.
stripes; and the smaller one, of
star shape, very numerously en-
countered on the prairie plains.
The photo represents them slightly
magnified from nature. All of

 

 

 

ER

 

Microscopic APPEARANCE OF THE Door MATERIAL OF THE
TRAPBOOR SPIDER OR CALIFORNIA GROUND TARANTULA

victim is first blinded ‘and then
choked. In many unfrequented
dark nooks of the jungle you

come across skeletons of small

birds caught in these terrible
snares.’’
They are very beautifully

marked when seen in the prairie

them prepare large spiderwebs
which serve as traps to entangle
such Insects as flies, grasshoppers,
beetles and other insects. I met
once one such large web with a
large Devil’s horse entangled in its
meshes and the huge: spider evi-
dently had just inocculated it
as It was perfectly motionless.
TEXAS NATURE OBSERVATIONS AND REMINISCENCES. 59 '

reat.

 

 

 

 

 

INTERSTING TYPES OF TEX4S PRAIRIE SPIDER
The cocoon of the Lower Specimen is Seen Depicted on Page 57
60 TEXAS NATURE OBSERVATIONS AND REMINISCENCES,

The Haunts of the Small and Vicious Prarie
Jumping Tarantula.

For reasons of their vicious
character and interesting life hab-
its in building a large snow-
white cocoon to live and breed in,
I submit to the readers a few
more original observations and
photographs directly from nature
concerning the jumping tarantula.
The photos were prepared lately
by the writer during an outing
near our famous Mitchell’s Lake

hunting preserve. Much of the

of the little insects in the act of
emerging from its oval shaped co-
coon, or breeding nest, while the
other photo shows another, but of
a different type of spider, outside
of its nest—both on a large cactus
leaf. This breeding nest is of
snow-white ‘color and silk like
cluster; the main inside being eov-
ered and sheltered by an outside
web-lining; and both serve these
little dangerous creatures as shel-

 

 meaeerass

 

 

 

 

 

Biack JumMPING TARANTULA Escapinc Its Cocoon or BREEDING Nest.
hich is Prepared on a Cactus Leaf

land and rocky hilly regions
around there is cleared of brush
and cactus jungles and ccnverted
into cultivated land; much of it
though is still in the seme wild-
erness as in the days of the In-
dians; and it is there among the
cpuntia cactus plants, where quite
numbers of the various types of
the small and vicious jumping ta-
rantulas or vagabond spider
abound, and the photos show one

ter in inclement weather as well
as a breeding haunt, the female
depositing immense numbers of
small round eggs inside 1 separate
and densely woven globular web-
cocoon. They never spin lar.e
outside trap nest webs like other
spider species do, as they catch
their prey, mostly small insects,
with a sudden far leap, with their
powerful and thick front legs
‘and curved fangs.
TEXAS NATURE OBSERVATIONS AND REMINISCENCES, 61

There are two prominent typ«s
of these vagabond tarantulas,
(Latrodectus Mactams and _ Tri-
punctatis) and abounding
around the cactus jungles; one be-
ing of light gray and beautifully
striped color, while the other

If not molested directly, these
as well as all types of prairie
spiders very rarely attack a pez-
son. They are, however, of a poi-
sonous nature, and very serious
and even fatal casualties have
been recorded in medical litera-

 

 

A Vicious PRAIRIE TARANTULA Just EscaPinc Its Cocoon
1

types are of jet black and dark
gray color, with three white or
vermillion red spots on the body;
all of these types have an enor-
mous head and they crawl
at short intervals in a crouchiug
position—similar to a cat after
its prey.

ture; the writer recollects having
treated some years ago, one party,
a lady, who was very ill and
came near dying from convulsions
which set in shortly after being
bitten in the leg. The spider was

‘killed by the lady—crushed to

death in the folds of her skirt. -
62 TEXAS NATURE OBSERVATIONS AND REMINISCENCES.

The seriousness of such a spider
bite depends on circumstances;
cften only of minor import; but in
deep-seated cases, especially if a
bloodvessel. is penetrated, the
symptoms are more alarming—
often with very severe pain and
discoloration of the-parts affected,
gangrenous disintegration of

larged one-third to its normal size
—this. main oval-shaped cocoon
being covered with an extra, and
very thin web-lining—resembling
a tiny snow-white veil. In both
instances, the tarantula had been
hidden inside the cocoon, and the
thoto of the spiders were taken
by first focusing the cocoon, and

2

 

 

 

Entire Externat Hutt or a Vicious JumPInc TARANTULA ENTANGLED
In WEBLINING (Very highly magnified.)

the tissues, with subsequent de-
rangement of the nerve centers,
ete.

The photographs in this issue
show how ingeniously these spid-
ers prepared their silk-white co-
coon on the thorny cactus leaf---
one of the photos showiny the ev-
coon and the escaping spider en-

then slightly tapping the base-
part of the cocoon with a slender
piece of stick. The instant the
spider emerged the plate was ex-
posed, afew secodds. No chloro-.
form or other artificial means
were used in this proceedure; and
the views were taken at close
range, with the aid of an extra
TEXAS NATURE OBSERVATIONS AND REMINISCENCES. 63

close focusing lens. It takes
considerable courage of course, to
prepare a photograph of these
jumping tarantulas from nature;
but the apparatus was so ar-
ranged beforehand, that the spid-
er could not reach the hand—in
case it should have made a leap.
Both photos were prepared in the
presence of Mr. A Koep Jr., of
San Antonio, one of our camping
party.

With the above memoranda, it
also affords me much pleasure in
appending an unusual fine and

rare microscopic photograph of.

the hull or skeleton of a very mi-
nute young tarantula entangled in
the web-linings of the old edcoon
in which, with numbers of others
of its former host had been
hatched.

After myriads of the. globular
yellowish-white eggs are deposit-
ed by the female spider inside of
the snow-white and silken cocoon
cavity and hatched out, the de-
veloping young broad-headed ta-
rantulas undergo several shedding
processes—similar to the meta-
morphosis of beetles and other in-
sects; and this evolution of the
newborn spider is a most wonder-
ful phenomenon—as can be seen
on the photograph of the cast-off
hull of one of the newborn ‘‘little
fellows’’ showing the cast-off
skin in toto—photo reproduced by
the aid of powerful lenses of the
microscope. The cocoon from
which this young specimen was
photographed contained large
numbers of similar cast-off hulls;
and the one seen herein I had
mounted between two slie glasses
after careful removal of some of
the inside particles, including the
entangled hull and _ web-lining,
from a jumping spider cocoon.

As seen, the spider hull is
suspended inside of a network of
spider threads—which the young
spider itself undoutedly had spua
inside the cocoon previous to its
extrication from its old anatomy,

as seen on the photo, the abdomin-
al and broad hull part shows sev-
eral large cracks; through this
cracked shell the new-formed
spider extricated its entire anat-
omy: first all feet with pads and
joints; then the head parts; then

‘the thorax, and ultimately its ab-

comen—a wonderful’ process,
when we consider that this spider
hull specimen was not larger than
one of the minute young spiders
seen on one of the previous photos
—about the size of two pinheads!

The young spiders as seen pho-
tographically, previous tc its pro-
cess of shedding, seems to en-
tangle themselves in the web-lin-
ing—perhaps spun by their own
abdominal spinning apparatus,
having thus secured a good hold
for the tiny but strong feet, they

“manage to gradually perforate

the old exterior abdominal hull—
and retract the balance of their
anatomy. How else could it be
explained? It is known that even
at more remote age, this young
brood can spin a tiny web—hard-
ly visible to the naked eye, and
the separate globular cocoon gen-
erally at breeding time, is filled
with eggs, deposited by the old
female arachnidan—with no par-
ticular web-lining inside the
breeding cocoon. However, most
£ the types of jumping tarantulas
have their eggs deposited and en-
cased in a separate globular co-
coon—which is covered by still
another larger cocoon membrane
—the shelterhouse of the old spi-
der; and when the young brood
develops they manage to escape
the breeding cocoon and enter the
large open cavity of the old host
where, among its spider thread
meshes, they entangle themselves
or spin their own web, and under-
go there all the peculiar shedding
process.

It is interesting to note how
these and other types of spiders
act under a few drops of chloro-
form being dropped, or sprayed
64 TEXAS NATURE OBSERVATIONS AND REMINISCENCES.

upon them or close to their body.
In a moment they become very
restless and try to escape, but
quickly the nerve centers become
effected with gradual paralysis
of the limbs, and thus they can be
handled without the least risk. in
fact, the latter is much overdone ;

late their victims generally after.
leaping upon them—hence their
appropiate name: ‘‘Jumping Ta-
rantula.’’

The adjoining  photo-illustra-
tions of two oval shaped cocoons
on acactus leaf also is of rare in-
terest; representing one of the

   

=~

Brack AND GRAY TARANTULA ON Cocoon, witH YouNG Broop.

like most other wild animals, they
‘seem to feel the superior human
power and always retreat first,
and try to seek a safe place be-
fore they put up a fight and bite
only, after direct contact or se-
vere provocation. The curved
fangs of this vicious type is rath-
er small for its size, but the poison
glands are large and they inocu-

large black leaping tarantula and
one of the gray and speckled types
on top of one of the cocoons, with
a number of its young brood. A

rent in one of the cocoons shows

some of the ova inside the breed-
ing nest. The two spiders were
this time chloroformed, but, not
dead, before taking the view.

Some Texas Insect Killers

Were a majority of the myri-
ads of insects throughout the con-

tinent not daily and hourly kiilel

by their enemies, humanity would
indeed be in a terrible dilemma,
but nature has wisely provided
that insect life be kept in certain
limits of development and in-
erease, and a constant war of de-
struction is occurring, from the

minutest of animalcules up to the
higher organized insects.

These enemies of insect life are
manifold,: but we know that in
particular certain bird species and
some insect destroy enormous
amounts of the dipterous pests,
but human genius is still wanting
in inventing some radical remedy
for the wholesale destruction, for
TEXAS NATURE OBSERVATIONS AND REMINISCENCES, 65

instance, of such injurious insects
as the cotton bol] weevils and
worms, caterpillars, grasshop-
pers, flies and mosquitoes. Other
insects, lice, ticks, bedbugs, spi-

rigid enforcement of modern san-
itary measures; but the fly pest is.
still awaiting a more radical eras-
ure from its existence. The trou-

ble is, these pests, besides being

 

Bat Roost Tower ErecTep aT MiTcHELL’s Lake By Dr. Cras. R. A. CAMPBELL
(Cut Loaned by Courtesy o1 the Sunday Editor of the Daily Light)

ders, scorpions, ete.—are more or
less amenable to destruction by
our modern methods, and also the
mosquito pest can and has been
eliminated to a certain degree by

constantly reproduced during
their breeding seasons from those
surviving, cannot easily be
reached beyond the boundary line
of inhabited places, and they con-
66 TEXAS NATURE OBSERVATIONS AND REMINISCENCES.

stantly, more or less, invade the
towns voluntarily or by being car-
ried there by the elements. For
these reasons it is necessary that
for instance, the mosquito and fly
insects, be constantly given sari-
tary attention during the summer
and fall time and their breeding
places be kept clean and freely
sprinkled with coal oil or copperas
or carbolic acid, ete.

The writer, as far back as 1878

had. read original essays before tiie
West Texas Medical Society and
other bodies on the importance of
being familiar with the fly and
mosquito genera and other insects
as factors in transmitting disease
upon human beings, and to study
their habits, propagation, prophy-
laxis, and extinction.

Among the large variety of
birds which kill and feed on in-
sects, one in particular is a great
destroyer of the mosquito family
and moths—the so-called bullbat,
or goatsucker, or night swallow,
of which several genera exist—a
bird of dark, speckled, reddish-
grey plumage; a large, flat head,
and enormous mouth when opened.
It is nocturnal in habits, and be-
longs to one of the very rara
birds which lay their eggs on the
bare ground, absolutely without
any nest, not even scraping the
ground or using any, protection
whatever.

This interesting and useful bird
has been more fully described and
depicted elsewhere herein.

When night approaches large
numbers of our bullbats can be
seen at nearly every tank or creck
swiftly flying in search of mos-
quitoes, gnats, moths, ete., and all
night long they are kept busy in
destroying such insects. When day
break appears they seek the lower
branches of a tree (mostly mes-
quite tree) and sit lengthwise on
such branch until perhaps dis-
‘turbed, when they spread their
long wings and slowly fly to some
other protected spot.

Of other species of night flyers,
the common bat takes a high place
as one of the most useful animals
in destroying insects, including
vast numbers of mosquitoes, and
gnats. Indeed, on account of the
large amount and the only food
they consume being insects of all
sorts, the bat has been lately
given closer consideration as
a sanitary scavenger by no one
less.than our friend and townsman
Dr: C. A. R. Campbell, who has ar-
ranged and patented a practical
device for attracting and harbor-
ing bats by the wholesale, for the
purpose of ridding the surround-
ings of a community of mosquitoes
and other insects. The device is
so arranged that not only the bats
find a lodging place and multiply,
but the bat manure or guano, from
such bats can be also gathered in
properly arraneed barrels and
used as fertilizing material. At the
same time, Dr. Campbell suggests
an arrangement to protect the
small minnow fish in tanks and
creeks from feeding on the eggs
of the dragon fly—the latter also
being an enemy to the culex or
mosquito family.

Practical demonstration, only of
course with extensive use of Dr.
Campbell’s sugestions, will show

‘to what extent mosquitoes will be

exterminated by such device, but
the scheme is based on sound nrin-
ciples and it will be a great boon
to humanity indeed if successful.
Since above has been written,
I understand that the experiments
are being conducted with most
satisfactory results, and a large
bat-guano gathering _ establish-

‘ment and breeding house for bats

has been created at theGovern-
ment Experiment station on the
Corpus Christi _ road, and
also at the west side of
the hilly region facing Mitchell
Lake, one of the most prolific in-
sect breeding and marshy lagoons
10 miles south of San Antonio.
Now, let us see to what extent
TEXAS NATURE OBSERVATIONS AND REMINISCENCES. 67

the bat is an insect destroyer. In
the year 1889 Captain Reichards
of D’Hanis, himself an academic
zoologist of the old school and
close observer of Texas nature ob-
jects, had sent to the writer sev-
eral samples of the bat guano
gathered from the large bat caves
of Frio County, for a closer micro-
scopic examination, and I pre-
pared for his own satisfaction,
about ten photo microscopic views
of the guano. These views re-
vealed throughout extensively
remnants of predigested insects
of various variety, but mostly
remnants of gnats, mosquitoes,
flies, moths, spiders and beetles.

In most of the microscopic slides:

examined the multiprisms. of in-
sect eyes, mostly of gnats, mos-
quitoes, flies and beetles, could be
seen. There were no vegetable tis-
sues present. The scales of moths
and smaller insects were numer-
ous, as also remnants of insect
legs and the body shields, claws,
parts of antenae, etc., of various
insects.

It is thus shown conclusively
that that little ‘‘obnoxious’’ look-
ing mammal— the bat—is a very
useful insect destroyer.

Finally attention may be called
to an insect among insect killers,
—the dragon fly, or mosquito

hawk. This is another sanitary.

scavenger in its way, as it feeds on
smaller insects such as mosquitoes
and gnats, of which the banks of
rivulets and tanks and other wa-
tering places abound, especially
like out at West End Lake or at
Mitchell’s Lake, south of San An-
tonio, where there is a large sur-
face of water surrounded with
plenty of vegetation. Here mil-
lions of the mosquito hawks can
be seen in all forms and colors
and of all genera. Some are beau-
tifully striped and all are a lively
set of insects, and, by reason of
their sharp eye sight, hard to catch.

In its larval state the dragon
fly has always been an interesting

study to naturalists. The female
insect denosits her eggs in masses
—up to a hundred eggs. She gen-
erally hovers a considerable time
over a certain favored water place
—often over a small, stagnating
and well demarcated pool of water
near an outlet of some creek, tank
or lake, rapidly dipping the apex
of her abdomen into the water,
when her eggs gravitate to the.
bottom of the water. Many ob-
servers also have seen them creep
along the stem of a water plant
into the water and thus lay their
eggs on the bottom. When ma-
tured the peculiarly shaped larvae,
after several shedding processes,
creep outside the water and ad-
here to the stem of a plant or tree, -
and after further development, the
voung dragon fly gradually creeps
through an opening in the upper
aperture of its primary anatomy
or hull—first with its head parts,
then the front feet and ultimately
with its entire body, and always to
a curved position of its body. Its
wings are now very delicate, but.
they soon dry entirely, when they
swiftly fly in search of their in-
sect food. ,

‘The small minnow fish, fully
described elsewhere is also’ a
great enemy to the eggs of the
dragon fly, as well as those of the
mosquito and other aquatic in-
sects. To Dr. Campbell the
writer is indebted for a sample of
the dragon fly eggs, of which I
prepared several microscopic
views, showing the delicate long
and oval shaped eggs highly mag-
nified—normally not being larger
than the size of a flea.

The wings and the head of a
dragon fly with its proportianate-
yl enormous eye globes and the
mouth arts of this insect are an
interesting study, the latter being
suylied with strong, serrated man-
dibles, with which they grab and
chew their insect victims, and also
the eye capsule is a most interest-
ing object under the niicroscope.
68 TEXAS NATURE OBSERVATIONS AND REMINISCENCES.

Finally I wish to call attention
to the two original illustrations,
photographs from nature of our
greatest of insect destroyers, the
bat; one representing our common
town bat; and the other. a rare
very large species of the cave or
mountain bat; the first photo
representing a bat found among a
wagonload full of bat manure at
one of the old Mitchell’s lake boat
houses, now long ago abandoned.
Bats by the millions in former
years and even.now congregate at

the old lagoon, on account of the.

immense insect life there in the
summer and fall, now conspicuous-
ly diminished since Dr, Campbell

mera. I encountered this speci-
men many years ago during an
outing and hunting trip in the
canyons and mountainous regions
of San Geronimo some 27 miles
north of San Antonio. Perhaps it
had been chased up from its
haunts by some animal, as we met
same at noontime, about 2 o’clock
at a time these nocturnal animals
usually are hidden in deep dark
caves or large rock crevices or in
the interior of hollow cliffs, ete.
The large bat was flying high up
over our heads in an erratic way,
and during one of its turns, I man-
aged to bring it down with a well
aimed shot, and we were astound-

 

 

 

 

 

_ ACommen Barin Hancine Position

erected his high sanitary bathouse
and tower on the west side of the
lake. I prepared this bat phote
in its natural size, the bat hanging
to a board downward, with folded
wings.

The most interesting of these
two photos however, is the second
one, showing the head and month
parts of the cave bat at very close
focus; prepared with extra near
focusing lens adjusted to the ca-

ed with its large size and dark
brown fur-like body, resembling
the fur of a ferret or a beaver.
Taking it to the ranch close by a

‘relative, Mr. E. Henderson, I pre

pared the view seen herein.

Dr. Marnoch, of the Helotes, a
scientist of the old school and au-
thority on Texas reptilia and jun-
gle animals in general, once years
ago, told me such large bats often
congregated around his pictur-
TEXAS NATURE OBSERVATIONS AND REMINISCENCES. 69

esque farm, and he met single
specimens along the creeks cling-
ing to the branch of some shady
tree. Whether these were of the
samie species as ours, I am unable
to say, at any rate, it is a very
rare bat to procure nowadays, as
the haunts of such bats are gen-
erally inaccessable and hard to
find. From general appearances
it seems to belong in the class of
vampires, on account of its extra-
ordinary large size as compared

'

 

 

killers destroy vast numbers of all
sort of insects including beetles,
besides, vast numbers of mosqut
toes, flies ets., and alsg in absence
of such, perhaps they feed on
fruit and other substances—un-
like our other bat, which feeds
almost exclusively, on nocturnal

‘insects, gnats, and mosquitoes. -

Besides the teeth to grab and
chew the insects up, all bats have
an exceedingly sharp eyesight,—
which enables them to catch thet

 

 

A LarGE CAVE BAT From THE SAN GERONIMO MOUNTAINS

with our common small bat specie.
which however, has the same an-
atomical arrangements of the
teeth, and the most interesting
part of the large species is its
head and the long, slightly curved
teeth, which are rounded at the
apex and serve to masticate their
insect food. The photograph here
was taken after the outer mouth
parts had been artificially retrac-
ed, showing both rows of teeth
nicely. No wonder these insect

prey in pitch dark nights, or in
dark cavities; and next to the
eyes, the ears also are of immense
help to these as yet obscure ani-
mals; and Dr. Campbell who has
had nearly a life long exnerience
with the bat, has made some very
interesting observations on the
acoustical apparatus of this noc-
turnal mammal—in the way of the
bat distinctly discerning each in-
sect specie by its peculiar flight
and wing sounds.
70 TEXAS NATURE OBSERVATIONS AND REMINISCENCES.

As seen on the photos, the ears
are very broad and rounded—
thereby affording lots of space for
the soundwaves to gather in the
center of the main hollow and

gradually funnelshaped ear cav-
ity, from whence the sounds are

transmitted to the eardrums and
the hearing centers of the braim.

; The Texas Minnow as Mosquito Destroyer

It is not generally known that
the minutest of our fish species—
the *‘minnow’’—feeds on the eggs
and larvae (wrigglers) of the mos-

_quito insect, and thereby becomes
a factor in the prevention of ma-
laria.

In England, observations have
been made by some naturalists
and attention called to the fact,
that in the Island of Barbados,
West India, a very small fish spe-
cie exists, which on account of
their- immense numbers, are

 

 

 

Fuit Grown Texas MINNows; aLso YouNG
(Natural Size)

termed ‘‘Millions.’’ ‘‘This: fish,’’
the report reads, ‘‘ought to be
well protected as it is destined to
become one of the greatest bles-
sines to humanity—provided -its
good ~ualities are based on sound
facts.’’ At any rate, on the Island
of Barbados, the inhabitants are
fully convinced that it is due en-
tirely to this fish that so few cases
of malaria exist there, while the
malaria pest exists at other places
of that island to an alarming ex-

tent. ‘‘And it can easily be im-
agined, on account of the immense
numbers of the ‘Million’ fish
found in the sweet water rivulets
there, that the larval mosquitoes
(from whence the malarial infec-
tion afterwards takes place, by in-
oculation) are destroyed by those
fish. They show a ravenous appe-
tite, and this is considered espec-
jally characteristic in their favor
as a destroyer of the larval mos-
quito.’’

To the writer, and many
American scientists well acquaint-
ed with the habits of our native
‘‘minnow’’ the above is nothing
particularly new, as far as our
own smallest fish is concerned, but
it is a matter well worth while to-
be looked into closer, and a few
original data regarding our Texas
minnow fish will undoubtedly i in-
terest the readers:

The above ‘‘million figh?? j is de
seribed as a very small creature
of bluish color. with black dots
around its tailbody. This would
about tally with a larger species
of our minnow encountered occa-
sionally in the Texas rivulets. But
the million fish of the waters of
Texas is decidedly less numerous
than the smaller species—the com-
mon minnow of our rivers, creeks
and tanks.

In these pages can be seen de-
picted the exact natural size and
appearance of two full grown Tex-
as minnows, with a number of
vour~ fish from several days to a
week or more old. Also, a photo-
microcraph is reproduced (from
original collection of microscopic
specimens) of a number of embry-
TEXAS NATURE OBSERVATIONS AND REMINISCENCES. 71

onic minnows, still encased in the
egg membrane.

This is a characteristic
phenomenon in the minnow—not
generally known— not even to
some observant naturalists—that
these minutest of fish ‘develop
their offspring alive, a character-
istic observed only in a few other
fish variety, as the majority of
fish hatch their eggs out after
they have been laid. The minnov,
however, contains in its myriads of
more or less advanced eggs a liv-
ing fish germ, in its mem-

This phenomenon of our minnow
being a viviparous fish, is also
well known to my friend and for-
mer city bacteriologist, Dr. Chas.
A. R. Campbell, and we have both
made experiments in this line of
observation at the old Dreiss’ la-
boratory on Alamo Plaza many
years ago.

These fish have a very sharp
eyesight; and the eyes are, pro-
portionately, very large; and the
eye lens, on microscopic examina-
tion, is very complete—a hyeline
and exceedingly refractive crystal

 

 

 

 

 

PHOTOMICROGRAPH OF EMBRYONIC IN Ecc MEMBRANE, INSIDE THE

M1nNow’s OvaRIuM.

braneous egg surroundins, and as
seen in the microscopic photo here-
in. And, that they breed alive
young fish, can be easily seen if
an old female minnow be put in
a glass of water and observed for
a few days or weeks—according
to the advanced cycle of develop-
ment—and it will be noticed that
gradually a number of young min-
nows swim around the glass of wa-
ter. In other fish species this
process is not witnessed, as the
ecgs are first laid and hatched out
afterwards.

(Considerably Magnified)

line and oval-shaped disc. For such
reason, it is plausable how these
minute fish easily find their prey,
consisting of animalcules and veg-
etable matter; and they also feed
on the eggs and larvae of such in-
sects as the mosquito. And to the
latter they have easy access at
such places where the mosquito
deposits its.eggs, i. e., at places
near the water’s edge, where the
small fish have access to reach the
eggs or larval mosquitoes. In its
embryonic state, and as seen on
the micrographic-photo herein,
72 TEXAS NATURE OBSERVATIONS AND REMINISCENCES.

each developing fish, encased in a
delicate egg membrane, shows the
large black pigmented eyes even
in the remotest developed eggs,
with but few or no outlines of the
fish embryo.

These minnows are always, and
exclusively, seen in large. droves
close to the bank of flowing wa-
ter, as well as tanks, stagnating
ereeks, etc., where the mosquito
is liable to deposit its eggs. How-

ever, as the mosquitoes prefer
small, demarcated water pools
along the waters to deposit their
eggs, the minnow has no chance
to feed on them; but where they
have access they are sure to ex-
terminate the entire brood; and
where, for instance, shallow creeks
are met with in summer contain-
ing plenty of minnows, it will be
noticed that no wrigglers are to be
seen and the surroundings to be
free of mosquitoes.

The Bullbat, Goatsucker Bird, Whip-poor-will and
Guacharo or Fat Bird

One of our most conspicuous
and most useful bird of the prairie

and plains is the so called Bullbat, |

 

fact all
insectivorous nightswallow abounds

Around San Antonio, and ‘n
over Texas land, this

 

BuiiBaT RESTING ON A Broap Mgsguite TREE Lims

Goatsucker or Nightswallow, to
which genera also belong the Whip-
poor-will and the Guacharo-bird
to be described later herein.

in great numbers. _It ‘s nocturnal
in its habits, though in its haunts,
especially along r-vulets, it is
also seen toward evening and
TEXAS NATURE OBSERVATIONS AND REMINISCENCES. 73

early in the mornings traversing
the horizon in search of insects.
The plumage of the female is of
reddish-gray color with dark stripes
and dots along its body, wings
and tail, whilst the male is of
a light bluish-gray color and
is especially attractive in its
dotted and striped plumage and
its characteristic broad and flat
head and large mouth. It is one
of the very rare birds which lay

region near San Antonio, but not.
protected by a nest. The queer
looking young resembled somewhat
a pair of miniature owls and they
were quite shy at our approach,
and quickly hopped away in the
underbrush.

One of the most characteristic
features in the life habits of our
bullbat is the way it sits in day
time on some limb to rest and
sleep. When thus asleep or resting

 

 

 

 

 

a é ess
Two Younc, But Fut, ‘Grown BuLiBats oN Mesquit# TREE BRANCHES

thei eggs on the bare ground with-
out any vestige of a nest or protec-
tion of any kind. During a hunt-
ing trip I once came across one
such breeding bullbat with its
young ones—the latter crouching
close to each other, near a mes-
quite brush, in a rocky and hilly

it spreads its long body flatly on
the bark of the tree—usually
the trunk or fork of a thick
mesquite limb; and, as its striped
grayish body color corresponds
with the color of such tree on
which it crouches, the bullbat
as a rule is not noticed, even
 

74 TEXAS NATURE OBSERVATIONS AND REMINISCENCES.

only a few feet off, until suddenly .

and swiftly as if by magic, it
spreads its long speckled wings—
and off it goes, flying over our
heads in an erratic flight. Itisa
most fascinating sight to behold
how these lively birds fly with the
swiftness of an arrow over the

prairie-plains—always, when hun- .

gry, seeking some waterpool or
rivulet, where lots of insects con-
gregate. Often scores of them

 

caught, the peculiar and loud sound
of cutting the air current with
its wing feathers is heard a great
distance off.

The photo herein of two such
bullbats was taken by the writer.
lately during an outing along
the romantic river bottom near the
ancient mission Espada south of San
Antonio, and a separate original
view of the landscape—also the
haunts of the red bird, mockingbird,

 

Romantic River Bottom Scenery, Near San ANTONIO, THE Haunts oF THE Rep Birp,
MocxineG Birp, WHIP-POOR-WILL AND OTHER TEXAS FOREST SONGSTERS

can be seen thus engaged, executing
all sorts of circular and angular
flying manuevers closely over the
water’s surface, with aloud, screech-
ing noise—aided by the

and flying and rotating from
one edge of the water —along a
tank or creek, to the other; and
each time an insect is to be

swift -
movements of their wings (cutting -

wm

Whip-poor-will and other songsters,.
is vividly depicted. It is a favorite
fishing place of San Antonians
seeking recreation and nature ob-
servations along this shady and
historic rivulet of the metropolis,
and it depicts the peculiar and -
tropical vegetation on both sides.
of the river, the left part being
densely supplied with willow and
TEXAS NATURE OBSERVATIONS AND REMINISCENCES. 75

boxelder trees, while the right

side shows a huisache tree near.

which is a fisherman catching craw-
fish and other bait. The dense

thickets of rounded trees along

a Whip-poor-will, and it happened
this way: While looking. for
squirrels in the dense vines
and evergreen foliage along the

“river bottom, one of our party

 

 

 

 

 

THE GuacHaro, OR Fat BIR
peneterepy by the Writer from tlumbaldite s Illustration)

this river bottom are covered with
rankant vines of the mustang grape.
There are hundreds of such fine
sceneries along the river bottom,
and at-this place the river-bed
was rather low by reason of the

happened to see a strange bird
crouching in the shade on a
stump of an old elder tree. The
bird looked very much like a hawk
or some species of owl but the error
cleared up after a well aimed shot,

 

 

   

 

 

Heap oF A WHIP-POOR-WILL, OR GOATSUCKER BIRD

severe drouth at the time through-
out Texas.

It is here also that during an
outing we came accidently across

for it brought down a large Whip-
poor-will bird. After its removal
to camp and careful examination
of its reddish dark brown body and
76 TEXAS NATURE OBSERVATIONS AND REMINISCENCES.

especially its head with the enor-
mous wide mouth parts, a photo
was taken of its head and repro-
duced herein. _

The bird was twice as large
as a bullbat, which it resembled
somewhat in its general striped
coloring of the body, wings and
tailfeathers, and it measured twen-
ty inches from tip to tip of the
outspread wings. Though in
close search for a nest for y2ars
I never could trace onz—neither
on the plains or forests, nor at any

  

ing remnants of some large beetie

species.
The photo shows the head
parts in about normal  size—a

side view of same, with partly
opened mouth. The eyes are very
large and the upper part of the
bill is sharply curved—like the
bill of a hawk. On both sides
of the upper bill numbers of long
hair bristles are present—charac-
teristic of the goatsucker species.
It is exceedingly rare that
such specimen should be captured,
especially in day time, as the

 

) 1
RivuLet ann Forest, WesteRN Mountain Recions, NEAR THE GALLAGHER
Rancu, THE Haunts or THE WHIP-POOR-WILL, Etc.

museum of Texas bird specimens.

It was of course generally re-
gretted the mistake was made
of shooting this handsome: and
useful bird, but it also served to
give it a close inspection; and
the examination of its gullet and
stomach showed that its food
consisted exclusively of insects,
as the stomach contained the
remnants of a large number of
various beetles—all in small frag-
ments of the legs, wings, etc.,
partly predigested—most parts be-

Whip-poor-will is a strictly noc-
turnal bird—and one that always
delights the heart of the night
traveler, farmer, or camper with
its melodious, inimitable song—
resembling somewhat the name
given this bird. It abounds quite
numerously in the western moun-
tainous regions, in the dense
forest woods, where, in the stillnéss
of the night, it delights the traveler
with its merry song. Often two
or more Whip-poor-wills are heard
a far distance away—one_ re-
TEXAS NATURE OBSERVATIONS AND REMINISCENCES. 77

peating the echo of the other in
quick succession. They are shy,
and, aided by the darkness of
the night, it is impossible to see
this bird in nature at close range
and only once in a while, at
moonlight, the shadowy outlines
of the large bird are seen acci-
dentally when the Whip-poor-will
alights from its hiding haunts.
The song of this bird is so im-
pressive that, once heard, it is
very seldom forgotten by any one,
and one can listen a long time
to the thrilling sounds while so-
journing at a farm house at night.

The Guacharo or Fat Bird be-

longs to the same class as the bull-,

bat and whip-poorwill, and has rare-
ly been seen in the canyons and
mountainous regions of Texas
Years ago, in a cave around
Helotes, west of San Antonio, such
bird has been seen—perhaps from
foreign regions. The life history
of this strange cave bird is but
little known to us, so a description
of same by Humboldt might inter-
est my readers.

In his travels through South
America, Alexander von Humboldt
refers to the following personal
explorations of a guacharo cave

in which millions of the so-
called ‘‘Guacharo” or “fat birds’
were encountered: ‘‘The cave,

which the natives designate as
a fat pit, is located several miles
off the convent of the San Antonio
_-and Guanaguana, in the valley
of Capri; and Humboldt was
led there during his marvelous
travels by the Alcalde and several
Monks. At times they had to
wade through water that was
not very deep, and at times
between a rivulet and rock cliffs,
or very slippery or swampy soil.
Numerous earth mounds, dispersed
logs, over which the mule teams
had tedious traveling, made the
trip exceedingly tiresome to reach
the Guacharo Mountain. A rivu-
let runs through a shaft of this
mountain, and one goes under
a high cliff above which the sky
is not to be seen. The road

winds itself with the rivulet, and
at its last bend one suddenly
stands before the colossal opening
of the Guacharo cave; and the
scene is something enormous for
eyes accustomed to the scenic
panorama of the Alps, as the
highly imposing tropical plant
life imparts a most fascinating
impression of such earth cave.
This plant splendor even extends
into the main portal of the large
cave. With amazement we no-
ticed how eighteen feet high, bril-
liant heliconia, propapalens, and
treelike aruma plants covered
the banks of the rivulet and
underground layers. Once enter-
ing the enormous cavity of this °
cave, one has no idea of the
enormous noise thousands of the
Guacharo birds make in the dark-
ness of the cave.

Humboldt compares this noise
with the racket thousands of
our crows make in a _ bunch,
especially where the guacharo birds
domicile close to each _ other.
The yelling, penetrating screeching
and nervethrilling noise of these
guacharos from the enormous
rock vaults appears as echo from
the deepest depths of the. cave.
The native Indians attached a
torch to a long stick and thus
showed Humboldt and his com-
panions the myriads of nests in
this cave which were located in
funnel-shaped holes, and in im-
mense numbers along the interior
vaults of this cave. The deeper
they advanced into this cave,
and the more of the birds were
chased up through the light
of the Kopal torches, the more
the tumult and noise of the
birds increased. As soon as the
noise ceased at one particular
place for a few minutes, a tumult-
uous screaming and fluttering was
heard from other, deeper parts of
the cave.

“The Guacharo departs from
its haunts at night time, especially
during bright moonlight to seek
its food, consisting mostly of
hard seed, and the Indians say
78 TEXAS NATURE OBSERVATIONS AND REMINISCENCES.

it never feeds either on beetles
nor night butterflies.

Every year, on Jones’ day,
the Indians pilgrim to this cave,
destroy most of the nests with long
poles and kill many thousands

of the birds, at the same time ©

the old brood flies around with
terrible noise over the heads of
the Indians as if trying to defend
its brood. The young are at
once killed and gutted on the spot.
The peritoneum is overgrown with
thick layers of fat, also down to
the lower abdomen. That grain
eating bird, says Humboldt,
which is not exposed to sunlight
and makes but very little use of
its muscles becomes so fat, reminds
one of the fattening of geese and
cattle. During the ‘‘fat season”
the Indians build huts of palm
leaves at the entrance or inside the
cave, and extract the fat over fire
and place it into earthen jars, and

is marketed under the name of
“‘Guacharo-lard” or oil semi liquid,
clear, odorless, and so pure, that
it keeps over a year without
becoming rancid.

The Guacharo species would
have been long ago annihilated,
were it not that various circum-
stances contribute to their exist-
ence.

The Indians seldom dare to
go into the depths of the cave
for reason of a superstition; the
birds also seem to inhabit other
and inaccessible haunts near
inhabited caves and caverns, and
undoubtedly the old cave gets
inhabited yearly with new colonies
and the missionaries declare that
the bulk of these birds has not
declined. If the gullet and stom-
ach of the young birds be opened
various hard and dry seed are
found therein, but no remnants
of insects.

The cave near Caripe is a
fearfully mysterious place to the
Indians; they believe in the depths
of the cave their departed ances-
tors live. To go to the Guacharos
means as much to them as to

goto their death. For this reason
fakirs and medicine men prepare
their nightly “‘hokus-pocus’” in the
front entrance to the cave in order
to dispose of the ghosts.

With difficulty Humboldt’s com-
panion, Bonpland, succeeded in
killing two of the heretofore un-
known birds, which was afterward
drawn by Humboldt. (Reproduced
herein.)

As the Indians .could not be
compelled to penetrate deeper
into the cave, they returned to
Caripe. Their path led them over
dangerous cliff precipices and dense
forests of tree-like fern plants and

“palms. On their way, Humboldt

says he saw for the first time some
of the howl-apes at close range,
and the mournful cries of which
he had heard at sundown near
Caripe. In describing these apes,
Humboldt reiterated his heretofore
stated remarks, that the more
sorrowful these apes appear the more
humanlike they appear; and that
their hilarity and mobility lessens
the more their mental power is
developed.”’

For the past several years I
have been longing to find the
breeding place of our bull-bat
bird or rather its typical two
eggs. They are generally to
be found in the hilly regions
around San Antonio, where tiis
peculiar and beautiful bird secks
its breeding haunts—generally a
secluded place with plenty of
round rocks and others simulating
the markings of the bird and its
large oval eggs, which the bird
deposits’ on the bare ground with-
out any nest material whatever
to enclose and protect the eggs.
With this inherited instinct to
deposit its two eggs in places
simulating both the color of the
bird and its eggs and without a
vestige of nest material, this trait
of the bullbat bird is quite unique
and it is a matter of fact that the
eges, as a rule, are exceedingly
hard to find, unless one perchance
happens to chase up a breeding
TEXAS NATURE OBSERVATIONS AND REMINISCENCES. 79

bullbat from its eggs on the
proud and notices the exact spot
rom which the fluttering bird
has escaped.

If the latter is overlooked it will
be in vain to hunt the eggs, as the
breeding bird is usually on the
alert. and escapes its breeding
place so rapidly and in various
directions that the exact location
of the eggs cannot be found.

San Antonio’s hilly environ-

 

 

to find such, one must be familiar
with the soil and environments
these night ramblers seek for
their haunts and breeding places.
Also, unless for a specific and le-
gitimate purpose, such as well as
all others of the feathery tribe,
should not be hunted and molest-
ed in any way, as it is against the.
state laws as well as a crime to
disturb breeding birds and ani-
mals of all kind purposely.

 

“Buripat’ Escapine Its Nest 2
(Original Photo on This Spot Found ona Flint Rock Hill, Near the Cassin’s Lake)

ments, and especially such where
a dairy farm or a rivulet is sitt-
ated close by (the favorite haunts
at. sundown and night time of the
bullbat to gather its food, con-
sisting entirely of insects), har-
bor large numbers of the breed-
ing night-hawks; but, in order

and lack of general

Our feathery tribe, as is well
known, is diminishing rapidly of
late years, especially in regions
unfavorable to their propagation
protection.

The press in general has on vari:
ous occasions in its editorial col-
umns called attention to the wan-
80 TEXAS NATURE OBSERVATIONS AND REMINISCENCES.

ton disturbance and killing of
non-game birds. There is abso-

lutely no sense in it to shoot ani-—

mals and hound or kill any of our
feathery tribe “for the mere fun
of it.”

I will now describe the regions
where two bullbat nests were
found, after attending some pyo-
fessional service at the extretre
southeastern limits of our city.
One early morning, I took a: lonz
stroll over a number of hilly re-
gions close by the housc,. along

surrounded by short brush and
flower weeds, and the ground of
the open space was covered with .
numbers of rock fragments and
rounded rock, imbedded into the
ground, and nearly all the rock
were of a bluish gray color with
various dark markings, - and
among these rocks my search was
rewarded by finding two glitter-
ing and grayish spotted eggs of
beautiful marble color and which
were oval shape and larger than
our pigeon eggs. *

Not having a camera with me,

 

 

Nest oF 4 “‘BULLBAT’’ ON THE GRoUND (Original Photo in Situ)

the ridge of a hill, in search of
a breeding bullbat; but only after
walking a great distance along the
ridge of a hill covered with small
brush and some open spaces of
the white limestone ground did I
come across a breeding bullbat,
which fluttered in a zig-zag flight
over the ground into a nearby
underbrush. By mere chance I
had noticed the exact place the
bird had flown off the ground.
It was a semi-circular open space,

I made a close survey and marked
the open space where the bullbat
eggs were found (in order to find
it again) and a few days later,
in company with a friend, we
happened to find the same place
again as well as another breeding
bullbat with the same type of
eggs, located also in an open:
graveled space. I prepared a
near focused view of the latter—
normal size and a nice view of
the first two eggs found—showing
TEXAS NATURE OBSERVATIONS AND REMINISCENCES. 81

both eggs exactly as found be-
tween the imbedded rock frag-
ments (and as seen in the photo
herein) nearly in full natural
size. The photo was taken by
inverting the old camera straight
downward, in order to get all de-
tails and the right focus of all
objects seen on the picture.
Like the wild dove, the female
bullbat usually is supplanted by
its mate when disturbed from its
breeding place, the male bird al-
ways flying gracefully with its
beautifully striped and speckled
long wings in a circular flignt
around, or close by the nest, now

 

seen on the photo, I had endeavy-
ored at various times during May
and June to find a breeding bull-
bat; and several times, around the
hilly and favorable breeding
places adjoining Cassin’s lake,
and on the open hilly plains east-
ward of the old and beautiful
Meyer’s river bottom pecan for-
est and picnic place (where in
former years lots of bullbats
sought their breeding haunts on
the limestone and graveled prai-
rie plains), I encountered many
of the bullbat birds, but never
could locate the eggs. It is gen-
erally after the female has been

  

San Antonrans at St. GERONIMO, NEAR GALLAGHER’S RANCH, LOOKING FOR BULLBATS

Scenery Close to High Rock Embankments with Cavelike Excavations and Jungles of Mountain
Grass Along the Rock Precipices and Wild Flowerbeds Below

and then taking a rest in a
crouching position on some near-
by limb of a shade tree, and
shortly afterward again circling
over the nesting place, until it
gradually, or suddenly, in the
fashion of the prairie hawk,
alights on the two eggs. where
it remains in a crouched position,
and resembles more a piece of
dark ‘wood than a living bird.
Whenever disturbed, the female
bird invariably soon returns to
its breeding place.

Before finding the specimens

breeding a long time on the eggs
that the bird is unable to fly
quickly from its breeding place,
and it is then generally that: it is
detected by its fluttering and
noisy flight. And also during
many an annual outing to a rela-
tive’s farm north of Helotes, and
in the hilly and mountainous re-
gigns around San Geronimo, and
fifteen miles further west, around
the Medina dam, I searched in
vain for breeding bullbats dur-
ing the month of June. The hot
months of July and August there-
82 TEXAS NATURE OBSERVATIONS AND REMINISCENCES.

fore seem to be the main breed-
ing season of the bullbat bird and
others of its kind, the ‘chuck-
will’s widow” and the whippoor-
will bird.

During a few days’ stay at the
Geronimo farm in June I had
occasion to encounter a whippoor-
willbird at very close range. It
was along a beautiful mountain-
ous precipice, densely overgrown
with cedar, sycamore and other

mo soil with its solid rock forma-
tion, and a small rivulet graceful-
ly meandering its serpentine
course on both sides of the rock
formation downward and into the
lovely forests, seen on the pictures
in the extreme rear parts. And
here the whippoorwill was en-
countered one early. morning just
after the sun had peeped over the
eastern mountain ridges, and
cedar brakes, and spread. its rays

 

 

s

 

 

Mountain Scenery Near Gattacuer’s RANCH, SAN Geronimo, THE Haunts oF THE WHIP-
POOR-WILL AND OTHER Forest SONGSTERS

mountain vegetation, that the
large dark brown chocolate color-
ed songster of the mountain
plains lit close by on a broad-

leafed bush, and it had all the
appearance depicted herein, of+a
whippoorwill.

The extra landscapes herein
vividly depict the peculiar Geroni-

downward over the Geronimo val-
ey.

I noticed, however, that animal
life in general and especially our
prairie songsters, are exceedingly
searce around those lovely hills
and mountains as compared to
the feathery tribe around and
close to our San Antonio. It
seems here they have more protec-
TEXAS NATURE OBSERVATIONS AND REMINISCENCES. 83

quietude of the vales and forests
and the settler’s hears from sun-
down to early morn. The call of
the chuck-will’s widow is near
related to the song of the whip-
poorwill, but by careful listening
the difference in the voice is easi-
ly discovered.

During our stay at San Geron-
imo and reposing in a hammock
under a centuries-old oak tree at
the farm, suddenly, toward sun-
down, the call of a chuck-will’s

widow bird was heard quite close
by in a cedar and_ hackberry
thicket, and one of our outing
party proclaimed his delight and
listened attentively to the short
but very melodious tunes of the
bird, but he imagined that it was
the call of a whippoorwill. After
a little while and as the sun dis-
appeared beyond the western hills
and forest, two: other bird voices
were heard, one calling and the
other as if answering the same

 

 

 

 

Forest SCENERY_AND RivuLeT INs1pE ENORMOUS Rock Strata, Near GaLLaGHER’s RANCH, AT
THE LocaN-HENDERSON FarM. Fine Deer and Wild Turkey Country in the Olden Days,
and.the Haunts of the Whip-poor-will and Chuckwills Widow Bird

tion from night marauding wild
animals, including hawks and
snakes, etc., and more watering
and feeding places than in the
dry, but exceedingly attractive
mountain regions. However,
these as well as all other western
mountain regions with the dense
forests and sparkling springs are
the main haunts of the whippoor-
will and the chuck-will’s widow
bird, and they often enliven the

call, and I called my friend’s at-
tention to the difference of these
two voices—

The two calls being louder and
more melodious and it was the
song of the whippoorwill. This
first mentioned bird is much
smaller than the whippoorwill,
but belongs to the same class, the
so-called ‘‘goat-sucker bird,’’ and
its plumage resembles somewhat
that of the bullbat. In exploring
84 TEXAS NATURE OBSERVATIONS AND REMINISCENCES,

the canyons and high mountain
precipices around Geronimo,
once met a chuck-will’s widow
bird in a large cave, where it was
crouching in a dark corner, but
suddenly flew off before we could
come near enough to take a view
of it. Around the evergreen hills
aud the rock canyons of Helotes
and in fact all over the evergree
mountain forest regions of west
Texas, this bird, as well as the
whippoorwill, is often heard at
night time, especially during a
bright moon lighted night.

Before closing these observa-
tions, in particular of the bu!!:
bat bird, I wish to call your
attention to the photograph here-
in of a bullbat escaping its breed-
ing haunts, taken by surprise with
the camera at short distance (or-
iginal photo slightly enlarged.)

A friend, Mr. Alfred Haubold.
was present, and the bird had
been found on the southeast hills
of Cassin’s lake. The ground
there is very favorable for these
peculiar ground breeders; the en-
tire hilly regions being covered
‘with more or less brushy and
shady mesquite trees and others,
mostly berry-bearing’ brush, and
are more or less graveled, with
here and there bare places of the
white limestone, and the ground
itself along the hills is covered
with imbedded small rock frag-
ments of a mingling of black, red,
brown, and bluish color, and the
most of it seemingly of volcanic
origin. These rocky regions sim-
ulate the colorings of the bullbat
and its eggs closely, and it is for
this reason the bullbat very
shrewdly seeks such places for its
breeding haunts; and on our Jast
trip there one early morning, in
the middle of July, we twice
found a pair of young but full
grown bullbat birds, which closely
resembled a pair of young owls.
We came very near capturing one

of the pair, but they escaped. On
another occasion, in these hills,

which overlook a beautiful small
lake and a dairy farm with lots
of cattle and a large cultivated
piece of land in the north-eastern
district, we came across unawares,
within four steps of a breeding
bullbat, and it only fluttered away
after I had reached and pulled a
small mesquite -branch aside to
examine its nest. The old bull-
bat was crouching on the gravel-
ed ground close to the stems of
the mesquite brush, and I called
my friend’s attention to same,
when, as I pulled the branch aside
it fluttered away and exposed two
beautiful and shining eggs of same

appearance as the others illustrat--""

ed herein.

It is here algo, east of the beau-
tiful ‘Cassin’s lake, that the writer
and my companion, Mr. Haubold, -
encountered the two young buil-.
bats, just hatched and photoillus-

‘trated on the spot found, and seen

on the engraving which is slightly
enlarged. They looked like a pair,

of very young chicks, but with"

much broader head and mouth, of
yellowish white color; and- after
the views were taken they ran as
fast as a pair of young quail, to —

some nearby cacti brush where —

they were left, unmolested.

It is truly wonderful how these
otherwise very fleety and unex-
celled sailors of the valleys and
prairie lands seek just such breed- .
ing grounds that simulate their —
own grayishtbrown and dotted
body colors; and it is for this par-
ticular feature also, in searching
for a breeding bullbat, that one
must put his eyes right on the
spot the bird escapes the ground,
else it will be mere guess work
and accidental that the eggs are
found. When the bird escapes,
it will return to its breeding place
after a short, time, and it is then,
if the exact place is known, or
marked, that a snapshot can be
taken, or even a time exposure
(best after focusing the place and
making a ‘‘pull-the-string’’ expo-
TEXAS NATURE OBSERVATIONS AND REMINISCENCES. 85

sure at quite a distance.) When
crouching on a tree limb or on its
breeding place, only the gray or
dark reddish brown and dotted
colors are noticed, with perhaps
the circular white lines around its
neck, but, in its flying or spread
out position, as seen on the photo
herein, the large white dotted
wings and tail feathers of the
bullbat are prominently exposed,
while the balance of the body oft-
en simulates its surroundings as
seen on the photo.

quite limb, the bird is often pas-
sed by unrecognized, as the hark
of the mesquite tree, with its
longitudinal and corrugated ap-
pearance of its protuberances and
interliniattions of more or less
broad bands of a light bluish-gray
or dark brown color, simulates the
outlines of its host closely. And all
this leads one to reflect: Are these
distinct traits in the life history
of our Texas bullbat bird merely
‘“instinet’’ or rather deliberate
reasoning ?

 

Bucvsats Just HatcHeED.

 

Ue

Photo on the Spot Found

(Slightly Enlarged From the Original Photograph)

And equally remarkable is the
fact, that this interesting bullbat,
even the young birds, as soon as
able to fly, will seek a tree branch,
with preference to that of a mes-
quite tree to rest on, after hours of
yontinuous flying abroad after
night insects; and always, as a
rule, such branch is selected after
repeated and continuous circular
tours of inspection, which closely
simulates its body markings; and
when crouching at rest on a mes-

I was closing this chapter,.when,
last Sunday, in company with my
friend, A. Haubold, we endeavor-
ed to find the same place again
we had found the Sunday pre-
vious—a breeding bullbat on its
eggs on the ground below a mes-
quite bush. We had marked the
bush with strips of paper and
white rags, in order to more easi-
ly. find the place again. This, how-
ever, was not quite as easy as ex-
pected. We had to pass several
86 TEXAS NATURE OBSERVATIONS AND REMINISCENCES,

dense brush and ravines along
the newly fenced hilly region, but
ultimately my friend recognized
the white objects on the place
we had marked. We approached
very cautiously to see if the old
bullbat was still there, and were
disappointed for a while at least.
There was no trace of the old bull-
bat on that spot, but further off
one was seen flying close to the
ground among the mesquite trees.
‘On closer inspection of the place,
where we had seen the eggs seven
days previous, I noticed several
eggshells lying around, this, oi
course, led us to. search around
for the new offspring (my friend
suggesting shortly before that
some ground squirrel or other ro-
dent or a snake may have disposed
of the two eggs.) After quite a
little while, my friend all at once
exclaimed: ‘‘Here they are, Doc-
tor’’! and sure enough, the two

little baby bullbats were crouch-
ing on the ground under a more
shady acacia brush close by, and
here also I took the view of them
seen above.

Both were of about the same
size, smalleer than. a neuborn
chick, and of a slight yellowish-
white color, with a few gray spots
and strips along the back part of
their fuzzy body. Though small
they were a lively lot, and both
quickly tried to escape—running
as fast as a pair of baby quail
under the shady. and rocky brush.
After focusing the spot of en-
counter, and after placing some
of the eggshells close by the little
fellows, a short time -view was
taken with slightly reverted came-
ra. From general apvearance, it
seems both of the - young birds
were only two; or three days old.

Gradually the body feathers as-
sume more of a light brown color,
and the birds grow very rapidly,
so that in a week or two they are
less easy to capture and photo-
graph. After making it as comfort-
able as possible for the little bird
kids, we left them under the shady
place, which as stated was covered
all around with the peculiar dark
(India) red fragments of rock
scattered around these hilly re-
gions.

The Cliffswallow’s Mud Nest

I herein present to my readers a
‘view of the cliff swallow clinging to
its oval shaped nest, and also a
second rare view of the Texas cliff
swallow’s mud nests, with one
of ,the nests exposing the. eggs.
The photo was prepared after
considerable difficulty in ‘getting
to the nests, for reason of the steep
rock precipices on which they
were attached—with hundreds of
a similar kind. Such nests have
been cursorily alluded to in others
of my reminiscences of Texas
nature-objects; these were
reproduced during an outing years
ago in West Medina County where
they are encountered in large
numbers along the high rock preci-

pices and nearly always along
and above some rivulet, and always
some ten to twenty and more
feet above water—if such is present
They plaster their building material
—some soft clay in much the same
manner as does the mud dauber
wasp against rough walls of rocks,
and always high enough to protect
them from their many enemies;
and during breeding time myriads
of the small swallows or martins
can be seen building their nest
amidst a fearful noise they make
when being disturbed. Swarms
of them continually circle again
and again and emit a _pecu-
liar screeching noise whilst others’
take a rest on their large mud
TEXAS NATURE OBSERVATIONS AND REMINISCENCES. 87

nests, and when breeding they
peep with their attractive dark
brown heads outside the hole
of the -oval or rounded nest.
Hundreds of them can thus be
observed from a distance, whilst
thousands whirl and circle around
in various directions—screeching

bills and feet particles of soft
earth or clay and return to their
nests. Myriads of them thus swarm
to the water places and gather
the soft and doughy mud particles
which is plastered by them in
an artistic way—one particle near
the other until the large nest is

 

 

 

 

CLirFswaALLow Ciincine To Irs Ovay SHAPED Nzst
(Slightly Enlarged)

and chattering, and coming and
going from their nests—indeed a
very fascinating sight to behold.
In preparing their peculiar nests
these swallows often fly a great
distance to some suitable waterhole
or creek and there gather with their

completed, as seen on the photos,
representing the nests in about
one-half natural size. Each nest.
is built separate but close to each
other, and the nests are supplied
but sparingly with a few helms
of straw and some of their own
$8 TEXAS NATURE OBSERVATIONS AND REMINISCENCES.

 

 

Swattow Nests Burtt on THE CLIFF WALLS
TEXAS NATURE OBSERVATIONS AND REMINISCENCES. 89

feathers on which the female lays
four to six small eggs of light
reddish brown and speckled color.
The photo herein shows how a
number of these mud nests were
plastered against a steep rock wall
in a hanging position, the entrance
opening being located at the nar-
row neck part of the cylindrically
formed nest. _

These cliff swallows, as all others,
being insectivorous, are very useful
creatures as they destroy large
numbers of various dipterous insects
during their flighty rambles along
the rivulets—or around barns and
houses—if there located; and their

-

nests and young brood should by
all means be protected. Often,
in touring places where such and
other types of swallows prepare
their nests, these are seen wantonly
battered up with rocks or broken
to pieces by some ignorant vandals:
who find delight in destroying
such as well as other nests—merely
to amuse themselves! Had such
vandals received stricter lessons:
from their ‘parents and better
nature. studies from their teachers:
our feathery tribe would not,
as in late years, be so near extinc-
tion!

A Rare Forest Wren and its Nest

The prairie plains, hilly regions,
forests, river bottom, pastures and
parks around San Antonio harbor
great numbers of various wren
species, such as our common house-
wren, the cactus wren, the rock
and canyon wren. the winter or
forest wren. the Carolina wren and
a number of others, and the pur-
nose of the following-notes is-not
to dwell on these, as their life
history is quite well known, but
rather I wish to call attention to
an interesting and rare wren.and
its nest encountered lately in a
cavity or hole in the ground along

the river bank, nine miles below’

San Antonio, in a sloping embank-
ment and close to a_ sparkling
spring surrounded by forest trees,
rampant vines, ferns and other
luxuriant forest vegetation.

The nest was accidentally de-
tected by an outing party about a
mile off from where we had
pitched our camp along some old
shady monarchs of the river bot-
tom, and as my friend knew I was
at the time that, I was interested
in most of our _ interesting
nests of the: feathery tribe, we
strolled back through the river
bottom to near the small spring,

and there it was, a very small
wren species, snugly sheltered and
peeping out of its nest hotel.

We approached very cautiously
but the lively little fellow, like a
shot, suddenly flew in a straight.
line to the nearest bush close to
the spring where it hopped and
flew restlessly from tree to tree,
accompanied by its mate, and chir-.
ping in an‘éxcited manner.

Both these wren birds were very
small. hardly three inches in
length, and of.a reddish-brown
cinnamon color with long white
stripe along the BDDEr and lower

eve ridge.

After its escape from the nest
it was shown that the nest cavity
contained five eggs, and rather
larve eggs (for the small size of its:
host) of oval shape and slightly
speckled, reddish-brown spots
covering the else snow-white egg-
shell.

An endeavor to photograph the
subterranean nest and its contents
of five eggs was not quite success-
ful as no artificial light was at
hand to expose the nest interior
hetter, and »s it also was rather
late in the evening to make a vlear
view, This happened on June 10th.
1912, when the nest was found, and
90 TEXAS NATURE OBSERVATIONS AND REMINISCENCES.

on June 18th, during another out-
ing, we found four of the eggs
hatched and one egg intact. Hav-
ing at this time, from June 18th to
June 28th, made a trip to Medina
County to a near relative’s farm
at the San Geronimo, we again
on returning to San Antonio made
a trip to the small spring and wren
nest and on inspecting this
wren nest, we found one of
the young and perfectly iull-
grown wrens sitting snugly inside
and peeping outside the nest, and

morning with proper light: for a
short time exposure), the camera
was placed in focus distance when
at this moment one of the two
young wrens also escaped the nest.
However, the third or last wren.
before it made its exit, kept quiet
enough right in the front entrance
of the nest to make a good view
of it.

The photo shows plainly how
jageniouslv the old wrens had
prepared their nest inside the
earth cavity. It was bare of

 

A Rare YounGc WreEN on Its Nest Outer

on approaching too closely (with
the camera) it also, like the old
wren, shot out of the nest cavity
like a bullet and flew quite a dis-
tance away. After this one had
cleared the front entrance of this
nest we noticed two more full-
grown baby wrens inside the nest
cavity and after some difficulty in
placing the camera for a time ex-
posure (it being this time a bright

any shrubbery surrounding it,
and situated on a sloping
embankment. The upper part of
the nest material was slightly
overhanging the oval-shaped nest
cavity and covered above with
some broad and dried-up and
shriveled leaves. Part of an oval
and undeveloped egg is also seen
on this picture close to the bird
and entrance of the nest.
TEXAS NATURE OBSERVATIONS AND REMINISCENCES. 91

Our Texas Mocking Bird and Nest

Of all the myriads of Texas
warblers none is as widespread
and as popular as our “mocking
bird.” None can imitate the voice
of other birds and of animals better
than our Texas warbler; none
of them have been popularized
oftener by bards and musical
composers; none oftener caged and
raised to delight the human heart
with their jrinitatils song, and
none, perhaps, have been more

 

him the “Texas Nightingale” or
the ‘Queen of all Songsters’” there
being but one more singer—the
German Nightingale — that can
break a lance with our Texas
mocking bird.

Not only on the open prairie
plains, but nearly equally as often
our songster is encountered in
the heart of towns and cities, in
parks, gardens, fields, meadows.
and even before our own doors and.

 

 

 

 

 

THE MockinG BIRD, QUERN oF TEXAS SONGSTERS AND OTHERS—A TYPICAL PRAIRIE BiRD:
Scene Near San ANTONIO
(From Nature, By the Writer)

neglected authors in general
than our mocking bird. Let’s
give our ‘Queen of Texas Songsters
therefore a little space and consid-
eration.

Scientifically the mocking bird
is' called ‘‘Mimus polyglottis” —
the ‘“‘multi-tongued songster’’—and
ornithologists appropriately call

windows, everywhere the mocking

bird makes itself “at home” during

summer as well as winter, and
everywhere they delight the human
soul with their delightful song:

At the advance of the cold
winter months the majority of
mocking birds migrate to more trop-
ical zones; many, however, also.
92 TEXAS NATURE OBSERVATIONS AND REMINISCENCES.

come to Texas to remain here
over winter in the forest thickets
or bushes of the prairie, in gardens,
hedges and yards of inhabited
places. A majority however, re-
main permanently here in Western
Texas, even if the weather condi-
tions are very unfavorable for
other bird species to remain here
and during ice cold northers they
are encountered out in the
prairie conjointly with the bush

 

figs and grapes are grown, and
in some places the owners were
compelled to resort to exterminate
them. As a rule, though, the
mocking bird should Ly all means
be protected, as besides their bril-
liant songs they destroy immense
quantities of injurious insects, such
as beetles, spiders, grasshoppers,
ants, caterpillars and worms, etc.”
In San Antonio there is hardly
any other bird specie oftener

Mocxinc Birp Nest anp Ecos Insipz a BERRY BrusH THICKET
(Photo on the Spot Found by the Writer) ‘

sparrow, field larks, black birds;
the red bird, woodpecker, scissor-
tail bird, wren and others. During
such cold winter months they
often gather in the yard and
even fly to the windows in search
of food and protection. During
summer time our mocking bird is
a welcomed guest of our gardens
and fields, etc., but sometimes
they are also very molesting to
such gardens and gardeners where

seen than our mocking bird, due
mostly to the many fine gardens
and public parks and the protection
they receive especially during the
breeding time. In former years
and even today, some of our
Mexican population gathered quite
a large number of mocking birds
or ‘“ehilehontes” as the Mexican
calls them, during breeding time
for the market, and as a rule,
they, take much care in rearing
,

TEXAS NATURE OBSERVATIONS AND REMINISCENCES. 93

the young brood. The birds are
gathered when quite young and
fed in cages prepared of the reed
seen along some portions of our
river banks, and when full grown
they sell them to tourists and
others who generally pay a fancy
price for a good singer. In the
Mexican settlements, across the
Alazan Creek, hordes of Mexicans

could be seen in former years

preparing the attractive bird cages
and rearing the young—mostly
with cornmeal and egg and Mexican
pepper called “chili peppin,’”’ also
cooked potatoes, and ground maiz,

etc., and often regular caravans
of Mexicans—men, women and
children, could ‘be seen marching
to the hotels, etc., in search of a
buyer. The | young as well as
the old birds are very fond. of
raw meat and red Mexican pepper
and scraped raw meat with cooked
egg and pepper is a very wholesome

food for them. When reared from:

nestlings much care is needed in
keeping the cage perfectly clean
and always well provided with
fresh water. Neglect in this re-
spect’ has killed many a fine singer
and unless the stated precautions
are! not heeded it is a crime to
take young ‘birds from the nest
and incarcerate them in a cage.

The female mocking bird lays
three to five oval shaped light blu-
ish and chocolate spotted eggs,
in most instances though four eggs
are seen in the nest during breeding
time. Often these eggs are de-
stroyed by wild animals, especially
serpents and some peculiar birds
of prey, and snakes occasionally
devour the eggs with the entire
breeding bird. The photo herein
of a mocking bird’s nest was espec-
ially prepared lately by the writer
for these pages, and it
shows the eggs plainly. These
eggs were of a bluish and slightly
reddish brown and chocolate dotted
color, and the entire nest which

was not disturbed, was located
in a thorny bush with yellow
berries—a favorite breeding place
for our songster.

As a rule the female, assisted
by the male companion, prepares
its nest in a well secluded thicket
of a bush or tree, and in the prairie
it prefers very thorny and densely
grown bushes with light yellow
green leaves and bearing yellow
or black berries. Often, however,
the nests can be encountered at
places without the least protection
but generally many feet above
ground. Some such nésts are so
shrewdly built and hidden that
absolutely no nest can be seen.
Generally though, the male bird
is seen and. heard flying and
wildly’ screaming around the hidden
nest placé.. Such a hidden nest
with four mocking bird. eggs is
the one seen in this issue and
encountered’ lately in the hilly
regions of the beautiful Leona
valley, near San Antonio, the
protecting branches. and_ leaves

. which entirely secluded the nest

having previously been held back
in order to have a full view
of the nest and its contents.
It is a fine and rare view showing
the spotted eggs very plainly.

~The fundamental or main bréed-
ing nest is generally . composed
of soft grass, fibers which, the bird
arranges in a circle to form the
basis of the nest; then comes a
layer of somewhat coarser material
and lastly the thorny . branch
particles seen in the photo but,
somewhat blurred on. account of
close focus. This mode of nest
building is typical of all mocking
birds wherever they build.

Another photo shows a group of
prairie birds and our prairie queen
—the mocking bird—in a flying
position. Inthe rear, on a mes-
quite bush, is seen a wren and nest
with eggs, and a woodpecker. This
is quite a typical prairie bird scene
encountered often near the environ-
ments of our old historic San An-
tonio.
94 TEXAS NATURE OBSERVATIONS AND REMINISCENCES.

The Wild Dove in Texas and Its Nest

June, July and August are the
main nest building and breeding
times of the wild dove of Texas,
but they breed up to September,
and the writer as well as local
hunters often have encountered
the nest of wild doves either
with eggs or young doyes in them
during the entire month of October.
The main breeding time, however,
is about over at the end of August.

oak trees and the cedar and
other forest trees give them protec-
tion to build their nests, and it
makes a fascinating impression
to wander through some post
oak forest during the breeding
time of our wild dove and listen
to their melodious cooing.

The nest of these doves is about
the plainest affair of nest-building
of any bird species. (See the

 

 

 

Texss Dove Nest anp Eccs on Curvep Limp, Insipz a Berry Brusu

During their breeding time in
the remote prairie plains and large
pastures throughout Texas, they
generally select a tree in the
neighborhood of a tank; and in
the thickest of hilly regions covered
with mesquite, oak or hackberry
trees, large numbers of dove-
breeding nests can be encountered
and always with preference on
some mesquite tree, and in forest
and mountainous regions, the high

fine photos herein with nests and
eggs—especially prepared for these
pages. They simply gather a
few dry grass or wood parti-
cles and deposit them
eggs in normal size—especially |
prepared for this Field issue. They
simply gather a few dry grass or
wood particles and deposit them
on some mesquite tree branch.
They: generally select a fork or
bifurcation of a tree or a slightly
TEXAS NATURE OBSERVATIONS AND REMINISCENCES. 95

bent and thick branch of a mes-
quite or oak tree, and often also
the nest is built ‘directly on the
elongated and flat part of.a thick
limb just sufficiently supplied with
a few dry grass particles or thin
tree branches to prevent the eggs
from rolling off the nest and to
support the dove to breed upon.
Such a nest with the dove on a

 

is often so meager that the dove
nest is not seen, and unless the
dove flutters away no such’ nest
is suspected.

In some pastures and brush
thickets occasionally a dove nest,
and as I have myself seen lately,
quite a number of them seek
the old and deserted nests of
some other prairie bird, especially

 

Wiip Deve on an OLn’ MocxineG Birp’s Nest
(From Nature by the Writer)

lower mesquite branch is depicted
elsewhere. This view was taken in
the mesquite thickets of a popular
hunting ground near San Antonio,
where hundreds and thousands
of wild doves breed annually and
supply the local hunting fraternity
with game during the legal hunting
season.

The nest material of these birds

the mocking bird’s nest, and lay
therein their two snow-white eggs.
In one instance I encountered
what seemed to be a red bird’s
nest in which two young doves
a few days old, were snugly
peering into the world; it was
close to the Goliad road, near
Alex Uhl’s pasture. As a rule
however, the wild dove builds
96 TEXAS NATURE OBSERVATIONS AND REMINISCENCES.

its own nest of a few dried grass
helmets or leaves of the mesquite
tree, and the photo of one such
nest with two young doves about
ready to escape the nest, illustrates
this plainly. Shortly after these
observations I related these facts
to an experienced hunter and
close observer of nature objects,
and he tells me the same experience

that they breed several times
during the summer season, and
this explains the immense numbers
during the fall and winter time
when the young and older birds
migrate to all directions over the
country and locate in some field
or pasture to gather their food.

The young birds, those not able
to fly from their breeding nest,

 

A Parr or Younc Doves on MesquiTE Fork, Reavy To EscaPE THE Nest
(From Nature, by the Writer) —

and that he noticed the female
dove building its own nest inside
some old abandoned bird nest.
Such double nests of course give
the breeding dove more shelter
and protection.

From the large numbers of wild
doves throughout the prairie plains
during the long term of their
breeding time, it is very plausible

often succumb during stormy wea-
ther, or being destroyed by wild
animals and vandals and snakes,
and occasionally, near farms, by
the house cat. When very young
the wild dove resembles closely
the small variety, the so-called
Mexican. dove or turtle dove,
though they are not quite as
much speckled.
TEXAS NATURE OBSERVATIONS AND REMINISCENCES. 97

The small Mexican doves are get-
ting to be very numerous, and they
are much tamer than our wild
dove, and often seen in large
bunches along the side streets
or in the many parks and gardens
of our beautiful.Alamo City. It
seems there are different varieties
among the turtle dove; the more
common ones being of a light
bluish lead color and striped with
darker plumage and with vermil-
lion red feathers under the wings.
.They breed like the wild dove,
laying two small white eggs which
are about -the size and shape of
a sparrow’s egg. In cold weather
they gather in large groups—
just like the wild dove, especially
in hilly and brushy regions, where
they find more shelter from
the elements.

Of other wild dove species Texas
in former years was occasionally
visited by the large migratory
pigeon, which is much larger than
our wild dove, but equally as
delicious on the dining table,
and the writer recollects a hunting
trip some thirty-four years ago with
an old friend—the late Adolf
Dreiss, when we encountered mil-
lions of these migratory birds in
the neighborhood of the great
Lugunas of Graytown, some twen-
ty-two miles south-east of San
Antonio. The oak forest bottoms in
that region were literally covered
with these wild pigeons and branch-
es of the oak trees,
numbers of acorns were strewn
on the ground—caused by this
greedy pigeon. We met some oth-
er town friends on this occasion
who had a butcher cart nearly
filled with these wild pigeons
and which they later distributed
among friends here in town. In
the Leona valley along the large
tanks of the old Withers ranch
we also encountered during cold
winter spells large flocks of this
fine game bird, and the surrounding

farmers were ‘complaining bitterly”

about the havoc these greedy
pigeons had done in their corn

and large _

fields some months previous. Also
at this same place, Dr. J. Hines
and ‘the writer during an outing
many years ago, met large flocks
of these pigeons--distributed among
the many high mesquite trees—
and my friend Hines secured quite
a number of them, but these were
not the genuine, now declared ex-
tinct migratory or passenger pig-
eons described, but the socalled
Mexican white-winged migratory
wild pigeon—a large, fine game bird,
nevertheless.

They are much wilder than the
common dove and about one-half
larger.

The late strict gun laws of
Texas have considerably contribut-
ed to protect the wild dove as
well as other game, which, before
the game laws, was about. nearing
extinction.

After the breeding time, and
during the entire winter months,
the wild doves often gather in
large flocks throughout the fields
and pastures. or along roads and
thickets where the sunflower and
other wild grain plants, especially
the wild Mexican prairie tea plant,
and some species. of the white
thistle abound.

After the doves have scattered
over the plains and fields and
gathered their food during the
day time, they gather in large
flocks and fly sometimes for miles
and miles to some favorite water
tank in a pasture, and here they
can be seen often by. the hundreds
scattered among the mesquite or
other trees surrounding a tank,
or they fly directly on the rounded
surface of the tank, and before
sun down large flocks can often
be seen scattered along the tank
edges, and others drinking water
from the tank. And here is where
the sportsman often secures the
limit of doves allowed by law.

As a rule the Texas hunter
proceeds about thus in hunting
the wild dove: he seeks a secure
hiding place, and awaits the gather-
ing of the game bird as they
98 TEXAS NATURE OBSERVATIONS AND REMINISCENCES.

fly upon the branches of a nearby
tree or set on the bank of the tank.
But usually he pops them on
the wing.

In large pastures and fields
supplied with sunflowers, the wild
dove can be encountered anywhere
very numerously, and at least
so informer years. During certain
weather conditions in winter they
gather in large flocks and seek shel-
ter in the hilly woods and the
brush of forests, returning again
in better weather. Early in the

men” is now prohibited, and the
average hunter is well satisfied
with the limit of game of all kind
allowed by law.
And right here, in these ‘‘Remin-
iscences’ I am reminded of the
pleasure I had—many years ago—
with a hunting companion at the
old Callaghan ranch, eight miles
north of San Antonio, in meeting
there our lamented late Mayor
Bryan Callaghan. It was during a
hot summer day and “sunflower
time’ in the middle of September

 

 

asa

   

 

‘
Tue Breepinc WiLp Dove, WHEN a Lone Timez on Nest, CAN BE APPROACHED VERY |
CLoseLy, But ir SHouLD Never se DistuRBED PURPOSELY

mornings, or late in the evening,
they are quite tame and often
some dry tree near a water hole
is seen literally covered with wild
doves.

In former years, before the en-
forcement of the game law, some
hunters used to shoot doves “‘by
the barrel full,’”’ and nearly at any
time of the year and including
the breeding time. This “‘hoggish”’
hunting of some so-called “‘sports-

—at a time of the year we local
nimrods considered it the right time
to hunt the wild dove, before they
migrate to foreign pastures outside
the State.

The encounter with our sturdy
old mayor was avery cordial one.
He was accompanied by the late
Mermann Kampmann, at the time
one of San Antonio’s most enter-
prising citizens, and we had a splen-
did pleasanttimeforthe time being.

 
TEXAS NATURE OBSERVATIONS AND REMINISCENCES, 99

Surrounded by the lovely Leona
hills overlooking the present me-
tropolis San Antonio; the calling
of Mr. and Mrs. ‘Bob-White;”
the cooing of the wild doves in
the near forests; the chirping of
‘the cicada and cricket in the
forest before us; an occasional
chaparral cock running swiftly
up the rocky hills with a grass-
chopper or a lizzard in its beak; the

And then—the wild doves!— ‘His
Honor” was the crack shot of us
all in wing shooting whilst the
doves flew high and swiftly over
our heads to the near by tanks—
and that’s a fact.

During breeding time of the
wild dove one can approach the old
dove on its nest quite closely—
in fact in some instances so
closely that the dove can nearly be

 

on

Eccsucker Nest anp Eccs on BRANCH OF PERSIMMON TREE, Nzarty Normat Size

sonorous yelping of a ‘‘Tama-ra-
ran” or bull frog close to the
tank’s edge; and the grazing of
cattle along the brushy hillsides—
all this, and an occasional “Prosit,

your honor’ made us forget the.

strenuous city life, and made
us feel as happy as the birds
in the lovely nature surroundings.

touched and the phoso view herein
was taken at very close range,
a four seconds time. exposure.
In most instances however, es-
pecially before the eggs mature,
the old breeding dove is still very
lively and flutters from its nest
when accidentally approached: or
otherwise disturbed.
100 TEXAS NATURE OBSERVATIONS AND REMINISCENCES.

Just at this time of writing
these notes, in June, the prairie
plains, pastures and forests, etc..
are full of breeding wild doves,
and about the end of August the
main breeding season is_ over,
and they are met with only
sparingly afterward when they are,
as a rule, well protected by the
wild game hunter of any decency
about him—to shoot a dove that
had escaped its nest.

Besides the elements, especially
storms, and the various enemies,
the dove eggs are apparently
destroyed by the socalled egg
sucker bird—a long slender bird.
of olive brown color, and I have
myself occosionally met a nest
of dove eggs where the eggs were
perforated and empty. This egg-
sucker, with its long curved and
sharp pointed bill is very at-
tractive in appearance, and some
time ago I endeavored to snapshot
one on its nest, but it is a very
shy bird and it flew to a nearby
mesquite thicket and the wild
persimmon trees. The nest had
been built on one such persimmon
tree, and the view of same herein
shows the four large eggs, which
were of light bluish-green color,
and the nest inside was
outlined entirely with dried up
mesquite leaves. Some of the
‘persimmons are seen on the photo
scattered around the branches and
close to the nest. The four eggs
were reproduced in normal size,
with extra close focusing lens.

In conclusion and in connection
with the above matter of our Texas

wild dove, I append below interest-

ing and valuable publications anent
the wild pigeon, from the pen of
Mr. David N. Hoy,—which was
published in the June number of
the Texas Field and National
Guardsman, to wit:

“How the Wild Pigeons Were
Destroyed

* Many of the sportsmen, now
veterans, who resided in the line
of immigration of the passenger

pigeons, thirty to forty years
ago, will remember the flights
and perhaps the resting places
of these birds, then so plentiful
that their annihilation seemed al-
most an impossibility. Mr...
David N. Hoy, of Milton, Pa.,

writes us as follows on this sub-
ject, with special reference to the
manner of trapping pigeons for
the market.

“IT have frequently read ar-
ticles about wild pigeons and
about the big rewards offered for
a nest of the wild passenger
pigeons. It has been a long while
since the birds have nested
in Pennsylvania. As near as I
can tell it has been twenty-eight
years ago this spring since they
have paid us their last respects.
I know very well that I went to
Potter county, in the northern
part of Pennsylvania, to trap
some. But as I was farming I
could not stay to trap any of
them, as this was in the spring
and. I had to go home and get to
work.

“What I want to tell you about
the birds is this: Two of my

' friends stayed there all summer

and trapped pigeons on salt beds.
Perhaps some of my brother sports-
men do not know how this is done.
The trappers would select a swam-
py place in the woods and clean it
off nice and clean, and then take a
hoe and make little mud puddles
and then the water would collect in
them. Then the trappers would
scatter a few quarts of salt over
this place and the pigeons would
come to these places for water
and would feed their young some
of the mud. Then the trapper
would have a net say ‘fourteen
feet wide and twenty-eight feet.
long, would set this net and
build a small house made of pine
brush, and when a large number
of birds had gathered on the
net place, then the net would be
thrown over them and as many
as from three to six hundred
birds would be -caught at one
TEXAS NATURE OBSERVATIONS AND REMINISCENCES. 101

haul. Some trappers had three
or four such places, and would
go from one to another to make,
as we call it, a haul.

“T could tell lots about trapping
pigeons if space would permit.
This nesting in Potter county
was ten miles wide and fifty
miles long, and it so happened
that I came to the same place in
the fall when the pigeons were
nesting, and several men told me
that there were at least eight hun-
dred men that came at this nest-
ing to-trap pigeons. I spoke to
one old man who told me he had
followed the pigeons for forty
years and did nothing else than
trap them. Hundreds of barrels
of birds were shipped daily.
There were so many men there
that a large grocery store was
built there to supply those men
with groceries.

“The two men I became ac-
guainted with told me they had
cleared over eight hundred dol-

 

 

lars that summer catching pig-
eons. Now, brother sportsmen,
is it any wonder that there are
no more pigeons? I sincerely be-
lieve that the good lord has sent
them in some other country
where no man can find them or
molest them, although I have
read some years ago where it
was claimed the birds were
crossing the ocean and were caught
in a great storm, and that along
the shore they lay three feet thick
in some places; but I hope what I
have read may not be true and
that they will return again soon.

I do say that I think they were
the nicest and best game we
ever had. I would like to tell
you how we caught them still in
the spring and put a few hundred
in a corn crib, and in a few weeks
they would get as fat as butter.
We always kept about six alive
for stool birds. I still have a
pair mounted that I used for
‘““mockers” in my nesting place.

 

 

AnotHerR Eccsucker Birp Nast

Above photoview shows. another
typical nest of the Texas Egg-

sucker bird with originally six
very attractive blueish green col-
102 TEXAS NATURE OBSERVATIONS AND REMINISCENCES.

ored eggs, found in a post oak
thicket, northwest of San Antonio.
The nest was constructed of bran-
ches and leaves of the postoak.
showing the nest about one third
less nurmal size. This shows how
the shrewd bird adapts its envi-

ronménts to gather its nest ma--

terial. In our mesquite brush val-
leys and hills, this species of cuc-
koo bird nearly invariably out-
lines its nest mould with mesquite
tree leaves—seen also on another
illustration from the woods, else-
where herein.

As to the claim that the egg
sucker bird seeks and perforates
the eggs of other bird nests, this
has been proven in some instances
by direct observation ; but it is ex-

ceedingly rare, comparatively,
that such perforated eggs are
found in our vast prairie plains
and forests—usually such it seems
where this breeding bird had tem-
porarily left its nest in search of
food. ete.. and a doubt always ex-
ists in other instances, without di-
rect observation, as to the real
cause of such depredation. At

_any rate, this elegant wild bird de-

serves protection, as its principal
food consists of caterpillars and
various larval insects or worms,
harmful beetles, ete., and the egg-
sucker bird therefore, as well as
all other prairie birds during the
breeding seasons and outside of
same, should not serve as a target
to unscrupulous shooters.

Remarkable Specimen of Woodpecker

 

A Rare SpeciMEN oF Large WooppeckER

Once in a while, during outings
or hunting trips along our roman-

tie river bottom forests, during
fall and even late in midwinter,
TEXAS NATURE OBSERVATIONS AND REMINISCENCES. 103

the writer has met a strange for-
est bird which, from general ap-
pearance and its habits, undoubt-
edly belongs to the large group
of our brilliant tree climbers or
woodpeckers. One such bird ac-
cidentally was wounded during a

b=
ae |

 

 

est bottom of this Goeth ranch,
with its century old and imposing
large oak, pecan, hackberry and
other forest trees, and the grand
river sceneries encountered there
miles and miles around, lends
that section of our river bottom

 

 

 

Tue Same Brrp CLimpinc Arounp A Dry HackBeRRY TREE STEM

late outing in a romantic river
forest valley, near the Judge C. A.
Goeth’s ranch, some fourteen
miles below San Antonio, where
the Salado Creek runs _ into
the San Antonio River. The for-

an inspiring impulse seldom ex-
celled in any other of our many
famed natural park grounds; and
it must have been, in olden days,
a veritable hunting and fishing
paradise, as wel) as a prolific
104 TEXAS NATURE OBSERVATIONS AND REMINISCENCES.

romping region among the dense
chaparral on both sides of the
river for wild jungle animals—
now about extinct.

Large areas of fine land is now
converted into fertile fields; and
it is near this romantic ranch,
that one bright Sunday noon, we
came across a number of the
strange and beautiful tree birds;
and a companion of ours, shooting
at a squirrel inside a dense con-
glomeration of the wild mustang
grapevines, accidentally wounded
one of these attractive birds,
which was afterwards photo-repro-
duced by the writer and seen on
this page. After this, the bird
was captured, and it measured ten
inches in length, the photograph
of this bird on the tree limb shows
same about one-third less its
natural size; and the second view,
showing the head and breastparts
in about natural size. It is one
of the largest and most beautiful
type of woodpeckers that I am
aware of, the head feathers and
back parts of its body and the
wings being of a light chocolate
and gray color, dotted with black
bands and stripes, and resembling
closely the plumage markings of
the Mexican blue quail. It has a
large and bold bill, slightly
curved, but less curved than the
bill of the common woodpecker.
The inside wing feathers, as well
as the tail feathers are of a most
beautiful blending Indian-red
which reminds one of the coloring
of the robin, but the rather long
tail feathers are sharp pointed,

each one resembling so many lan-
ces or daggers, and when flying,
the tail is spread out like a fan,
glittering like rubies; and the
breast feathers also are very at-
tractive, each of the light gray
plumes showing a round or heart
shaped and jet black spot, as seen
also clearly depicted on the photo-
graph.

This strange bird has been well
known to the writer for years,
and always met with along and on
the high forest trees, where they
fly from tree to tree in search of
their insect food. I once met a
party with a dead _ specimen
and reprimanded him severely for
killing such useful forest birds;
he claimed they lived on_ber-
ries, which, of course is not the
cease, and I had him open
the stomach when he was astound-
ed to witness the large amount of
predigested insect remnants, even
a part of a young centipede that
bird had consumed.

By all means, the woodpecker
should be protected, as it lives en-
tirely on premature insects or
worms and all sorts of insects,
which they gather with their long
bill from under the loose bark or
cracks in trees, ete., and their life
history in this respect is too well
known as to dwell on same in de-
tail here. They also are fond of
ants, and often have I seen them
on the ground, near, or on an ant
hole, gathering the pesky red ant
and perhaps other ground insects
and larval beetles. ete.

The Chaparral Cock and Its Nest

To find the breeding nest of
a chaparral cock with two eggs
and a young “chaparral” only
about 15 days old—close to a city
where the one reproduced herein
was found, is quite a rarity and
of much interest in general.

The nest was found near a

pasture southeast of San Antonio
in a brush thicket, where also
large numbers of the wild dove,
the mockingbird, scissor-tail bird,
red bird and sparrow, etc., abound.

The nest resembled in all particu-
lars a mockingbird’s nest only
it was about twice as large, and
TEXAS NATURE OBSERVATIONS AND REMINISCENCES. 105

its contents, the two white oval
shaped eggs, were about three times
larger than a dove egg and the
young ‘‘chaparral,’’ only a day or
two old, when first seen, July 2nd,
was of a leaden-dark and bluish
body color and nearly nude. The
nest was not disturbed in taking a
view of it later at close range
with extra near focusing lens. The
inside of the nest was snugly
outlined with short-cut particles
of straw—perhaps of Johnson grass
from a closeby Johnson grass
pasture. The nest with this ‘‘chap-

very near to securing a snapshot
of an old hen on its nest at close
range—about 8 feet off; but some
limbs and foliage prevented the
full view and the chaparral hen
suddenly escaped the nest in the
moment of lifting the camera.
It was a beautiful sight to see the
large chaparral hen with its long,
greenish, glittering, white
and black striped tail erected
nearly in a straight line outside
of its nest; its large and
beautiful black eyes and long beak,
sitting there on its breeding nest,

 

 

Nest 1n BrusH THICKET OF CHAPARRAL Cock WitH Younc Cock AsourT FirteEN Days OLp,
AND Two UNDEVELOPED Eccs (at Close Focus and About Normal Size)

arral” about 15 days old, when I
took the photo, being near the
center of a thick bush with but
rather dim light, the photo is
not quite as clear as desired. The
main body of the nest was securely
adjusted with broken branches of
the yellow  berry-bearing bush
between the branches and leaves
of the large and broad bush,
which was laden with the swect
and eatable yellow berries.

On another occasion after taking
the view seen in this book in
company with a friend, I came

and how, witha sudden movement
and swift jump with out-spread

‘wings, the chaparal hen flew in

a long straight line to the ground,,
where it ran as fast as a horse,
and midst loud and characteristic
rattling sounds disappeared in the
brushy jungles.  «

As to its habits, I have no
literature whatever on this typical
bird of the wild prairie plains,
and the following are some original
observations gleaned from recol-
lections of older times during
outings and hunting trips.
106 TEXAS NATURE OBSERVATIONS AND REMINISCENCES.

Our chaparral cock, Fasan, or
‘Road runner,” or ‘‘Paisano’’ in
Mexican, undoubtedly belongs to
the genus ‘‘Gallinae” or chicken,
which they nearly resemble in size
and shape of the clawed feet,
but they are entirely more slender
built and more elegant in appear-
ance with their beautiful and
glittering bluish-green body feath-
ers, intermingled with black and

of the Helotes settlement some
years ago during an outing, we
came across achaparral cock with
a young prairie rat in its mouth,
which it had captured in a nearby
cactus thicket, and which it proud-
ly held in its beak, and soon disap-
peared inthedenseagarita chaparral]
close to a cedar forest.

The chaparral cock is not a
game bird—and still some persons

 

 

An OLp CHAPARRAL Cock With Lizarp 1n Its Beak (From the Helotes Hills, by the Writer)

white feather stripes over the
entire body. Its large head with
the intelligent looking dark brown
eyes is supplied with a powerful
and long bill with which it obtains
and kills its prey—mostly insects
of all kinds, especially grass-
hoppers, and also lizzards and
spiders, young snakes, prairie mice
and young rats, etc.
In the hilly regions and vales

shoot them—often for mere amuse-
ment.

A reliable old Mexican ranchero
once told me that he considered
the ‘‘Paisano”’ a most useful bird
around his hacienda, and that he
witnessed with his own eyes several
instances where this chaparral cock
killed the deadly rattlesnake in
about these words: ‘‘After some
preliminary attacks, during which
TEXAS NATURE OBSERVATIONS AND REMINISCENCES. 107

the Paisano hops or dances gayly
around the snake—the latter ‘rat-
tling fiercely—the chaparral cock,
with open’ wings and erect tail,
at an opportune moment with
lightning rapidity spreads and flaps
its wings and ‘strikes at the snake’s
head until the powerful and sharp
pointed bill pierces the brain. It
then picks its eyes out and muti-
lates the body.

Often unscrupulous hunters and
boys shoot this lizard and snake
bird merely for fun and afterward
the corpse is left on the prairie

lizards;

vales of Western Texas, especially

such abounding with plenty ‘of
on open prairie plains
as well as the brush jungles and
pastures; in forests and cultivated
fields—in all such places the chap-
arral cock seeks its insect food,
and it is an ‘imposing sight
to observe this speedy bird attack
its prey or perhaps, with a lizard
in its beak, running along theroad-
sides: or when, with tail and head
n a straight line it flies with th
iwiftness of an arrow over the
Sairie plains. e

 

 

 

 

CHaparraL Cock Nest aNp Eccs In BrusH THICKET

to be devoured by buzzards or
coyotes. Of course in exceptional
and provoking circumstances neces-
sity may compel one to make use
of nearly any sort of foodstuffs
out of the ordinary, to sustain life,
but the chaparral cock is by no
means a game bird.

Around the suburbs of San
Antonio, especially the hilly re-
gions, our ‘‘chaparral’’ is quite
conspicuous today yet—though
their number, compared to former

years, hasconsiderably diminished.

All over the hilly regions and

Once, while returning from a
a few days outing at the romantic
Medina river, some 32 miles north-
west of San Antonio, bn the
Bandera road, and at the hilly
regions of Helotes, we happened
to witnss an unusually interesting
scene. On one of the dark green
trees close to some agarita bushes,
a large snake was noticed about
six feet from the ground, inside its
thick branches, slowly creeping
from branch to branch, higher
up, towards a mocking bird’s nest.
At the same time two mocking
108 TEXAS NATURE OBSERVATIONS AND REMINISCENCES,

birds were seen madly flying
against the snake and _ pricking
its body at each turn, also a
chaparral cock was scen close to
the brush, attentively viewing the
snake and the birds. When we
approached closer, the snake, of
the whip-snake variety, rapidly
glided down the tree and disap-
peared in the underbrush before
my son and [had a chance to give
it a lesson for ‘‘eggstealing’’ and
the chaparral cock also made its
exit.

liberated in the hilly regions around
Bandera and Guadalupe county.
Theresult of same however, whether
they multiplied or were annihilated
by animals of prey, never came to
my notice, presumably they met
with the fate of extinction.
Asalreadyrcferredto,the chapa-
ral cock prepares its breeding nest,
about the size of a chicken nest,
in the midst of a well sheltered
thick brush, or on the lower
branches of a tree—in particular,
between the bifurcated branches

 

 

AwnoTHER Typical Nest anp Eccs or CHAPARRAL Cock

During our coldest winter days
the chaparral cock remains with us,
conjointly with the mockingbird,
the field larks, quail, woodpecker,
the cactus weaver wren, the scissor
tail bird and other typical Texas
birds.

Some years ago I was informed
that some enterprising San Antonio
sportsmen tried to acclimatize some
foreign species of the Silver Fasan,
and that large numbers had becn

of some hackberry tree, the huisache
and persimmon-tree, and occasion-
ally in the midst of the Spanish
dagger plant.

The nest usually contains six
to eight white eggs and are nearly
the size of a chicken egg. The
young brood is a very greedy lot
and they grow wp rapidly and
are fed by the old hen with all
sorts of insects and worms, small
lizards and snakes, mice and young
TEXAS NATURE OBSERVATIONS AND REMINISCENCES. 109

prairie rats, which they greedily
devour, even when only a day or
two old—being supplied with a very
wide mouth and throat. When seen
in their nest in a remote age of de-
velopment, the bluish color and
nearly nude birds.resemble a lot of
voung alligators and when farther
developed they are not unlike a
mockingbird in appearance andag
is seen in the illustration herein.
The fine reproduction of a chappar-
ral cock nest with four eggs was
encountered some distance from the
other nest with two eggs and a
young chapparral. In its makeup
it resembled the nest of a mocking
bird. The eggs were oval shaped
and about three-fourths the size of
a chicken egg. The view shows
the entire nest with contents, which
was located in the center part of a
dense thorney bush about five feet
from the ground. The old chapar-
ral cock just happened to escape
the nest when I found same and
took a time exposure of it.

As to the protection of the chap-
arral cock and the feathery tribe in
general—occasionally men-
tioned in magazines,and birds
of Texas in particular, the trapping
of birds and the so-called ‘‘nigger-
shooter’’ and the parlor rifle should
be donc away with. Gangs of
small chaps—white as well as
negroes—loaf around the suburbs
or near pastures and annoy or
kill innocent birds and others
even kill songbirds to eat. Up
north this seems to be more the
ease than here in Texas, and it
is also,and forcibly stated by one of
America’s greatest animal friends
and practical observers of nature
objects—Mr. Wm. T. Hornaday,
Director of the N. Y. Zoological
Park. May the warnings of Mr.
Hornaday serve as a lesson and
be heeded by unlawful bird killers.
This is what Hornaday says, (By
Harriet Quimby in ‘‘Leslies’ Week-
ly June, 1911):

“Ten years from now America
will be an absolutely birdless land,
unless some action is immediately

“other private citizen.

taken to stop the present destruc-
tion of song and gamebirds. I
do not like to think that our
grandchildren will be obliged to
visit a public aviary if they
would study bird life, as they are
now obliged to visit the zoo if
they would sec America’s represen-
tative animal, the buffalo; but
I am convinced that this will be
necessary unless the people of
America arouse themselves to 1m-
mediate vigorous protest. Thesub-
ject of bird protection is far
more serious than the public at
large appreciates. Because some
of us see a few robins and larks
in our own city suburbs or in the
country, we are slow to understand
that these cheerful little feathered
creatures are being slaughtered
for food in many other city suburbs
and country places.

“It is only a few years since
we in New York succeeded in
protecting our immediate vicinity
from song-bird-eating foreigners.
As an example of what is going
on in the country I will tell you
of a certain local ditsurbance that
points to a moral. For twenty
years the Italians of New York
derived great joy from shooting
songbirds for food in the woods of
upper New York City. I never
heard of a city policeman making
an arrest for hunting in the city
unless dragged into it unwillingly
by some special game warden or
When the
Zoological Park came into exist-
ence in 1899, the Zoological Society
decided that at least. two miles
around the park the slaughter of
songbirds for food should cease.
In the active war that followed,
many.arrests were made and many
fines imposed before the Italians
of New York became convinced
that it was time to quit the field.
One of the last episodes was
the arrest of five men having upon
their persons the dead remains
of forty-three song birds. We
preserved the entire bag of dead
birds and have them now as an
110 TEXAS NATURE OBSERVATIONS AND REMINISCENCES.

exhibit. The condition that ob-
tained in New York before 1899
illustrates the condition that ob-
tains in almost every other section
of the United States. For instance
in Pensacola, Fla., strings of robins
may be seen hanging up before
the doors of shops like strings of
onions,
Florida larks are being slaughtered
and eaten.

“Occasionally we hear it said
that birds are injurious to the crops,
but such complaints do not often
come from farmers,’ continued
Mr. Hornaday, ‘‘the latter well
will know that birds are their
best friends, and therefore every
cherry or strawberry eaten or
spoiled for the market is paid for
many times over by the birds,
who devour the fruit killing insects
that infest the country. If the
time ever comes when there are
no birds left, the farmer will find
his profits reduced very materially
for the purchase of the insect
powder, the use of which must be
liberal indeed to do the work that
birds are now doing for noth-
ing.

‘Perhaps there are sanguine
people who feel disposed to call
meanalarmist. Ifso, Iam willing
that they would do so, for that is
precisely what I am trying to be.
I am trying to do my part in
sounding a general alarm and in

sending C. Q. D. messages to about,

eighty millions of apathetic and
easy-going people before it is
entirely too late. The time to
send in a fire alarm is before your
house is entirely consumed, and
not after. For forty years we
have been smarting under the
national disgrace of the wicked
slaughter of American bison. If
something is not done, and done
quickly, we will be smarting under
the disgrace of having looked
calmly on while our American
birds are being slaughtered and
gradually annihilated.

“But what can we do?” is a
question asked by those who have

and in many parts of.

not delved deeply into the subject,
“Prohibit the sale of game,’ is
the answer. But what can the
layman do toward prohibiting the
sale of game? The layman can
write his protest and forward it
to Congressmen and Senators, be-
fore whom the bills for the pro-
tection of birds in various States
will appear, and thereby show
these statesmen what the people
want. Nearly every law making
body in America is quick to act
in the preservation of any public
asset as soon as itis thoroughly
assured that a great many of the
people desire it.

“The reasons why the American
people should arouse themselves
to immediate protest against the
sale of game everywhere are be-
cause fully ninety per cent of our
legitimate stock of feathered game
has already been destroyed, and
because it is a fixed fact that
every wild species of mammal,
bird or reptile that is pursued for
money-making purposes is wiped
out of existence. Even the whales
of the sea are no exception.
At lease fifty per cent of the
decrease in our feathered game
is due to market gunning and the
sale of gume. Laws that permit
the comnercial slaughter of wild
birds for the benefit of the few
who slaughter for the markets
are directly against the interest
of the many to whom the game
partly belongs. Game killed for
sale is not intended to satisfy
hunger. The people who eat game
in large cities do not know what
hunger is, save by heresay. Pur-
chased game is used chiefly in
overfeeding, and as a rule it does
far more harm than good. The
greatest value to be derived from
any game bird is from seeing it
and photographing it and enjoying
its living company in its native
haunts. Who will love the forests
when they will become destitute
of live life?

“All of our feathered game,”
continued Mr. Hornaday, ‘‘with
TEXAS NATURE OBSERVATIONS AND REMINISCENCES. 111

a few exceptions, is being shot
to death very much faster than it
breeds. What state is there north
of North Carolina and east of
Arizona that to-day possesses more
than a ragged remnant of quail,
grouse, wood ducks and wild tur-
keys?

For ten years the sportsmen of
New England have solemnly been
spending good money in restocking
with quail their quailless covers.
But have any of them ever gone
to work to put a five-year close
season on the books for the benefit
of quail? And yet when Kansas
did that, about five years ago,
the quail recovered rapidly. The
majority of our States have what
appear on their face to be excellent
game laws, and I believe that,
considering all things the majority
of them are very well enforced—
all but the bag-limit law which
for game birds, I think, are not
enforcible in not more than one
case out of every ten. It is
impossible for a game warden to
investigate the bag of every sports-
man every day in the season.

“The great, trouble is there
are twenty times too many men
and boys who shoot according to

law. If killing goes on as it now
is going, we will see all our killable
game exterminated according to
law, and our grandchildren will
seeagamelesscontinent. Ofcourse
I except the game and forest
preserves in States like Maine
and New Brunswick, where the
big game hunting laws are right
and are thoroughly enforced. How
many Americans are there who
know how many of our _ birds-
have already become extinct in
our own time and how many
are on the road to extinetion in
the near future? To enumerate
the species that first come to
mind, there are already extinct the
great auk, passenger pigeon, Labra-
dor duck, flamingo (in the United
States), Carolina parrekeet, Esqui-
maukerlew. And threatened with
early extinction are the golden
plover, whooping crane, trumpeter
swan, roseate spoon bill, red-
breasted sand piper, American
egret, wood duck, willet, sage
grouse and prairie grouse. There
are many States that have various
laws prohibiting the sale of game
killed within their own borders,
but they permit the sale of game
killed in other states.”

Prairie Hawk in Cactus Jungles of Mitchell’s Lake

During hunting trips one oce¢a-
sionally comes across the carcass
of some prairie rodent, or per-
chance, of some remnant of reptile
which has been partly devoured
by a prairie hawk or an eagle.
Many years ago, on the road lead-
ing to the hilly regions of the Ol-
mos settlement, north of San An-
tonio, hunting for quail and doves,
I suddenly came across a number
of the large Texas Mexican eagles,
which were gathered around and
were devouring a huge bull-snake,
which, as wel as the rattlesnake,
in these days, were quite numerous
in certain favored localities of

these old hunting grounds, (now
long ago converted into cultivated
land, and built up with modern
palatial residences, and attractive
villas) in the hilly regions of the
present north side touring loop.
These prairie eagles, some eight
or more of them, were busily en-
gaged chopping up the large snake
with their bills and fearful claws,
and some were dragging large
pieces of the entrails away, or
fighting for same; and it was
quite an unique sight—nowadays
hardly ever seen again in the near
prairie plains.

On another occasion, while hunt-
112 TEXAS NATURE OBSERVATIONS AND REMINISCENCES.

ing in the hilly and bushy regions
of the Martinez settlement, at the
farm and pasture of my old friend,
the Hon. John Wickland, I saw in
the midst of a dense post oak and
persimmon thicket, a large prairie
hawk, suddenly escaping with its
prey, a small cotton tail rabbit.
Only the torn up hide and rem-

ready been described and photo-
illustrated in the Texas Field and
one Sunday recently, I saw a very
beautiful hawk escaping from
where it had its meal, a very
voung cottontail rabbit, among
some of the cactus jungles and
mesquite trees along Mitchell’s
lake and near one of the small

 

 

 

 

Prairie Hawk AND REMNANTS OF SMALL CoTTON TaIL RABBIT IN FRONT oF SomME Cactus JUNGLE

nants of bones were left, and the

hawk presumably had been feed- |

ing on the carcass for a day or
two, as only small shreds of meat
were left on the bones, and all the
entrails were absent.

Lately also, I had occasion to
witness. such prairie hawks with
their prey—one of which had al-

club houses. With a quick shot
the escaping hawk was wounded
in one of the wing joints, but it
managed to fly up to a lower large
tree branch where, however, it
stayed but a few moments, when
it flew, or rather fluttered into
some high weeds below and near
the tree. It was not further mo-
TEXAS NATURE OBSERVATIONS AND REMINISCENCES, 113

lested with a shot but, being an ex-
traordinary good specimen, re-
sembling closely some type of
eagle, I quickly ran up to the
hawk and managed to catch him
by the uninjured wing, and re-
placed him thus to the place in
front of the large cactus pile with
the remnants of the rabbit, where
T prepared the photograph seen
here, in presence of W. A. Koepp.
Jy., one of our hunting party.

The hawk was of a beautiful
dark bluish gray color, with dark
and yellowish brown striped
feathers along its breast, inside
wings and feet—the latter being
supplied with a pair of powerful
talons; and it was a magnificent
sight as the sturdy hawk stood
erect and in all its majesty, in
front of the thorny cactus pile,
when a quick snap-shot secured
his picture.

Wounded Prarie Hawk

I herewith reproduce a_ fine
specimen of a Texas prairie hawk
encountered in the vicinity of Cas-
sin’s lake. While hunting for
small game about half a mile east
of the lake, in a hilly region
abounding with rabbits, etc., sud-
denly a large hawk flew over our
heads, carrying a small bird in its
claws. At first it was quite out
of shooting range, but after a few
circular flights it gradually neared
the spot where the writer was
standing and, flying clear over-
head. With a quick aim the hawk
came down in a cactus jungle,
wounded in one of its wings and
optic, and still holding its victim
in its clutches. A hunting com-
panion being present, we man-
aged to carefully bring the hawk
to our camp and, having. our
trusty camera with us, the hawk
still exceedingly alive, and wit'
its claws imbedded in the bird’s
flesh, was placed on a large
stump, adjoining a huge pecan
tree (after previously placing the
camera and focusing the stump
‘and its side branches) and a snap-
shot was taken at the moment the
hawk flapped its wings. Mr. A.
Haubold of ‘San Antonio assisted
in taking this view—at quite close
range, after which the hawk was
given its liberty—or, rather, in
trying to place it from the stump

on the ground it made a long
leap and hopped toward the near
by and high river bank—close to
our camp—where it managed to
leap down the embankment, and
escaped along some ravines below.
The hawk was an unusually fine
specimen and perhaps he is still
roaming around the jungles after
prey, as the wing was not entire-
ly broken—and we all know how
tenacious these hawks are—even
after a seemingly mortal wound.
Our prairie plains and forest»
harbor a large variety of beauti-
ful hawks, and it always affords
the hunter a great sight when the
hawks circle arovnd or roam about
for their prey; and also, and
particular, when, in late fall, these
hawks gather in large numbers—
hundreds of them— to start their
migratory flights to other climes.
During an outing last fall, one
such migratory hawk flight was
witnessed—as well as the migra-
tion of immense swarms of the
bull-bat birds. The latter hap-
pened along one of the large open
fields south of the Espada Mis-
sion, when a most fascinating
sight met our eyes! We were
homeward bound, toward sun
down, when hundreds and thous-
ands of bullbats filled the air and
roamed over the fields—circling
and gathering closer and closer,
114 TEXAS NATURE OBSERVATIONS AND REMINISCENCES.

when, after repeated circular
flights and screeching noises ,they
gradually disappeared. Cold wet
weather had set in at that time,
and a week afterward not one of
the bullbats could be seen toward
evening at that same place of re
union.

On several occasions out in the

large birds seen migrating in a
southwesterly direction—more or
less high up, and always circling
around, but at each turn flying a
good distance off the first circling
point, and often in an erratic way
in various circular directions—
but -always a most fascinating
flight to behold where hundreds

 

 

Fine SPECIMEN oF TRXAS Prairie Hawk WirtH Its VicTIM

plains we witnessed the migra-
tion of the prairie-hawk as well as
also our ‘‘turkey-buzzard,’’ both
carrion birds, displaying the same
mode of migration, and both being
easily distinguishable for reason
of the light gray color of the hawk
and the jet-black, of the buzzard.
In nearly all our observations, the

and thousands of them—either
hawks or buzzards wing their
flighty tours high up in the hori-
zon—until the eye traces them on-
ly as mere floating specks.
Generally when or where game
is scarce, these hawks are also
scarce—as they are a hungry lot!
Around lakes and pasture tanks,

o
TEXAS NATURE OBSERVATIONS AND REMINISCENCES. 115

however, as well as places abound-
ing with game or plenty of small
birds—as well as near farmhouses
having plenty chicks—the prairie
hawk roams about numerously,
and woe to the bird, chicken or
small rabbit that is not quick
enough to dodge the hawk’s claws
—gerab he will! He earries his
victim in his claws to some nearby
tree, or in a field, perhaps on top

 

 

 

 

 

Tue Patm or a Hawxk’s Foor

.

of a haystack or a fodder-pile, etc.,
and there ends his meal. Some very
large and very fat hawks can be
seen along the shores of Mitchell’s
lake, where hawks of all sorts and
types are very numerous, and
where they have occasion to feed
on stray and wounded ducks and
other waterfowl. The largest hawk
feet I recollect having ever seen
were those of a fish hawk, out on

the Medina river near Geronimo.
They were the size of a large, fully
outstretched hand, with fearfully
long and curved claws and indicat
ing the iron grip its owner posses-
sed. The smaller types of Texas
prairie hawks are quite conspicu-
ous around farms and _ prairie
plains, and besides small birds,
they also are fond of insects, es-
pecially grasshoppers. One es-

 

OvuTsIDE OF SAME Foot

pecial small type of hawks—the
so-called ‘‘sparrow-hawk’’’ which
resembles somewhat a mocking
bird, but is smaller and broader
built, with a thick curved hawk
bill and claws, and of light bluish
and black and snow-white plum
age, is often seen roaming around
the hunting grounds in search of
its prey—small‘ birds and insects,
and it is characteristic by its pecu-
liar flight—in a straight line—and
116 TEXAS NATURE OBSERVATIONS AND REMINISCENCES.

exceedingly swift when after spar-
rows or other birds; and it al-
ways is seen alighting on the
highest top of a tree, with prefer-
ence a mesquite tree. Even in
towns these hawks are quite often
seen in and around gardens and
parks, and the writer remembers
an instance where one of these ma-
rauders killed some of our best
canary birds in a cage. This hap-
pened a few years ago, whilst in
my private office on East Com-
merce street (now the ‘‘ Menger

floor or floating around the last
cage, and as soon as the hawk
noticed my approach it swiftly
flew away with some remnants of
the canary bird in its claws.

With these olden days recollec-
tions, I am reminded again of the
old Toudouse collection of native
Texas animals once roaming about
the jungles. and prairie plains
close to San Antonio and nowa-
days nearly extinct. I had a num-

ber of original photo-plates pre--

 

 

 

 

 

EacLe With a RATTLESNAKE IN Its BEAK

Brothers apartments’’), Whilst
reading, I heard a loud commotion
and fluttering noise around the
bird cages on the adjoining front
gallery, and opening the door lead-
ing to the gallery, a perplexing
sight presented itself: in one of the
cages two canary birds were lying
dead in the cage— headless: and
on the other cage a sparrow hawk
was seen in the
grabbed the single canary with its
claws and pulling it through the
wired cage. Many golden-yellow
feathers were scattered on the

act of having.

pared at the romantic little Tou-
douse villa at Losoya, south of
San Antonio, but they are nearly
all lost or loaned away, many years
ago. Among these photog one is
left, which is reproduced in this
Field issue; a large prairie eagle
with a captured huge rattle snake,
both of which Mr. Toudouse had
encountered and shot in the midst
of a wilderness of cactus jungles
and brush, close to the old Tudrich
‘“‘Laguna de los Patos’’ called
Mitchell’s Lake. Wild animals of
nearly all types typical to our
TEXAS NATURE OBSERVATIONS AND REMINISCENCES. 117

western climate, now nearly ex-
tinct entirely, roamed in profu-
sion in those olden days around
the sandy hillsides, brush and
cactus thickets surrounding
Mitchell’s laguna and the new
“‘Blue Wing Lake’’ and I reeol-
lect how the old hunter and nat-
urlist, Toudouse, related his en-
counter with the eagle and rattle
snake depicted herein. Similar

to his encounter with a huge lynx,
Mr. Toudouse had surprised close
to the tule edges of Mitchell Lake
in the act of tearing the neck of
a large spoonbill duck off its body.
The huge snake was still alive and
partly coiled around the eagle’s
body, when the old hunter’ with a
quick shot, ended the eagle’s life,
in order to add both specimens to
his valuable collection of Texas
zoological trophies.

A Few More Typical Texas Bird Nests

As is quite well known, May and
June usually are the main nest-
building and breeding seasons of
most of our interesting feathery
tribe; and just now, beginning of
June, the woods around San An-
tonio are teaming with breeding
birds of all kinds, and some of
our tule lakes and swampy _ re-
gions harbor nests of various wa-
terfowls—though sparingly, and I
submit elsewhere the nest with
cleven eggs of a waterhen, encoun-
tered and photographed at the
old Mitchell’s Lake hunting pre-
serve, at close range. The entire
nest was built of particles of the
tulereed seen covering that lake,
close to the bank and some under-
brush and shrubbery; and the
large, perfectly round tule nest,
with its contents of eleven oval-
shaped and light reddish brown
and slightly spotted eggs, and a
young baby hen a day or two old
in the nest, presented a beautiful
scene to behold, as seen herein.

As a rule, our prairie birds have
their favorite breeding haunts and
typical methods of nest-building,
to which they invariably and most
ingeniously adhere; and some
among the great majority build
their nests directly on the ground,
or in holes in the ground and
trees. Our quail and the bullbat
bird and a few others, invariably

build their nests on the ground,
in some secluded and_ hidden
place—the bullbat bird, however,
not building any nest at all, as
it deposits its eggs on the ground
without any extra nest enclosure;
and still other bird species, sim-
ilar to the European cuckoo fam-
ily, generally prefer to appropri-
ate the nest of a different bird
specie. Having noticed this also
in late years with our’wild dove.

‘I had oceasion lately to witness

this again in various breeding
localities of this bird, and I
have met quite a number of breed-
ing wild doves with an egg or
two on the abandoned but newly
outlined nest of some other bird
species, especially of the mocking-
bird; and also a dove breeding
on a nest built directly on the
ground was found. This was wit-
nessed only recently, and [
prepared a nice view of this dove
nest on the ground with its two
oval and snow-white eggs. It was
encountered during an outing, in
a mesquite thicket and_ partly
hilly region, where hundreds of
other birds, especially the mock-
ingbird, the red cardinal, the cac-
tus wren, the scissor-tail bird,
chaparral cock and various wea--
verbirds and others have their se-
cluded haunts, and it was stum-
bled’ upon rather unexpectedly,
118 TEXAS NATURE OBSERVATIONS AND REMINISCENCES.

or rather in passing some low
mesquite brush. Suddenly a wild
dove fluttered from its nest over
the ground to some nearby brush
thicket; and, though only a com-
mon dove nest, it was so attractive
that I could not help taking a
view of it—as here reproduced.
The nest, similar to the one of a
prairie sparrow, was situated on
the ground in the shade of a small
bushy mesquite tree and_ sur-
rounded with small flint rocks

nearly full-grown doves, and it
was a beautiful sight for a snap-
shot, but I had approached some- '
what too close, when the old dove
flew off the nest, which, of course,
was not molested. But on another
occasion a breeding dove on a
mockingbird nest was encounter-
ed which I luckily happened to
reproduce satisfactorily, and as
seen elsewhere Usually the old
dove fills the old abandoned nest
of some other bird with a few par-

 

Witp Dove Nest on tHe Grounp

and numbers of small prairie
snails. The nest itself was a very
plain affair, built only with a
little dry grass, and _ protected
above by some mesquite leaves
and the branches of a small mes-
quite bush (not seen on the near-
focused view of the nest).

Not far from this interesting
encounter, I met two breeding
doves, both sitting on the forked
limb of a mesquite tree on some
old abandoned nest, and one was
in its nest in the center of two

ticles of dry grass or small branch
particles, whilst the large major-
ity of wild doves build their own
plain and typical nest, usually of
flat shape, on a broad mesquite
limb, more frequently between or
close to the bifurcated or rounded
limb of some tree, as can be seen
on the illustration herein of a
typical prairie dove nest and eggs.

From the many injurious influ-
ences, especially storms and rains,
and the apparent decline in num-
bers of the wild dove, I wonder
TEXAS NATURE OBSERVATIONS AND REMINISCENCES. 119

if not some natural instinct in-
herent with most of the feathery
tribe, induces them to seek
‘better shelter and safer incubators
for their offspring by seeking’ the
abandoned nest of other bird spe-
cie?

Often have I encountered a

fresh dove nest on brush or small’

tree of the prairie, built on top
of a flat and larger nest than the
usual dove nest, but I never en-
countered such nest containing an
ege of some other bird species, as
is occasionally the case with other
birds. Such an instance I wit-

ter closely, but of smaller size.

As to the eggsucker bird, and
its nest, I may add here a few re-
cent observations and a good view
of such bird, encountered near San
Antonio,

I was once led to believe that
this so-called eggsucker bird built
its nest nearly exclusively on the
branches of a wild persimmon
tree. This, however, from the
many nests:seen of late of this
bird species, is an error, as the
“egosucker,” which seems to be
a misnomer, and from recent ob-
servations and those of others, an

 

A Typicat Dovg Nest on Fork oF MesQuite TREE BRANCH

nessed lately, when a beautifully
built prairie sparrow nest, con-
taining four oval shaped and
elongated, alabaster-white eggs of
about the size of a ‘small bean,
also contained a light speckled
and nearly round egg of light red-
dish gray color of some other
bird specie, and about twice the
size of the sparrow eggs. It was
not the egg of the eggsucker bird,
nor of the mockingbird, or red
bird, though it resembled the lat-

insect destroyer, especially fond
of beetles and caterpillars, builds
its own nest on various trees and
brush; and I have met such nest
with its characteristically large
and elliptis shaped bluish-green,
exceedingly attractive eggs on the
branches, or mostly between the
trunk of the mesquite tree, on
small pecan and box elder trees
along the river bottoms and in the
agarita bush. This bird, which
belongs to the cuckoo family, is
120 TEXAS NATURE OBSERVATIONS AND REMINISJSNCES.

also accredited as seeking other
birds’ nests to breed in. The lat-
ter, however, undoubtedly is an
error, as in the last forty and
more years I have never encoun-
tered a prairie bird nest other
than that of the eggsucker bird,
harboring an egg or more of this
cuckoo bird. |

Typical, however, of our egg-
sucker bird is the fact that, at
least as far as my observations go,
this bird always fills its nest-bed
with large numbers of dried-up
mesquite leaves. The nest itself
is round and flat, on the order of

 

and prairie plains in late — years,
wherever the mesquite tree grows.

The second illustration in this
article shows a typical eggsucker
with white and black spotted tail
which I encountered: last May
in the hilly regions near Cassin’s
lake. The nest was located between
forked branches of a small mes-
quite tree and partly covered
above with mesquite leaves, and
the old bird had escaped at the
moment the nest was detected,
and the photo reproduced as en-
countered is seen herein. It
contained five oblong and green-

 

 

THE YELLow Bittep Cuckoo or Eccsucker Birp on Nest

the dove nest, but much larger,

and still rather small in size for
the many large green-colored eggs
it contains—from four to eight.
This nest, however, is more com-
pactly built than that of the or-
dinary dove, the fundamental or
base part consisting of particles of
wood and thorny branch parti-
cles; then comes a layer of some
dry grasses or moss, and on this
or directly on the wood particles
several layers of dried mesquite
leaves are spread out in a circular
shape. This I have witnessed in-
variably in all the nests I had oc-
casion to encounter in the woods

ish glittering eggs, and the en-
tire inside mould of the nest was
lined with dried-up mesquite
leaves—also seen on the photo.
After the view was taken, at close
range, another cuckoo bird, per-
haps its mate, came flying with a
large beetle in its long and sharp
curved bill and lit near the nest
and place from which we had’
just retreated. It was-the yellow-’
billed cuckoo bird and a beautiful’
specimen, of olive brown plumage,
with white and black spotted
feathers. /

The hills and woods around
Cassin’s lake, as well as the close
TEXAS NATURE OESERVATIONS AND REMINISCENCES. 121

by river bottom, is a veritable lit-
tle bird paradise in springtime
and the summer months, where
the year round numbers of prai-
rie- birds, the brilliant red cardi-
nal, the Texas nightingale, or
mockingbird. the whip-poor-will,
the scissor-tai] bird, quail, doves,
robins, vireos. the field lark, the
interesting bullbat bird, brilliant
woodpeckers, the restless and
beautiful cactus wren, prairie
sparrows, and others too numer-

4

 

surrounding our camp, as well as.
the ground nearby, were literally
covered with mocking birds and
numbers of red birds. It may be
similar to the migration of the
bullbat birds, witnessed last year
near that place on a large open
Johnson grass field, that those
songsters had congregated there
for a final migration to other
climes, as bitter cold winter days
set in shortly afterwards.

It is also here, in a hilly and

 

TypicaL Nest or THE Texas YELLOW-BiLLED Cuckoo Birp (EcGsucKeEr)
Wiru Five Eccs; Nest-Bep FILLED With Megsquitz Leaves

ous to mention are encountered
here and enliven the prairie
plains in summer tiine with their
melodious songs, whilst the lake
harbors numbers of chattering
waterfowls in winter time, and is
stocked, I am told, with lots of
‘fine fish the vear round.

Never before had I witnesed
such a large amount of mocking
birds and red bird: as during an
outing during a cold dav la-t fall
east of Cassin’s lake; the hack-
berry trees and mesquite brush

considerably rocky and brushy re-
gion, that we came across an in-
teresting small nest, last May,
with four marble-round, jet-black

speckled and snow-white eggs of

a small prairie sparrow, snugly
hidden directly on the ground un-
der the shade of a small wild
acacia brush. The round nest,
photo reproduced on the spot and
seen herein, was about the size
of a child’s hand, and it, seemed
as if the bird had first scratched
the ground up before building.
122 TEXAS NATURE OBSERVATIONS AND REMINISCENCES.

the nest, as it was more under
than above the ground. It was
found accidentally whilst gather-
ing agarita berries by two of our
companions. The small, white and
black marked eggs were perfectly
round in shape, and the nest was
surrounded by numbers of the
small prairie snail houses and
fragments of flint rocks and a
small blackberry bush. On another
occasion, during hunting trips
in hilly regions around San An-

houses seen scattered all over the
prairie, especially in hilly and
brushy regions around San An-
tonio, are a favorite bait for
anglers, especialy to catch perch
with, and it is a fascinating sight
during some sultry and rain-
threatening day, to witness hun-
dreds of such snails, several feet
above ground on the bushes, or
small trees, and I recollect having
seen, years ago, in a pasture dur-
ing threatened rainy weather, at

 

A Rarg Prarrizg Sparrow Nest Witn Rounp, Spotren Ecos, IN THE GROUND

tonio, such nests with the round
eggs were occasionally encounter-
ed inside some thick brush and
with preference in the small
leafed acacia brush bearing golden
yellow and red globular blossoms,
but its host, some small sparrow
species, prefers to build its nest
on the ground and is generally
found accidentally, when one
passes close by, and its host sud-
denly flies away.

The mollusks of our common,
but interesting small prairie snail

the Olmos settlement, such im-
mense numbers of such snails,
covering the mesquite brush in
such numbers that nearly the
whole brush was one mass of
snow-white-snails, some of them
climbing as high as five feet in
the branches.

Since writing the notés anent
some birds, on the plan of the Ger-
man cuckoo, laying one egg more
in the nest of some other breeding
bird, and citing an instance of a
beautiful prairie sparrow nest con"
TEXAS NATURE OBSERVATIONS AND REMINISCENCES. 123

taining four oval shaped, alabas-
ter-white eggs and also one spec-
kled egg, I had occasion lately
to find this same nest again and
to make a photo of it. As seen
on the view herein, the small
rounded nest was snugly hidden
between branches of a blackberry
bush and contained four white
and one much larger and slightly
spotted egg of some other bird
species, but the exact nature of
which type of prairie bird it be-
|-nged to is still a puzzle to me;

 

leaves of some berry bush.
Another interesting and very
attractive prairie nest I am in-
cluding in these notes, is the nest
of our red bird or cardinal. This
beautiful. bird, seen all over the
prairie plains and in particular
in forests and in our parks and
gardens, is undoubtedly, next to
the mockingbird, one of our finest
and most attractive song birds,
and its nest also is most beautiful
and artistically built. Though
preferring shady places in the

 

 

A Prarriz Sparrow Nest WitH Four Eccs anp ONE BASTARD

however, from two fresh nests,
both of them containing several
eggs of same size and light red-
dish dotted color and found later,
I am quite sure now the bastard
egg in the nest was one of some
other prairie sparrow species, the
nest of this sparrow, of round or
oval shape, being exceedingly at-
‘tractive and usually found hidden
between the small branches and

forest, our red bird builds its nest
in nearly any locality of the prai-
rie plains wherever there is plenty
of green foliage and brush and
some rivulet or tank, and the nest
is always built of the same type,
always of an equal round shape,
and lined out with thin grass
stems and branch particles or
moss. The nest depicted herein
was found in one of the attractive
124 TEXAS NATURE OBSERVATIONS AND REMINISCENCES.

and evergreen berry bushes in a
hilly region near San Antonio,
snugly hidden between the foliage
and branches, which were held
aside to expose the entire nest and
the four reddish-brown dotted
eggs. In our river bottoms the
red bird prefers, as stated, some
locality with plenty of foliage,
but. often also it is met with with-
out much protection whatever be-
tween the forked branches of a
small hackberry or boxelder tree
or in the thickets of vines, and in

nest to give it extra strong hold.
Such breeding nests, of course,
should not be disturbed purpose-
ly, as some vandals are wont to
do; however, the breeding bird
invariably returns to its nest if
frightened away, as long as the
eggs are not disturbed or broken
by a careless hand.

Without wishing to go into fur-
ther detail, in a general way,
concerning our Texas red bird, I
append the following observations
of the celebrated naturalist and

 

 

 

A TypicaL Rep Birp Nest anp Eccs 1N a YELLOW BERRY BrRusH

open forest and mesquite and oak
brush. Whilst with a _ fish-
ing party south of the river bot-
tom, we met several breeding red
birds along the river bank, and
one particularly fine nest entirely
hidden between the foliage of an
elder tree ovehanging the river
bank and containing its charac-
teristic four small-dotted and com-
paratively large oval. eggs, was
exceedingly attractive, several of
the rank grapevines being inter-
woven in the base part of the

ornithologist, Audubon, in H.
Nehrling’s work on Birds of North
America:

‘Wherever the cardinal makes
its appearance it is welcomed as a
pet by everyone, by reason of its
brilliant red and glittering color,
and its melodious and rich song,
which is loud and clear, and re-
minds one of the finest tunes of
the flageolet; more and more,
however, it moderates, until grad-
ually it ceases entirely. During
mating time the song of the red

ae
TEXAS NATURE OBSERVATIONS AND REMINISCENCES. 125

-bird is given in all its might, the
bird swells its breast, the tail
feathers are spread out like a fan,
it claps and spreads its wings, and
turns its head from right to left,
simultaneously, as if it intended
to listen to its own wonderful
tunes. The melodies are always
soon renewed, and it only ceases
singing to gather fresh breath.
Long ’ere the sun gilds the eastern
horizon with its golden hue, the
cardinal begins his song, and
ceases only when the burning sun
sends its scorching rays and com-
pels all life in nature to seek tem-
porary rest. But as soon as na-
ture recovers, the song is renewed
with such- energy as if the bird
had never exerted its breats be-
fore, and its echo enlivens all the
neighborhood; it does not rest
unless being compelled by the
nightshade spreading around him.
In such fashion the red bird seeks
to dispell the wearisome hours of
the breeding female, and at times
the latter also, with the modesty
of its sex, joins the singing, but
with less force.. e
deny this noble songster our due
admiration. How delightful it is
during a sultry day and when the
darkening sky covers the forests,
and night seemingly approaches,
suddenly the brilliant, well-known
tunes of our pet bird are heard!
I witnessed this pleasure very of-
ten and for no price would I like
to miss it for ever.” (Original
translation from the German work
of H. Nehring, Custodian Public
Museum, Milwaukee, “Die Nord-
Amerikanische Vogelwelt’’).

Song birds in general were
more numerous around San An-
tonio in olden days, and in later
years in San Antonio’s beautiful
public parks and many of them
were caged, niostly by Mexicatio,
who, as stated in the preceding
pages, concerning our -mogk-
ing bird, take good care in rear-
ing the imprisoned youngsters,
and nearly every Mexican home

or village had its quota of caged
mocking birds, red birds, Mexi-
can canaries, virios and other prai-
rie birds. But of late years our
hustling modern business metrop-
olis harbors fewer song birds in
its borders, and caged birds also
are rarely seen, and it is well it
is thus, as imprisoned prairie
songsters rarely fare well or can
be kept any length of time alive

 

 

 

But few: of us.

Rep Birp Eccs at CLosE Focus

in a cage, for want of proper care

such birds need; but, with less
disturbance of such birds as still
are with us, these will remain in
our city gardens and parks the
year over, if not molested by “nig-
ger shooters,” parlor rifle and the
little youngsters in general prowl-
ing around in search of birds and
birds’ nests.

In regard to our town sparrow
I may also add it is true these
lively little fellows sometimes be-
come a nuisance by their large
numbers infesting the galleries or
trees fronting residences and pub-
lic buildings, where they also seek
shelter and often prepare their
nests, and some of them (the so-
called English sparrow) often
chases other birds from our en-
closures and public parks; as a
whole, however, these hungry lit-
tle town sparrows, and especially
those around farms and pastures,
126 TEXAS NATURE OBSERVATIONS AND REMINISCENCES,

undoubtedly also do much more
good than harm, as they are in-
sectivorous as well as destroyers
of large quantities of weed seeds.
Any observer of the doings of our

sparrow well knows how greedily
they are after insects and how

they incessantly pick up weed
seeds and grain of all kinds
on our streets and_ gardens.
Unless, therefore, they become a
real public nuisance, the town
sparrows should not be molested.
What say the Texas Field readers
about it?

A Freak of Nature in a Giant Texas Oak Tree.

In plantlife it is well known
that all sorts of queer abnormal

erowths, deformaties and trans-
plantations occur; but that one

 

 

 

 

 

Huce Oak Tree With INcRowN Hacknerry Tree, Near River SaLano BEND

  
TEXAS NATURE OBSERVATIONS AND REMINISCENCES. 127

of our sturdiest and toughest
irees—the Texas Oak should har-
bor so-to-say in its own body an-
other large treestem of a differ-
ent tree class—this is undoubtedly
a very rare, if not unique freak
of nature; and I will endeavor to
relate the circumstances which led
to the detection of this unusual
tree conglomoration.

“Salado river bend, we came across

a large armadillo and some forest
rabbits—the latter hidden, but
chased out of some piled up forest
wood and dried branches; and, in
the neighborhood of these wood
piles we entered a densely grown
up place of all sorts of forest tree
underbrush and rampant vines—
looking for the armadillo, when,

 

 

 

 

CHARMING River SCENERY NEAR THE SALADO River BEND, BELow SAN ANTONIO

About a week after describing
in the Texas Field (February is-
sue 1913) a remarkable forest
bird of the woodpecker tribe, my-
self and companions encountered
in the vicinity of the romantic
Goeth farm what seemed to be the
same wounded bird, described and
depicted previously.

It was a fine, bright afternoon,
when, enjoying the grand forest
and river sceneries. close to the

all at once a number of the des-
cribed large woodpeckers were
also keen. Some of them were
on the ground, and others high up
on the giant pecan trees and one,
seemingly wounded, fluttered to
a close by oak tree, and I managed
in presence of my outing compan-
ions, Mr. and Miss Haubold of
San Antonio, to prepare a nice
view of the bird climbing on the
oak gtem and seen reproduced in

 
 

128 TEXAS NATURE OBSERVATIONS AND REMINISCENCES.

these sketches. The remarkable
part of this bird encounter however,
was the fact that it was photo-
graphed on a huge forest oak
tree stem, which in itself was a
phenomenon, hardly ever wit-
nessed again in a lifetime, as this
enormous and century old oak tre
showed another tree—a hackberry
tree fully ingrown in the entire

berry tree was even deeper in-
erafted around the upper right
side.trunk of the oak tree as well
as inside the bifarcation, where,
in its broad central part only
about one-third of the hackberry’s
body could be seen—with its two
main branches, seen also on the
photo, soreading out and branch-
ing off in all directions. In

 

 

 

PicTurRESQUE Forest SCENERY NgAR THE SALADO RivER BEND, BELOW SAN ANTONIO

length of the oak tree stem, and
it resembled a large broad vine,
encircling the oak like a huge
snake.

The photograph of the grand
old oak tree shows part of the
main outer root of the hackberry
tree, perfectly ingrafted at the
base part, and the — all
around ingrown part of the hack-

spite of its jammed in condition
inside both trunks of the oak, the
hackberry was in fully normal
condition otherwise; and _ the
smaller branches were covered
with dried up leaves (being mid- |
winter) ; and the smaller branches —
were all around loaded with the
red hackberries.

There are several hundred other
TEXAS NATURE OBSERVATIONS AND REMINISCENCES. 129

huge oak trees in the neighbor-
hood, and some of them nearly
twice as thick-near the base parts
as the one described, around that
romantic river forest bottom; and

one among them also showed quite
a freak in plantlife. It was a very
‘old and high oak tree, and near its
upper crown part one large and
broad limb showed at its .base
part a slight excavation, in which
a number of the proadleafed op-
‘untia cactus plants were conspicu-
ously implanted—some forty feet
above the ground, and also wit-
nessed by my companions, C.
Schulze and A. Haubold; and the
same tree also showed a nice grow-
ing green prairie flower plant in
the upper part of its broad stem.
Undoubtedly birds or some animal
feeding on the ripe cactus fruit,
or may be by the wind current,
the seed was transplanted high up
on such, as well as other trees,
where, under favorable conditions
they grow up into mature plants. I
recollect twice before having seen
during outings several groups of
the large cactus in full bloom;
once on a huge oak tree, and at
another occasion along the river
bank, on a large pecan tree; and
it was a very fascinating sigat

te see the golden yellow blossoms
of the cactus some thirty to fifty
feet above the base of the trees.

The previously mentioned nat-
ural oak forest at the Salado river
bend, I understand is now the
property of Messrs. Lamm and
Schuwirth, and it vividly reminds
of the Landa park along the Cov-
mal, the San Pedro Springs park
of olden days, and numerous other
forest parks of Western Texas. A
fine main driveway along pictur-
esque forest sceneries leads to the
main large open park, and we met
several automobiles with families
enjoying immensely the gorgeous
display of natures forest sceneries ;
and some of the original photo-
views herein present a faint idea of
the grandeur of that ancient forest
with its century old oak, pecan,
and other forest trees. Besides
the interesting ingrown hackberry
and oak tree described, one of the
photo shows a friend and relative
admiring the grand forest display
of giant trees ete., (a ‘‘pull the
string’’ photo of the author, the
string passing under my right
shoe) ; and the other photo shows
& nice river waterfall scenery.
close by the previous scenery of
the huge bendover oak monarch
of that beautiful forest.

Aaa Gee Haatak Mish's Take

In those days when the tule
jungles were man high and cov-
ered the three miles long lake from
one end to the other, and the old
lake was covered with shallow
water, so that one could wade
with his long boots nearly any part
of the interior tule spaces; and
wien nohouses, orcultivated land,
boathcuses and modern firearms
disturbed the equilibrium of the
earstwhile Indian ‘‘Uugana de los
patos’’; in those days the Mitchell
lake hunting ground was an im-

mense gathering place for all sorts
of wild animals of the jungles,
including: myriads of wilds ducks,
erines, geese, the wild turkey deer,
the wild hog, squirrels, the jack-
end king snipe; and, in olden
times, occasionally the haunts of
the wild migratory pigeon, and of
the scarlet red flamingo, and the
show-white pelican, the ibis and
the wild swan. The latter, except
the wild pigeons, as well as geese,
were generally shot with the rifle
bullet, or buckshot—-and the old
130 TEXAS NATURE OBSERVATIONS AND REMINISCENCES.

time frontier huntsman was gen-
erally up-to-date in quick aiming
and hitting the mark—yjust like
our friend and Texas Field editor
—Colonel O. C. Guessaz.

With the on-march of civiliza-
tion, that great wild game lagoon
naturally has changed its environ-
ments and game capacity consider-
ably—and still it is today, besides

 

resting plave, and the adjoining
cultivated fields at night time
serve to seek their food.

Wild geese have often been hunt-
ed at Mitchells lake by our local
nimrods ; and the writer, with
my son Theodore also had the
pleasure to pop one down a few,
days ago (beginning of March
1913) at the old tule lake, and pre-

 

ee

 

MitcueEce’s Lake Scenery With tHE Witp Goose KILLED LATELY

the Blue Wing and the Cassin’s
lake, one of the most popular hunt-
ing preserves; and millions of wild
fowls congregate on this lake an-
nually in winter time; and whilst
the migratory pigeon, the wild
swan and flamingo, the ibis and
. the wild boar and pecearie ete.,
exist in remembrances only of old-
en days; pelicans. wild geese, and
the king snipe and. others occa-
sionally seek this lake as their

pared a photo of same, represent-
ing also part of the lake and scene
cf aetion of one of our hunting
companions—a good hunting scene
of our old lake.

We had already secured several
teal. and spoon-bill ducks, when,
quietly rowing along the open tule
spaces at the south end part of the
lake—below the old boathouse aad
cak tree blind (now both sub-
merged in the deep lakewater) of
TEXAS NATURE OBSERVATIONS AND REMINISCENCES. 131

our friend, the Hon. Albert Steves,
we suddenly came across a single
wild goose taking a rest between
tule jungles. The writer, being
scated in front part of the boat
and ready for action, quickly took
aim and badly wounded the goose;
but it managed to fly, and my son
Theodore gave it two loads in

quick suecession—when it came
down and heavily plunged upon
the water after flying quite a dis-
tance toward the lower dam of the
lake. It was a beautiful, clear
morning—and a magnificent sight
it was as the large gray bird lay
spread out before us on the glit-
tering lake.

A Fiend of Libraries---The ‘‘Silver Fish’’ Insect

Besides the large army of inju-
rious domestic linsects, such as
roaches, crickets, ants, lice and
mites, fleas, flies and the various
minute beetles, none are more de-
strustive to paper goods than the
so-called silver fish insect, also
called ‘‘sugar fish,’’ ‘‘silver
witch’’ or ‘‘silver louse.’’

This interesting insect derived
its name from its peculiar shape
of a small fish, and its shining

and museums, where it often per-
forates- the cover linings and
pages of books, or gnaws the la-
bels of its gummy or starchy lin-
ings and bores holes and furrows
in the paper. In herbaria and
drug stores it also is a great mo-
lesting pest, as it perforates the
packages and feeds on some of the
material contained in stored away
vegetable goods.

In a local drug store a package

 

 

 

 

 

Si_ver Fisx INseEctT,

scaly body, which is very slippery
and therefore difficult to eapture
without being mutilated. It be-
longs to the lowest range of in-
sects, and it is wingless, and its
flattened body and the short, but
strong feet, enables the insect to
run rapidly; and on account of its
scaly and slippery body, it easily
glides and hides in its favored
haunts; \between' the leaves of
books and papers of all sorts. It
is a great nuisance in libraries

ENLARGED SEVERAL TIMES

of herbs, containing the deadly lo-
belia, was shown the writer, and
the insects had mutilated the la-
bel and package paper. On open-
ing the' herb package the silver
fish insects were found in num-
bers, and also such in their larval
state. Their larvae represent small
slightly curved dark and hairy
worms; but they differ widely
from allied insects, for instance:
the so-called drug store and to-
bacco beetle larvae, which also do
132 TEXAS NATURE OBSERVATIONS AND REMINISCENCES.

a great deal of harm to the drug
and tobacco trade. The latter, 1.
e., the mature insects, are among
the smallest winged insects
known; but the silver fish is not
winged, nor does it, as a rule, fecd
on drug store articles as greedily
as those minute beetles; but they
nevertheless, like in the men-
tioned case, occasionally perforate
herb packages, especially of old
goods, which have not been
handled for years. Their prefer-
ence however, is old newspaners
and books and paper goods of all
kind, and they also perforate and
feed on wallpaper, linen and
silken goods, paper boxes, mu-
seum and herbarium articles, ete.

Their body being, as_ stated,
very brittle when touched, they
are not an easy object to capture
without mutilating some parts
of their anatomy, especially the
two long frontal antennae, and
the three rear bristle-shaped ap-
pendages.

In looking over some old L-
brary books lately, the first few
pages contained a large specimen
of one of these ‘‘silver  fish,’’
about one-half inch long: (not in-
cluding the long appendages). The
usual size is somewhat smaller,
and the original photo herein
from nature shows the insect mag-
nified about five times.

The text-books do not give a de-
tailed description of the nature of
the interesting scales covering the
body of these insects, and_I there-
fore gave the matter a little closer
microscopic attention. The scales
are beautifully arranged in rows,
and differ in size, etc., according
to the different regions of the in-
sect’s body. Along the mouth
parts, numerous long bristles dan
be seen, as also along the sides
of the body, and the small body
scales seen microscopically, resem-
ble those of a moth and some but-
terflies. These scales are very re-
fractive to light, and they give
the insect the peculiar silver color
and glittering appearance—simi-

‘lar to the glitter of the butterfly’s

wing-scales. 7

Similar to so many other spe-
cies of insects injurious to house-
hold goods and paperware, the sil-
verfish is hard to extinguish when
it once has a foothold. Cleanliness
and airing of infested articles, de-
struction of those found and their
larvae and occasional dusting of
infested articles with persian in-
sect powder (pyrithrum) and

placing of camphor along the.

bookshelves, ete., or camphorine
(moth balls), is about the best
to do to keep these and allied in-
jurious insects in check or de-
stroying them totally.

Texas Forest Butterflies

Through the courtesy of the
San Antonio Scientifie Sceiety I
take pleasure in submitting two

elegant halftone photograph of

our Texas butterflies, captured
and photo-reproduced by the wri-
ter some vears ago, the half-tones
with matter having been used for
a lecture before that society on
reptiles and insects peculiar to
our semi-tropical Texas climate,
and all the halftones in this chap-
ter show again the excellent high-

grade work done by the Mills
Photo Engraving “oinpany of San
Antonio. Both these butterflies
were captured in the hilly forest
regions of the Gallager ranch,
Bandera road, and the illustration
shows them in natural size.

The beautiful swallow-tailed
winged specimen (a moth) was
of light green, and the other ‘of
brilliant golden-yellow colors. At
the time of capturing t‘hem—late
in fall 1904, the woods and prairie
TEXAS NATURE OBSERVATIONS AND REMINISCENCES. 133

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Texas Forest BUTTERFLIES
134 TEXAS NATURE OBSERVATIONS AND REMINISCENCES.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Texas ' 937 Buiter eiire
TEXAS NATURE OBSERVATIONS AND REMINISCENCES. 135

plains swarmed with all sorts of
types of butterflies, and never be-
fore had I witnessed such im-
mense numbers along a rivulet at
the Geronimo Henderson ranch,
when’ hardly a leaf or branch of

the forest trees and brush were
bare, and the sky was literally
covered with large, cloudy and
glittering masses of butterflies—
having gathered there by the
millions preparatory to their mi-
gratory flight to other climes.
Only a few other samples of
course can be presented herein of
the multitudes of varicus gorgeous
butterflies and moths encountered
all over the Texas forests, during
the summer. The three other or-
iginal photoviews herein for in
stance are of much interest, in par-
ticular the large broad winged
specimen which was of intense

Indian red and dark brown color
with white and reddish circular
bands across the wings, seemingly
as if they were two separate
wings. Large bluish colored cir-
cles with jet black outlines deco-
rated the apex part of both wings,
and ‘each wing showed several
fine, grayish circular outlinings
along the lower curvature.

This large specimen of an un-
usually fine and rare butterfly-
moth measured six inches in width,
and it was captured lately by a
friend— Mr. Win. Grossenbacher,
and photoreproduced alive by the
writer.

The other two are strictly night-
moths— one a rare forest moth,
and the other one an Oleander
moth, both captured some years
ago by the late naturalist, Pro-
fessor G. Jermy at our San Pedro

- Springs park.

Texas Snakes and the Treatment of Snake Bite

Snakes of various types and
snakebites, and deaths from same
have considerably diminished in
Texas of late years. The hunter’s
gun, the ‘‘snakehunters,’’ em-
ployed by reptile dealers and
ranchmen, have about exter-
minated the snakes.

However, now, in the beginning
of spring and summer, due to late
rains and washouts in favored
regions of the jungles, they may
appear quite conspicuous again,
as they multiply very rapidly.

As compared to olden times,
the few varieties of poisonous snakes
around setiled and cultivated pla-
ces are exceedingly less numerous,
for reasons stated. As a rule,
even the most poisonous snakes
in our climate are very useful
animals, i. e., in one way only,
as they destroy vast numbers of
harmful field rodents and pestifer-

ous insects. Even in winter time,
during the warmer- days, these
snakes, the crotalids in particular,
will destroy numbers of prairie
rats and ground squirrels; and
the writer has occasionally ob-
served this during hunting trips.
During the month of February,
at Mitchell’s lake, close to a road
leading to the main club house,
the writer happened to pass some
of the many cactus jungles near
the old ‘“‘Laguna de los Patos de
Mitchell,’ and, hearing a com-
motion and rattling sound in one
of the cactus thickets, curiosity
led me to investigate the place,
and there, in the midst of a large
rat’s nest and cactus jungles, a
huge rattlesnake could be seen in-
side the main entrance to it. The
snake must have noticed my ap-
proach, for it suddenly coiled its’
body, and, head’ foremost, quickly
crept deeper and deeper into the
soon appear again, I called my
friend, Mr.

136 TEXAS NATURE OBSERVATIONS AND REMINISCENCES.

rathole. At first I intended shoot-
ing it, but at the same moment I
noticed a prairie rat between some
of the cactus leaves, unable to move,
and, believing the snake would

 

spot. The snake undoubtedly had
the rat ‘‘hypnotized,’”’ but after
we came close to it, it gradually
gained its former vitality and ran
into the same opening into which

iN

it

CALEARE LIOR:

iigtee
ie

aie

a

ris
ies

os

ee

Twenty-Six Rattles, THE ‘'WARNING SIGNAL"’ OF A VERY OLD RATTLER; SLIGHTLY ENLARGED
(Souvenir From a Texas Farm House)

F. Hensel, nearby,

the

rattlesnake had retreated.

and showed him the rat, which
still was unable to move from the

What there happened, can easily
be imagined.

“Several wecks afterward there
TEXAS NATURE OBSERVATIONS AND REMINISCENCES. 137

was no notice of any fresh rat
trails in that same cactus thicket,
the rattler undoubtedly having
“‘eleaned up’’ all of them. The
same fate falls to the numerous
ground squirrels and cotton-tail
rabbits in these regions, and, it is
seen from these accounts—well
known to ranchmen and observers
of wild animals in the jungles—
these reptiles may be classed with
the useful category of Texas wild
animals.. However, considering
on the other hand the harm they
inflict to farm hands and persons
coming in contact with them un-

with his right hand holds its lower
body firmly, so that it is unable
to twist around the arm and
manage to extricate itself and
inflict, (as has happened), a dead-
ly plunge of its sharp fangs into
the holder’s arm. Then, with a pair
of forceps, the reptile dealer
quickly dislodges each fang, usual-
ly two permanent and two reserve
fangs; or if the venom is to be
gathered, the thumb is pressed
against the opposite index finger
and against the two poison blad-
ders, when a quantity, often a
teaspoonful, of yellowish, glitter-

 

Houpine a Live RaTtrLesnake By a REPTILE DEALER FOR ExTRACTING Poison FANGS
AND EVACUATING THE VENOM

aware, especially children, many
of which have been killed in olden
times, and occasionally today yet,
the crotalids and mocassins have
to ‘‘vamos.”’

The photograph above, which
the writer prepared some years
ago at a local reptile establishment,
shows how the reptile dealer held
his snakeship to extract the ven-
om and poison fangs. The rat-
tler’s neck andhead isfirst pressed
down with an iron rod or any solid
stick of wood; then, the left hand
grabs the reptile between the up-
per and lower jaw-bones and neck,
as seen in the illustration, and

ing, and egg albumen-like venom
is squeezed out of the venom blad-
ders and ejected from each fang,
and gathered on a saucer held be-
low the snake’s head.

As to treatment, the first and
best thing to do in a case of snake
bite outside of reach of a physican
is to at once apply a bandage or
eord, tightly close to and
above the fang wound, then cut
the fang wound with a clean knife,
let it bleed, and, if possible,
suck the wound out well. If at
hand, immerse wounded parts in
very warm salt water, or still
better, in a very warm solution of
permanganate of potassium (which
188 TEXAS NATURE OBSERVATIONS AND REMINISCENCES.

any druggist will serve), let it
remain in it a good while, and,
above all, call your physician at
once for further treatment.

The trouble is, even with better
antidotes than now used in the
great majority of genuine snake-
bite, i. e., in those cases in which
the poison fangs had really pene-
trated and injected the venom,
the victim, unaware, and unpre-
pared, hardly ever is in the posi-
tion to be treated quick enough
to counteract the venom. The
best he can do, and instinctively
performs, to mitigate the absorp-
tion of the venom, is to at once,

aid, either at work in a field or on
a hunting trip, or traveling, pic-
nicking, ete., and what a boon in-
deed, it would be, had the victim
always a positive anti-venom rem-
edy with him—and knew how to
apply it! In the majority of fatal
cases, medical science teaches that
the poison fangs had either pene-
trated very vascular (capillary)
places, or struck a large blood
vessel direct. How quick then must
the antidote be administered in
such a case. In all snakebite cases
that come to the attention of a
physican, quite a lengthy time
generally has elapsed after the

 

Poison Fancs (MaGNniFIED) oF RatrLe SNAKE (WirRE INSERTED IN Porson CANAL
oF ONE OF THE Fancs)

and tighty constrict the fang-
wound with a cloth, cord, or band-
age cloth above the fang-wound.
The trouble is the snake venom is
so quickly injected and absorbed
as are medicines injected with the
hypodermic needle subcutaneous-
ly, and therefore, if ever an anti-
venom remedy is discovered that
will at once neutralize the snake
venom, it will depend upon above
principles: In the majority of
snake poison cases, the victim is
injured far off from any medical

poison was instilled, and still a
majority of such cases, especially
such that had been at once treated
with a tight ligature, recover,
depending upon the nature of the
case and vitality of the victim
and other circumstances.

Since hunters are not at all
times, during the year, roaming
around the fields and pastures
anv more—complying with the
strict game laws—and killing any
venomous reptile encountered on
such occasions, the dangerous spe-

 
TEXAS NATURE OBSERVATIONS AND REMINISCENCES. 139

cies of serpents increase and can
inflict much harm. And that they
were not on the decrease, a large

ranch near the coast had proven
some years ago by its published
statistics. The jungles of cacti
and Spanish dagger plants and
underbrush harbored such im-
mense numbers of rattlesnakes that
a wholesale war had been inaugurat-
ed, and it is reported a large barn
or cornhouse at the ranch
had been filled up with the rem-
nants of rattles of hundreds of
thousands of rattlers killed by
emnloyed Mexicans and Negroes,
covering many miles of wild terri-
tory. The strict game laws, therc-
fore, which in one way are pro-
tecting the game and the useful
feathery tribe, on the other hand,
give the reptile pest a chance to
increase incessantly—unless_ the
State offers a remedy for their
destruction. In one way also, the
local reptile dealers have done a

good work in that line, but it seems ©

inadequate. Snakes propagate im-
mensely and with every venomous
reptile killed, hundreds of later
offsprings from such one snake are
avoided.

The above notes had been
written by the writer some years

ago, and since the country has been .

nearly cleared of the former reptile
pest.

Science it may be said here
again is still in the experimental
state regarding a remedy that will
neutralize snake venom immediate-
ly after its application—hypoder-
mically. Snake venom is a toxic
agent which is injected by rep-
tile’s fangs either—and in most in-
stances—into the cellular tissues
superficially, or deep seated, or it
lacerates a blood vessel, or a nerve
etc. In the first instance the venom
(perhaps, and usually only one or
two drops) is infiltrated into the
subcuticular tissues by the curved
and needle-sharp edged fangs, and
the venom i3 then slowly absorbed,
and by proper subcutaneous medi-

cation of coagulating remedies it
is hindered from absorption into
the general system; and such cases
nearly always promptly recover,
after perhaps, superficial or deep-
seated inflammation, swelling and
gangrene of the tissues infiltrated.
Or, in the more serious and often
fatal cases, the venom had been
ejected into a blood vessel and im-
mediately absorbed and circulated
within the blood current. Where
the fang strikes a nerve or the bone,
such wounds are at once intensely
painful. The toxic agent generally
attacks the respiratory centers pri-
marily and the heart centers second-
arily, paralyzing each of them—
according to the severity of the
snake bite. The paralyzing effect
in all serious or moderately serious
snake bites, therefore, calls for
cardiac stimul ants, and whilst whis-
key is the champion remedy with
many, competent observers and
authorities consider it inferior to
strychnia, which, in proportionate
doses, is a powerful cardiac and
cerebro-spinal stimulant.

Dr. Mueller, of Australia, who
has had a wide, practical experience
in treating the bites of the most
venomous reptiles, including the co-
bra and others, and who is an au-
thority par excellence on venom in-
oculation, gives the strychnia treat -
ment preference to all others. He
says it has proven its antithesis in
snake venom, acting with the un-
erring certainty of a chemical test
if administered in proper and suf-
ficient quantities.’’ For cobra bites
and others equally as venomous
he gives strychnia up to } grain as
required.

Of late a chemical agent called
“Adrenalin”? has been advocated
in snakebites by prominent author-
ities. After constricting and
bleeding the area of inoculation,
and painting same with Iodine, the
adrenalin solution is injected
subcutaneously, close tothe fang-
wound. It serves to contract the
near located blood vessels and re-
tard the absorbtion of the venom,
140 TEXAS NATURE OBSERVATIONS AND REMINISCENCES.

besides being a powerful heart
stimulant. One of the first ac-
counts of adrenalin treatment of
snake bite had been published by
the writer some years ago in Dr.
McDaniel’s Texas Medical Jour-
nal, Austin, Texas. (combined
with hydroclorate of cocaine, a lo-
eal anesthetic, the adrenalin treat-
ment would be still more improve]
upon.)

 

avo, by a young rattlesnake, at
his home, only three miles from
this city, near some of the old
gravel-pits. He was ordered one
evening to get a bucket of water at.
a close-by watering place, in the
rear of a fenced-up sugar cane
patch, and night coming on, he
must have stepped unaware on the
reptile, as he suddenly felt a very
painful sting on his foot (being-

 

 

Porson Fancs oF Various Reptites, Mostly RATTLESNAKE AND MoccaAsIN
(Several Glass Jars Full of Them Had Been Collected by Mr. Wm. Learn at His Reptile
Establishment During the Last Twenty Years—Original Photo)

The accompanying photograph
of a child's foot bitten by a rattle-
snake is presented herewith to
my readers merely to show what
such foot looks like after severe
inflammation, ulceration and in
part of which gangrene had set in.

The child in this case, a boy aged
about eleven years, was bitten
early in the spring, some years

barefooted), and at the same time
he perceived a maddened rattler
close by. Managing to run to the
house for help and nearly fainting
on the way, some of the Mexicans
hurried to the watering place and
there succeeded in tracing the snake
close to the sugar cane patch, and
killed it. It was not a large snake,
they told me, but two fang wounds

 
f

TEXAS NATURE OBSERVATIONS AND REMINISCENCES. 141

were plainly seen on _ the
dorsal part of his foot when he
was brought to my home office in
@ semi-conscious condition and
nearly pulseless, with vomiting
spells.

In spite of proper treatment
(some hours having elapsed before
he could be brought to my place),
the foot swelled enormously and

which I prepared after the fourth
week, shows how the foot appeared
at the time; the broad white area
representing the cicatriced tissue
forming around the ulcerated pla-
ces. The boy fully recovered with
but little stiffness of the ankle.
The gravel-pits and hilly regions
around San Antonio, I may add,
in olden times, always were favor-

 

CuiLp's Foot AFTER RATTLESNAKE BITE

was badly inflamed already when
the boy was seen first, but he
ultimately recovered after several
weeks, with a ‘‘closc shave’ of
nearly having lost his leg, which
had been inflamed and swollen
up to his thigh with threatened
gangrene. The illustration herein,

ed haunts of the rattlesnake, but
they abounded also in the flat
valleys, especially along the Salado
and Leona, where they found
shelter in the thick underbrush
and cactus jungles and where
abundant prairie rats, mice and
the cotton-tail rabbit, ete., fur-
142 TEXAS NATURE OBSERVATIONS AND REMINISCENCES.

nished their food. These hilly
regions around the metronolis of
Texas today, in late years have
been entirely cleared of these
beasts, and Government Hill—the
lower part of which is still known
as ‘‘Rattlesnake Hill,’’ Tobin Hill,
Laurel Heights, Prospect Hill, Ala-
mo Heights, Beacon Hill, Digno-
wity Hill, Knob Hill, and other
suburbs are now nearly overcrowd-
ed with elegant, up-to-date dwel-
lings and palatial residences, and
the surrounding country converted
into fertile fields and commercial
enterprises; and Texas in gencral,

 

—but nowadays rarely—farmers,
hunters, fishermen, outing parties
and others on trips over the
prairies or along river bottoms,
in the fields and forests, etc., are
likely to be bitten by a more or
less dangerous serpent or some
spider species, especially the small
and speckled vagabond or jumping
tarantula (‘‘Latrodectus Mactams’’)
and a few other varieties of poison-
cus insects.

A regular ‘‘hot-bed’’ of snakes
in the rear of San Antonio—10
miles south—is the old Mitchell
Lagoon; but likely the dreaded

 

-

HEAD oF AN OLp RaTTLesNaKE WiTH Unusual LarGE Porson Fancs

with its vast territory of over
two hundred thousand square miles,
has also been cleared of venomous
reptiles and poisonous insects of
all sorts during late years; due to
its miraculous rapid up-building
and immense cultivated plains.
Vast numbers of these reptiles
have been exterminated by hunt-
ers, birds and animals of prey,
and by professional reptile dealers.
But, of course, there still exist
large, secluded regions where the
dreaded rattler and moccasin re-
main unmolested, and occasionally

rattlesnake is very rarely encounter-
ed as in former years, for reason
of the surrounding area being
converted all around into cultivated
fields. But the lake itself contains
in its tall jungles, hundreds and
more so-called ‘‘moccasins.’’ These
snakes, however, at least the great-
er majority, are not the genuine
and highly poisonous cotton-mouth
moccasin; they are an entirely
harmless variety of water-snake,
but of such fearful proportions
and appearance, that they are
enough to make the timid and un-
TEXAS NATURE OBSERVATIONS AND REMINISCENCES. 143

‘nitiated hunter or visitor jump
“a mile high,’ and the writer
recollects an instance when a hunt-
ing companion at this old Indian
lake came to the camp with flushed
face and perspiring all over, hav-
ing been surprised and ‘received
‘such a fright in consequence of
having met one of these ‘‘horrible
mocassins.’’ He brought a dead
specimen to camp, but I very
soon convinced him that it
was a harmless variety of water-
snake, by opening the reptile’s

All varieties have extra large venom
fangs and venom receptacles, and
how they appear in a prepared
skeleton head, is nicely shown in
the photograph below, which I
prepared some years ago in the
mountainous regions of San Geroni-
mo, near Gallagher’s ranch, and
at the farm of Edmund Hender-
son, a near relative and old Texas
pioneer and’ at one time Master
Mechanic of the 8S. P. R. R. Co.
This specimen is not only a
rare one, but it is most interesting

 

SKELETON oF ABOVE SNAKE Heap Arter It Hap BEEN PLacep 1N AN AnT HoLe

mouth with a stick and showing
him the entire absence of the venom
bladder and any poison fang.
These snakes only have a large
row of grab-tecth in the upper
and lower jaws, but the long and
curved venom fangs, sccn in the
genuine moccasin, areabsent. Then
‘they are much larger, but just as
bold looking, and in color and
general appearance they very close-
ly resemble the cotton-mouth moc-
casin, and therefore one has to be
on the lookout.
With the rattlesnake, which is
entirely a land-snake, it is different.

otherwise, and mostly for the
reason of having been prepared
solely by the pesky and poisonous
Texas red ant. It came this way:

During an outing, carly one
morning, whilst I was enjoying
a walk, (with gun and dog, of
course) admiring the intensely pic-
turesque forests and ‘ mountainous
formations around Geronimo—the
old haunts of the savage Indian
and wild beasts of days gone by,
I happened to come to the home
and store of a Mexican farmer,
named Hernandez, an _ old pio-
neer Texan and cary settler of
144 TEXAS NATURE OBSERVATIONS AND REMINISCENCES.

the Geronimp. regions. In glan-
eing over the yard enclosure
I noticed a long table in the yard
and on it were stretched’ out
two huge rattlesnakes, or rather
the skins of them. Beautiful
speckled skins they were, indeed,

of the diamond rattlesnake variety.

The carcasses of the snakes were
near by, and after severing the
head parts of one of the reptiles,
(see photo reproduced above by
the writer) it was put in a closed
box and removed to a large anthole
at Mr. Henderson’s ranch, where it
remained about two weeks. After
examining the specimen it was
then seen that the head had
nearly entirely been denuded by
the ants, leaving only parts of
the upper front head intact, but
also partly gnawed 2” by ihe ants
(as seen in the photo). The balance
of the integuments were nearly
all gnawed off and exposing the
venom fangs with the reserve
fangs and the grab fangs of both
upper and lower jawbones nicely,
as shown in the illustration. Had
the specimen been left a few days
or weeks longer the bony parts

would have been still more denud-.

ed; but, as it is, the photo shows
how nature has supplied these
animals with the diabolically ar-
ranged weapons of defense.

One noteworthy and interesting
point in connection with the above
snake head skeleton, and the ants
which prepared it, is the fact that
not one of the hundreds of ants
in and around the ant-hole were
noticed to be the least affected
or killed by the snake venom during
the carving process. Those red
ants, we all know, are themselves
very poisonous, the poison being
stored away in a separate venom
bladder of the ant’s abdominal
viscera, and communicating with
the canal of the sharp sting. In
the above instance, the ants had
not alone removed most of the in-
teguments covering the bony struc-
ture, including the fangs; but, also

both venom bladders (small parts
of them being seen in the photo at
the upper roof of the snakehead)
were tackled by the ants, and no
trace of the yellowish and glitter-
ing venom could be seen on the
original specimen whén examined
at the ant-hole. Even in man,
this highly poisonous venom also
has no detrimental effect when
accidentally swallowed during suc-
tion of an inflicted fang-wound;
the snake poison only and often
very seriously, and at times fatally
affects the human system when it
is absorbed in the fang-wound,
and especially when it enters a
blood-vessel directly, by disinteg-
rating and destroying the blood-
cells and tissues, and paralyzing
the main nerve centers. Super-
ficial gangrene with deep destruc-
tion of tissue around the fang-
wound occurs in the majority of
cases, and the writer has seen
fearful havoc done in exceptionally
serious cases, years ago, during

‘his many years’ term as City-

Physician. There can be no doubt
that the venom of the crotalus
and moccasin is deadly poison, as
attested by the numerous fatal
cases in former years, and to-day
occasionally reported by conscien-
tious physicians throughout the
continent, and our early practi-
tioners, espécially the venerable Dr.
Ferdinand Herff, could have writ-
ten volumes on their extensive ex-
perience with inoculated wounds
of vnomous reptiles and insects.
One of the sadest cases of fatal
rattlesnake bite on record perhaps
is the following, which occurred
outside of Texas, in Beach, North
Dakota, and of which the dis-
patches reported:

Dead in Bed With a Snake.

Beach, N. D., June 23, 1913.—
‘“When Mrs. Dave Grant, residing
14 miles southwest of Beach, went
to call her two sons, 5 2nd 7 years
old this morning, she found them
dead in bed with a rattlesnake
lying between them. It is believed

se
TEXAS NATURE OBSERVATIONS AND REMINISCENCES. 145

the reptile crawled into the bed-
clothes during the day while they
were being aired outdoors.’’

Also a noteworthy fatal case of
rattlesnake bite may be recorded
here, which occurred years ago
at the farm of a Medina County
ranchman. The man was plowing
_ in his field and, his plow coming
' in contact with a rattler, severed
its neck. The farmer, thinking the
snake dead, kept on plowing. How-
ever, upon returning from the op-
posite end to the place where the
plow had run over the reptile, he no-
ticed something like a stick among

~

on West Commerce Street, and
severed its neck by a stroke of the
hatchet, and for several hours the
head and neck part (nailed downto
a board and seen photoreproduced
elsewhere in connection with the
eel matter) was alive as ever, and,
after placing a plug between its
jaws, the reptile ejected several
yellowish and glittering venom
drops from both fangs, resembling
egg albumen.

In looking at the photograph
again, of the head skeleton herein,
it is noticed how widely these

 

 

KincsnakKE Devourinc ANOTHER SNAKE, ENCOUNTERED aT River Bottom, 12 Mires
BrELow San ANTONIO
(Described Previously in the Miniature Photo Collection Matter on Texas Reptiles—-Page 13)

the weeds, and, in the endeavor
of picking it up, he unfortunately
seized the severed part with the
head on, which was still alive.
With a sudden strike the rattler
plunged its fangs deeply into the
man’s hand, and before a few hours
had elapsed the man was dead.
This shows the immense vitality
of these animals, and I recollect,
years ago, for experimental pur-
poses, I had procured a cotton-
mouth moccasin from the. reptile
establishment of Mr. Wm. Learn,

beasts can open their mouth in
devouring their victims, especially
a full-sized cotton-tail rabbit. One
such occurrence—and it may be
a lifetime before it is witnessed in
nature again, was presented to me
and my friend Dr. Robert Lee
Withers some years ago, whilst
hunting in the old Withers pasture
west of San Antonio. Dr. Withers
was just getting ready to pop a
few doves from a mesquite tree
close to one of the large tanks,
when, lo! what a surprise! Only
146 TEXAS NATURE OBSERVATIONS AND REMINISCENCES.

a few feet off in an open place
between cactus jungles, a monster
rattlesnake met the doctor’s eyes.
It was fully stretched out and rat-
tling fiercely, and in its wide open
mouth it had a large full-grown

by the reptile dealer, at Mr.
Learn’s reptile establishment,
the abdomen contained two large
prairie rats. Dr. Withers had the
unusual fine skin tanned and pre-
serves it until this day asa _ trophy

 

A Monster Rattlesnake IN Act or Devourinc a LarcE CorTton-TAIL Razsit

cotton-tail rabbit, swallowed up
to the rabbit’s shoulder. A shot
from our guns ,at close range,
put an end to his majesty of the
cactus plains. The snake was very
thick and beautifully striped, and
on dissecting it the next day

of thatday’s hunting trip. (This
same identical reptile with its vic-
tim is seen photo-reproduced | here-
in, the photo being taken by a
friend and in presence of Dr. With-
ers and myself.

Reminiscence of a Rattlesnake Encounter in the
Cactus Jungle of Leona Hills

Much has been printed already
concerning our native reptiles, es-
pecially the water snakes and our
land serpents, all of which are
rapidly nearing “heir extinction
around inhabited regions, and T
therefore will try to be brief in
narrating one more jateresting en-
counter with a rattler many years
ago at the Leona hills, west of
San Antonio, and of which a life-
like reproduction is seen on this
page.

We were hunting quail and
doves one bright simmer day, in
1886, close to one of the large
tanks at the old Wither’s ranch,
when, amongst a thicket of the
broadleafed opuntia cactus ,alarge
rattlesnake was noticed sunning
itself in an open space and close to
the cacti and a piled-up prairie-

rat nest. It happened after a
rainy day, and the snake, in a
coiled up position, with erect tail
and rattling fiercely,. beautifully
striped, and belonging to. the dia-
mond type of rattlesaake, evident-.
ly had shed its old hide a short
time previous, as the hardly dried
and shriveled skin was found close
by, entangled in some underbrush,
and partly inside a large rathole.
A quick shot made an end of its
majesty of the cactus plains, and.
having a camera with us, a lifelike
view was taken, by the ‘writer, of
the snake and its haunts, as seen
herein.

I also apnend hercin an extra
magnified vicv of the above
snake’s eye-ball and part of the
scaly head and neck. As seen on
the photograph, the eyeball is pro-
TEXAS NATURE OBSERVATIONS AND REMINISCENCES. 147

tected by two flat, large scales,
partly covering the eyeball at its
upper curvature; and also the
front and rear parts of the eyeball
are protected by large flat and

whitish scales; whilst the neck
parts are covered by a row of dark
brown and black and brown pig-
mented scales of quite even size.

 

 

 

it shows only a thin black line
across the eyeball in life time; but
when death sets in the pupils di-
late considerable—ag seen on this
photograph.

During anger, the pupils—
through the iris, glitter like a fiery

red ball, and I have often noticed
this in olden days during hunting

 

 

CorLep-Up Rattler IN Cactus JunGLE, aT Leona HILis

This interestine view I had pre-
pared by means of a powerful
magnifying lens of the camera;
and it shows the sharp outlines of
highly reflected light on the glassy

and highly refractive eyeball, and
also a light spot inside the pupil.
This pupil is of ellyptical shape,
and it changes its width acording
to the light influence, and usually
is contracted in bright light, when

trips in the hilly Leona valley
where these reptiles abounded nu-
merously amongst the cactus
jungles, and where they also un-
doubtedly were of some good pur-
pose to the pastures and fields, as
they exterminated large numbers
of rodents, especially prairie rats
and -yround squirrels and also
various insects.
148 TEXAS NATURE OBSERVATIONS AND REMINISCENCES.

 

Eve ano HEAD oF RATTLER MAGNIFIED

 

The Genuine Water Moccasin

With the rapid settlement of its
vast domain and the advance-
ments in all lines of industry, Tex-
as, with its immense area of land,
its forests and rivulets and semi-
tropical climate, has now lost a
great deal of its quota of danger-
ous reptiles and insects of late
years; and they are being more an
more exterminated as the years
pass by, and especially so in the
near environments of Texas cities.
However,, such reptiles as the cro-
talids and the moccasin—the gen-
uine. type—are still there, but only
sparingly, in their secluded haunts
along the rivulets and some pas-
ture tanks.

The purpose of these reminis-
cences, however, is not to write
about Texas serpents in general,
but to call again attention to the
erroneous statements often heard
that “some of our Texas rivulets
are teeming with ‘moccasins.’ ”
The latter is not quite true as far
as the genuine, so-called cotton-
mouthed water moccasin is con-
cerned and of which I herewith

present my readers two rare photo-
illustrations, taken by the writer
directly from nature and shortly
after being ‘‘captured’’—with a
full load of lead, of course.

As a rule, nearly all the water-
snakes as such encountered close
to rivulets, and called “water.
moccasins” are of a harmless: na-
ture as far as venom inoculation
is concerned, as they, are void of
extra poison fangs and the cor-
responding venom bladders..

The illustration herein of a
Texas moccasin snake head and
neck parts was prepared from a
specimen killed lately along our
romantic river bottom during an
outing, and it shows the charac-
teristic broad and heartshaped
head, the “cotton-white” outlines
of the mouth parts, and four
needle-like venom fangs. This
bold and dangerous reptile -was
encountered in a shady place and
fully stretched out on a_ thick
limb, a few feet above the river
and close to a pile of accumulated
rubbish from late floods. It was
TEXAS NATURE OBSERVATIONS AND REMINISCENCES. 149

about three feet long, the usual
average size of a fullgrown snake,
and it was rather attractive in its
jet black scale coverings of its
head, back and tail, the latter end-
ing in a short and pointed line.
The inside neck part and balance
of its body showed interrupted

much larger size than this danger-
ous type of moccasin.

Now, without wishing to go into
details I wish to call your attention
to the acompanying photo illustra-
tion of a genuine Texas cotton-
mouth moccasin snake—a danger-
ous reptile, nowadays becoming

 

 

 

 

WerittnG THE Moccas:n ARTICLE
(Photo by the Writer)

light bluish or lead colored spots,
stripes and bands, and the lower
tailpart was of a dark steel-blue
color.

Its namesake — the common
watersnake of our rivulets, on the
other hand, is throughout its
length of one unsightly gray or
“‘yaud-color,’’ and, as a rule, is of

exceedingly rare in their haunts
as compared to olden days when
the hunters and outing parties
were less numerous, and such rep-
tiles less hunted by reptile deal-
ers for the market, and conse-
quently such snakes were less mo-
lested—with a full load in the
head.

 

 
150 TEXAS NATURE OBSERVATIONS AND REMINISCENCES.

As explained, the difference be-
tween this venomous moccasin
snake and the other types of wa-

ter snakes (the genuine moccasin .

being more of a land than water
snake), is plainly this: The genu-
ine and dangerous moccasin (as
seen also in part of this illustra-
tion) is a much smaller and more
Striped snake, with two large and
curved poison fangs along thie
upper roof parts of the broad-
opened mouth, whilst the other
variety of water snake is uniform-
ly of a dark, nearly black “mud
color,” and of much larger size,
with absence of the banded, dark

rest, we went nearly a mile distant
along the shady forest bottom,
until we reached a small island;
and there, amidst some huge
rocks, underbrush and tule jun-
gles, a mud-colored snake about
five feet long was spread out and
was lying partly coiled up, but
dead from the shot, and the mo-
ment I saw it I said to my friend:
“Why, man, you call this a gen-
uine moccasin? Not a bit of it.”
And then we opened ‘the reptile’s
mouth with a stick and my friend
was fully convinced of his error,
as the mouth parts showed abso-
lutely no poisonous fangs, and

 

 

 

 

MourTHPaRTs OF THE GENUINE TEXAS WaTER-MoccasIN
(Exposing Four Venom Fangs)

stripes, and entirely void of poi-
son fangs and venom bladder.
Now, the incident [| began relat-
ing in the beginning of these
notes was exactly similar to the
one related some time ago, in one
of my old-time reminincences of
Mitchel’s lake, namely: -A friend
of the writer, a few days ago, came
to our camp nearly breathless,
from a long hike, and excitedly
related the following story:

“‘He had just killed an enor-
mous “moccasin with a broad
head” and that he was sure it
was a ‘‘genuine one.’’ Well, leav-
ing our fishing paraphernalia at

only a row ot very small grab
teeth could be barely discerned.
Now, a tew words in regard tu
the next following illustration: It
represents another moccasin speci-
men, and it is of special and un-
usual interest, as it shows the rep-
tile’s abdomen opened and expos-
ing a water rat the snake had de-
voured shortly before it was killed
by the writer, and photo reproduced. -
The snake was a young
specimen, full of fight when en-
countered along a small path
leading ‘to a spring along some
huge ravines and a fine fishing
place. I gave it such a lick with
Beg

TEXAS

a stick that-.its. head was nearly.

torn off, at- the same time making
a large rent in the snake’s lower
neck parts, and exposing the tip
end of a rat’s tail. The photo
shows this snake with its de-
voured victim in nearly normal
size, and it exposes the outlines
of both the snake and the rat
nicely, the photo as seen. being
prepared with near-focasing lens
of my own use. The smashed-up
head, on examination, had shown
two very large poison fangs,
partly covered by the whole cover
membrane, and a large amount of
venom was expelled through the
fangs by pressing the poison

NATURE OBSERVATIONS AND REMINISCENCES, 151

- depicted in.some other pages had

been prepared by this method,
and some exposed only one-sixth
of a second. Live animals, in:
cluding birds and reptiles in their
haunts in the woods can be re-
produced in all their natural
beauty by this procedure; but it
usually takes lots of time and ex-
perience and patience to accom-
plish a good exposure, as we
know, wild animals are always
suspicous and on the lookout for
depredators around their secluded
‘‘sanctums;’’ and therefore, one
has to hide the camera, or cover
it with green vegetation, etc., and
the operator himself must seek a

 

 

 

Younc Moccasin with SwaLLoweD WatTeEr-Rat IN STOMACH

bladders with a stick—under care-
ful handling, of course.

Before closing, may I call atten-
tion to the manner some of the
views in other pages and both of-
fice views herein had been se-
cured; First, a long string is at-
tached to the trigger of the shut-
ter mechanism, and then the ca-
mera is placed in focus distance
of the objects to be reproduced.

The first pull of the string
opens the closed shutter and
exposes the plate, and the
second pull closes it again.
Any length of time exposure or
an instantaneous view can. thus
be taken—depending on light con-
ditions and mobility of the ob-
jects to be reproduced. Some of
the hunting scenes described and

hidden place from whence he can
observe the objects in front of the
‘‘loaded’’ camera—and pull the
trigger at the right moment, when
the camera victim or victims
emerge from their haunts. Birds
on their nest or feeding their
young offspring or rodents in
and outside their subterranean
haunts; and all sorts of other ani-
mals of the woods can thus be
photo-produced—after the  se-
cluded camera had been set in
focusing distance.

Tt is au interesting study, and
one not familiar to even many ob-
servant naturalists, that the crota-
lus family, as well as the moccasin

snake, swallow their offspring.
during threatening danger, and
152 TEXAS NATURE OBSERVATIONS AND REMINISCENCES.

 

 

 

 

 

Li

Part. View oF Orricze Wuere Apove Matters Hap BEEN WritTEN. PHoto By THE WRITER.
(Most of the Chapters Had Been Published in Colonel O. C. Guessaz’s ‘‘Texas Field and National
Guardsman,"’ San Antonio, Texas, 1911.)

also, that they are viviparous ani-
mals..

When danger seems imminent,
the crotalus at once gives a warn-
ing signal with its horny tail rat-
tles, when the young, if present,
will at once retreat into the
opened mouth of the mother snake,

As to the moccasin. Mr. Ernst A.
Raba (one of San Antonio’s most
accomplished professional artists)
some years ago related to me that
he was eye witness of a large moc-
casin swallowing its young rep-
tiles. It happened south of San
Antonio, along the romantic river-
TEXAS NATURE OBSERVATIONS AND REMINISCENCES, 153:

 

 

 

 

 

A Huce Rattlesnake KiLLtep BY Mr. M. HERNANDEZ NEAR GALLAGHER’S RANCH,
BaNDERA Roan

shore, when,nearsometule jungles,
he gsaw-a moccasin and numerous
small snakes, about cight inches
long, disappearing suddenly. He

killed the old snake, and on open-
ing it, he noticed several of the
small snakes in it4 mouth and
gullet.
154 TEXAS NATURE OBSERVATIONS AND REMINISCENCES.

Also, an intimate friend, 1
Hon. John Wickeland (lately
prominent City Alderman of San
Antonio, and formerly owner of a
large cattle ranch and pastures at
the Martinez settlement) some few
years ago, during a _ dispute
whether the rattler ‘‘swallows’’
its young in danger time, sent me,
by request, the following interest-
ing letter, and his observations are
absolutely reliable:

‘‘ Answering your. request, I wil
make the following statement:
About fifteen years ago, while J
was driving some cattle with a
German neighbor, Adolph Real,
Sr., we were stopping on a hill to
eook our dinner. I went to a trash-
pile for some kindling wood and
noticed a number of young snakes,
about eight or ten inches long, dis-
appearing in the trash; and heard
a rattlesnake rattle. After start-
ing the fire I set fire to the pile,
and both of us watched it. In a
short while a big rattlesnake ap-
peared, which I killed. At the same
time a second one came out, which
Mr. Real killed, and still another
came out, which was also killed,
making three in all. Each one was
about three to three ard one-half
feet long and _ extraordinarily
thick, which induced me to cut
them open with my knife. We
found eighteen young ones in the
first, eight in the second, and
twenty-two in the third, making
forty-eight young snakes. Each
one tried to escape, Lut we killed
them all. Each one had a little
rattle at the end of its tail, and
also tried to bite at us.

About thirty-nine years ago, in
1862, shortly after starting in the
sheep business, I was herding the
flock myself, and one day met a
snake apparently asleep, with a
number of young ones around her,
when all of a sudden they noticed
me and disappeared through the
old snake’s mouth, and after kill-
ing her I found them inside.”’

About the largest rattlesnake I

have seen in nature, was near a
ranch , north of the Helotes, in a
picturesque and hilly region, at
the farm of a Mexican Cavallero.
It was later seen dangling—strung
up with some- fence wire—high
up on the cross-bar of a high pas-
ture cate. In this position ,and
after the Mexican had posted him-
self for ‘‘un retrato con bibora de
cascavel’’—close behind the huge
snake, the photograph seen repro-
duced herein was prepared (luck-
ily, having a trusted camera with
me, at this occasion). In the rear
of this view is seen a small adobe
house, used at the time as a coun-
try store, post-office and _ tele-
phone station, (26 miles northwest
of San Antonio). close to the Ban-
dera road, and in close proximity
of a two story dwelling house,
which, by the way, was built by
the Mexican himself, of hard rock
and adobe, in 1865; and it is stand-
there to this day, undisturbed,
close to a large corn field and
pecan grove, and a fine rivulet.
surrounded by evergreen forests
and most pisturesque mountain
sceneries of the old Geronimo val-
ley regions and the famous Gal-
lagher cattle ranch districts.

The monstrous reptile, depicted,
must have been a very old speci-
men of olden days, and the Mexi-
ean (a well educated and english
speaking man) told me such old
reptiles were about exterminated
nowadays, and those left are
usually encountered only in their
remote jungle haunts; or in old-
fashioned farm fences—where this
rare spesimen also was killed:
Some of this snake’s head parts,
and parts of its body were some-
what mutilated; but the jaws and
other parts were intact, and
showed on closer inspection, sev-
eral enormous large’ poison fangs,
and correspondingly large venom
bladders. Later the fine orna-
mented skin of this snake was
tanned and sold by the Mexican
to a local reptile establishment.
TEXAS NATURE OBSERVATIONS AND REMINISCENCES. 155.

The Texas Horntoad

The horntoad. or ‘hornfrog,’’
is exclusively a land reptile and
numerously encountered along
the hills and suburban driveways
around San Antonio. There exist
eight to nine genera—a species of
scaled lizard, with more or less
long horny spikes and other pro-
tuberances, artistically arranged
over the body, especially the head
and back parts of the animal.

Size of a large hand: flat body;
short and strong legs; small eyes;
broad and short tongue: short aud

of our prairie plains and they are
more attractive than the rock and
tree lizards, on account of the
horned head and symetrically ar-
ranged markings of their flat
body.

The above specimen was cap-
tured at South Heights, along one
of the suburban hilly regions of
San Antonio and photoreproduced
alive by the writer.

The Tree Lizard.

I am including in these sketches

an original photograph of two tree

 

 

fe

 

 

 

A Younoc Texas Horntoap

very small grab teeth. When dis-
turbed they run fast, and stand
on their hind legs listening to any
noise on approach of a person, anu
they swim readily in case of ne-
cessity; live on insects; should be
protected.

They are entirely harmless crea
tures, and quite much can yet be
learned of their life history. They
prefer graveled and ‘sandy soil
and hilly regions, but are also
found numerously on the flat land

a

lizards—referred to also on page
25 in the article on the devil-
horse insect. It was late in fall
that I encountered two tree lizards
whilst camping under a huge pe-
can tree, close to a large Johnson
grass pasture, alond our romantic
river bank, south of San Antonio.
In the endeavor of photographing
one of the tree lizards, a devilhorse
insect suddenly flew against the
broad trunk of the pecan tree, and
with a jump, one of the lizards.
156 TEXAS NATURE OBSERVATIONS AND REMINISCENCES,

grabbed the insect by the rear
part of its body—just as seen on
the illustration, depicted from
nature.

Similar to the horntoad, these
tree lizards are harmless creatures
—their inside mouth parts show-
ing only a row of very short ana
delicate grab teeth, with which
they grab and masticate their in-
sect food—mostly moths, butter-

climbers are very numercas
around the woods and our public
parks, especially Brackenridge
Park, and along driveways, where
they are most abundant where the
hackberry tree grows. Here lot3
of them are occasionally encoun-
tered and can be approached quite
closely. However, they usually
circle around the trunk, lifting
their head upward, and running

 

 

 

 

 

Tree Lizaxps AFTER a DeviLsHORSE-INSECT, ON TRUNK OF a PECAN TREE TRUNK

flies, beetles, spiders and other in-
sects. They are rarely seen on
the ground; but  ocassionally,
when in search of food, they de-
scend from a tree—but hurriedly
climb the tree again when dis-
turbed. In summer time, up to
late in fall, these interesting tree

or circling higher and higher until
out of reach and safe in some hol-
low of the tree, or under some
loose bark.

There exist various genera of
these slender, dark and light gray
lizards, and whilst most of them
are tree animals, there are other
TEXAS NATURE OBSERVATIONS AND REMINISCENCES. 157

types encountered nearly exclu-

sively in or along old fences and~

rock piles, or in cactus jungles,
where they live on insects. The
rock lizard is rather attractive and
some of them are of a velvety jet

black color. They are shorter
than the tree lizard, and of a much
wilder disposition—generally seen
sunning themselves on a large
rock or rock pile—and quick as
lightening disappearing when dis-
turbed. ,

These black ground lizards are
not the same type of lizard found
in mountainous regions. The latter
are more slender, of velvety white
and light grayish color and beau-
~~ tifully striped with black cross
bands. They are often seen when
driving along the country roads,
along mountainous hills and cedar
forests, and they are very attrac-
tive, especially when seen on top

of a large rock. In running, and
also when sitting on a rock thcy
curve and wiggle their long tail
high up, and when disturbed veily
rapidly disappear under some
other rocks nearby. There are
various genera among these rock
lizards and _ the largest types are
exceedingly shy, and they usually
sun themselves on a rock close to
some rock cavity where they can
retreat with lightning rapidity iu
case of necessity. .

Our more common prairie and
garden lizards are too well known
as to dwell in detail here as to
their habitat. ‘Their greenish and
striped body is even more slender;
and they are exceedingly graceful
in their movements, and of tamer
disposition than all the balance of
our lizard tribe; they-are very use-
ful creatures as their food consists
chiefly of full grown and larval in-
sects of all kinds.

The Gila Monster and Other Obscure Reptiles -

I herewith present to my read-
ers a part of another miniature
photo copy, (not heretofore pub-
lished) of a large private and
original collection of my own, of
Texas animals, some of which
were photoreproduced directly as
encountered in nature and others
from the collection of renowned
local taxidermists of bygone days.

However, this time it is the Gi-
la reptile to which particular at-
tention is called. In the March 1912
data appeared by a friend of the
issue of the Texas Field and Na-
tional Guardsman, the following
Field anent the Gila Monster, un-
der the caption: ‘‘A query for
Dr. Menger,’’ in which the con-
tributor had said: ‘‘I have been
reading with considerable inter-
est Dr. Menger’s articles on ‘‘na-
ture observations’’ for the past
year or so. I have been looking

forward to each issue with the
expectation of sooner or later
having the pleasure of reading
something anent our most famous
of all Texas insects—the centi-
pede, the vinaigron and the large
black scorpion. Another pest,
which can not be classed as an in-
sect, by far, but which causes peo-
ple to shudder at the very men-
tion of its name, and which I
wished to hear discussed by a per-
son versed in science, is the Gila
(eloderma suspectum). I do not
know whether this reptile is found
in Texas or not, but I have the im-
pression that some exist in the ex-
treme northwestern part of the
State.’’

I respectfully submit this to
this gentleman and the readers
of the Texas Field: As far as I
am informed, the Gila Monster
is not indigenous to our Texas
158 TEXAS NATURE OBSERVATIONS AND REMINISCENCES.

climate; undoubtedly however, a
few specimens may have been en-
countered in the remote western
mountainous rgions.

Personally, I have but one
time met a specimen on the road
leading to the Leona, west of San
Antonio; however, such occurence
being so rare, and in this instance
unique, I was inclined to believe
the specimen was a_ stray one
from some reptile or museum col-
lection. It was encountered close
to a large ravine which was part-

a peculiar snorting or hissing
sound during their movements.

The contributor in that issue
of the Field further stated
among other very interesting mat-
ters:

“‘T have been told, and I also
have read a great deal concerning
the Gila Monster, and the tales I
have heard and the stories I have
read, even in the daily press,
would lead one to believe that
this creature was the most vicious
‘‘monster,’’ the most venomous

 

 

Gita Reprtite (Photo From Nature at Wm. Learn’s Reptile Establishment)

Ki

ly filled with all sort of trash, tin
cans, old leather, straw, paper-
boxes, wire and other junk us-
ually dumped outside the city.

Besides this one, I only had seen
and observed several living speci-
mens in our late Zoological Gar-
den at San Pedro Springs Park
and also at the reptile establish-
ment of Mr. Learn of San An-
tonio.

These long and broad bodied
and carmine red, white and
black spotted lizard shaped ani-
mals are of rather clumsy and
lethargie appearance, but they can
get very lively and run very fast.
when disturbed or when on mis-
chief bent, and they usually emit

and the most dreaded of all God’s
creatures. In fact, the tales I
have heard about these ereatures
are the main cause of this inquiry.
It has been told to me that if a
horse or steer, or any other animal
for that matter, either accidentally
or otherwise, stepped on one of
these and crushed it, that would
be the end of the stepper, as it
would die on the spot. Again, the
bite of one of these Gila ‘‘mon-
sters.’’ (I believe the name is de-
rived from the Gila river in Ari-
zona) is said to cause instant
death—you die then and there.
Its breath, it is told, will inoculate
one with venom enough to kill you
on the spot: It is to laugh. No
TEXAS NATURE OBSERVATIONS AND REMINISCENCES. 159

less a person than Dr. Wm. B.
Philips, who has held the chair of
geology at the State University
at Austin, and who has been con-
nected with Government and
State surveying expeditions
throughout the entire West and
Southwest for a good many years,
contradicts all of these wild ru-
mors. He told me that while
camped in various parts of Ari-
zona he found them always in
and about camp and that they
were always harmless absolutely;
that they even had them for pets.
If I remember right, on several
occasions they kept one or two
tied right in camp for observation,
that the very worst part about
them was the foul odor emitted
from their throats when they his-
sed, a habit which they seemed
to have. Dr. Philips ventured the
opinion, upon being asked, that
about the worst that could result
from a bite would be ptomaine
poisoning.’’

Now, concerning above data, I
again must say, I have no person-
al experience—i. e. having seen a
person bitten or having treated a
case of a Gila bite. However, I
do know from personal experience
that these animals—similar to the
rattlesnake, impart a very dis-
quieting and fearful impression,
and I’ must yet see the reptile
dealer who does not handle these
obnoxious beasts exceedingly cau-
tious and with all precautionary
measures, especially with a solid
iron rod! This impression was al-
so made upon me when I endeav-
ored years ago and succeeded to
photoreproduce a fine snvecimen
of Gila Monster (a view of which
appears herein) at Mr. Learn’s
reptile collection. Mr. Robin-
son, then a partner of Mr. Learn,
being present. We had the Gila,
a very lively specimen (imported
only a few days before from the
Arizona Mountains), removed
from its cage to the rear yard of
Mr. Learn’s herpetorium, after

 

previously having focused the
spot where the reptile was to be
deposited. I quickly took its pic-
ture in the right moment. Some
years before that I had taken the
picture of two other live Gilas at
David Menck’s Zoologicum at the
San Pedro Springs Park. Mr.
Menck had fed the Gilags on milk
in a saucer. When drinking the
milk, these queer animals would
lift their long neck upward, sim-
ilar to a chicken, and in this po-
sition the Gila can best be photo-
reproduced.

As to its deadly vituperacy, the
Gila, like so many other dangerous
animals, may become quite tame
and trusted—as indicated in the
above contribution; sex, breeding

' time, violence, or other disturbing

influences, may play a role there-
by; but the real modus operandi
of the Gila virus seems yet ob-
scure. The Gila has two power-
ful jaws which it snaps together
like a turtle does when annoyed
and in grabbing an object, and it
implants its teeth deeply, when
undoubtedly the saliva inoculates
the lacerated tissues, which soon
become gangrenous, with septi-
caemia setting in. This is also
more or less the case in lacerated
bites of some other animals (some
rodents, the canine and _ feline
species), the inoculated particles
of saliva undoubtedly containing
a peculiar and very virulent pto-
maine virus, secreted by the sal-
ivary glands and inoculated into
the lacerated tissues during the
biting act.

I beg to append herein a pub-
lished and graphically depicted
case of the Gila bite which has ap-
peared in a medical journal (Au-
thor not recollected) and which I
also had published years ago in
then the ‘‘Texas Field and
Sportsman’’ to wit:

Florence, Ariz., June 22, 1893.

Richard M. Farthingay, a
tourist from Minneapolis, re-
turned here last evening with the
160 TEXAS NATURE OBSERVATIONS AND REMINISCENCES.

remains of Arthur James, who
had accompanied him on the jour-
ney, and who had died the day be-
fore from the bite of a Gila Mon-
ster.

_ The story as related by Mr. Far-
thingay, who seems to be utterly
prostrated by the horror of the oc-
eurence, is indeed a terrible one.
It appears that following a black-
tailed deer the two hunters found
themselves near a small water
course emptying itself into the
Gila, and at last struck camp for
the night on the creek, The weath-
er proving rainy they sought
shelter in a little cavern formed
by a heap of rocks, takine the
precaution to close its entrance
with coals from their camp fire,
for fear of rattlesnakes, but not
observing the foe within.

Just at daylight Mr. Farthingay
was awakened by something that
had slidden over his postrate body
to the floor of the cavern. Open-
ing his eyes he saw the reptile-
like shape and snake head of one
of these venomous creatures. It
was traveling rapidly, and before
Mr. Farthingay could reach his
gun, it had encountered the sleep-
ing form of Mr. James, whose
breast it attempted to climb.

Disturbed by the touch of the
animal, the unfortunate man,
without opening his eyes, threw
up one hand to dislodge what-
ever it was, and catching it by
the tail would have thrown it
from, him, but the deadly teeth of
the monster fixed immediatelv in
his naked wrist, and though Mr.
Farthingay hastened at once to
his friend’s relief and endeavored
to pull it off, it held on like the
grim death it was. Then, though
fearing to strike the man instead

of the reptile, he seized his gun.

and fired the contents into the
creatures body. The monster let
go his grip on Mr. James and
made an effort to reach this new
antagonist, but a second volley
tore its head from its body.

Mr. Farthingay now turned his
attention to his friend, and found
that he had fainted. On being re-
stored to conciousness Mr. James
complained greatly of his wrist,
which he said felt as if on fire,
and which almost immediately be-
gan to swell. Immoderate thirst
now set up and fever ensued, so
becoming very much alarmed
about his companion, Mr. Farth-
ingay proposed setting off at
once to town to procure medical
attention for the wound, but Mr.
James, fearing to die alone, im-
plored his friend not to leave
him.

In answer to his prayer the oth-
er agreed to await the course of
the trouble, and fetching water
from the creek bathed the wound-
ed arm, but in less than half-an
hour the entire member was swol-
len to nearly three times its nat-
ural size, and from some slight
discoloration assumed a deep pur-
plish hue, nearly black, in sploteh-

es about the larger blood vessels,

Delirium now set in, and while
anxious to summon assistance Mr.
Farthingay was forced to remain
to restrain the now raving, shriek-
ing man, who again and again at-
tempted to throttle his companion
when the latter endeavored’ to
keep him from coming out of the
cavern to the creek. At last, wor-
ried out Mr. Farthingay was flung
aside by the frantic sufferer, who
broke out of his grasp and ran to
the stream howling. The other
followed as rapidly as possible,
but only arrived in time to see
James struggling down the shelv-
ie bank, then totter forward and

all.

When he reached him it was toe
find life entirely extinct. James
lying with his head in the water
and his own teeth fixed in the
swollen gangrened arm. After ex-
hausting such restoratives as he
had with him Farthingay drag-

ged the body back to the cayern,

when he set off to seek assistance.
TEXAS NATURE OBSERVATIONS AND REMINISCENCES. 161

A few miles further on he came
across an old Mexican who, living
near the river in an adobe hut,
was also the fortunate and opulent
possessor of a donkey and cart.
With these latter the two men
returned at once to the cavern,
when James’ body was placed on
the cart and driven to town. Be-
fore leaving the place, 'however,
’ Farthingay made a_ thorough
search of the cavern, and discov-

giver this spring. There is no
known antidote for their poison.’’

' Lately, January 16, 1913, I had
the pleasure of meeting Mr. W. E.
Marsh, who has had a pet Gila
reptile for several years and, at
request, Mr. Marsh kindly fur-
nished me with the following in-
teresting data concerning this ob-
seure animal:

‘‘The Gila Monster is found on

 

 

 

 

ce

ering a female monster with six
newly born young ones, killed the
entire lot. The mother, though
shot nearly to pieces, made an as-
sault on the hunter, but his heavy
hunting boots prevented her from
biting him. The old Mexican who
had assisted Farthingay and his

friend’s rapidly decaying body to.

town, declared that James was the
fourth man who had been killed
by these deadly creatures on the

Gita Monster 36 Years Otr. (Specimen Owned by Mr. Marsh. Photo by the Writer.)

the Gila river in Arizona and no
other place in the world. In spring
and the summer months they feed
on bird eggs, and lay up through
the fall and winter months in the
crevices of the rocks, without food
or water. They are very slow and
sluggish, but with a hostile dispo-
sition; and they seem to have no
fear, and will bite at the first op-
portunity; but after handling
they become very gentle. Their

 
162 TEXAS NATURE OBSERVATIONS AND REMINISCENCES.

markings are all beautiful and dif-
fer one from another. They have
no fangs but long sharp teeth.
When approached they blow like
a snake, and act very similar. The
tail is short and stubby, and the
head is broad and flat, resem-
bling that of a rattlesnake. The

back is covered with a hard beady.

skin, and its abdomen is supplied
with scales, the same as a snake.
They have four short, stubby legs
and feet and move about the same

as. a lizzard; and they possess

gentle treatment and general good
care.

The size of this Gila is fifteen
inches and its weight is one pound
and eleven ounces; and its age is
estimated by Mr. Marsh at thirty-
six years. It was captured near
Tucson, Arizona.

The entire body and feet of this
animal, from head to’ tail end, is
beautifully spotted with all sorts
of light cinabar or vermillion red
bands and figures, and these are
all studded with pearl like protur-

 

 

 

 

Gita Monster (Gently Held by Mr. Marsh’s Fingers, Mouth Partly Open)

some intelligence and can _ be
trained. They shed in spring and
fall the same as a snake, and live
to be very old, and no one seems
to have a knowledge of their ori-
gin. It is claimed by some au-
thorities that they are deadly poi-
sonous, whilst others claim the
contrary.”’

The specimen Mr. Marsh pos-
sesses is very old and as gentle as
any house pet: an example again
of how wild animals of the most
vicious nature and deadly dispo-
sition can be trained to submit to

the willpower of.man: including

berances of the skin, and they
glitter like diamonds in bright
light. It has very short but most
powerful looking feet, with a
claw shaped nail on each of the
five toes, and as seen on the pho-
tograph herein, prepared by the

. writer, in different positions (one

photo showing Mr. Marsh’s hand
gently touching the animal’s neck
parts). These powerful shaped
feet indicate the haunts these
dreaded animals live in: in the
sandy rock deserts and mountain
regions of Arizona, where ‘they
seek their haunts in the holes and

 
TEXAS NATURE OBSERVATIONS AND REMINISCENCES. 163

crevices of rocks, in caverns, can-
yons, caves and cliffy regions.
«As stated, Mr. Marsh handles
his old Gila like any other tamed
.and trained animal—pets it on its
back and neck parts, when, say-
ing: ‘‘open your mouth”’ the Gila
opens it widely; takes it in his
hands and even, Mr. Marsh told] us,
he can put his finger in the Gila’s
mouth without ever having been
injured. At the time the photo-
graphs were taken of this Gila,
in presence of Mr. Marsh and Dr.
Robt. Lee Withers, (January
1913,) the animal was at times
restless, but it never made an at-
tempt to bite whilst Mr. Marsh
put his fingers and hand on the
reptile’s neck and back (in which
position one of, the photos was
taken at my private office room.)
In all the literary works at my
-disposal—German as well as En-
glish, no mention whatever is
made of this animal as to its
haunts and habits and life history
in general; though the above
data throws much light on our
subject, it is not complete, and
further direct observations are re-
quired, especially from specimens
“observed in their native haunts.
From the narrative of this sad
and fatal case cited previously of
a hunting party, and similar oc-
curance, there hardly can be any
doubt but that this Gila reptile
is a most deadly animal in its
wild surroundings, especially
when disturbed or provoked, as
in the cited case of a female Gila
encountered and molested acci-
dentally in a cave.
The sharp pointed jaw teeth al-
so indicate that this animal feeds
on other substances besides eggs;
and the clumsy body and sluggish
locomotion of its very short and
broad legs and toes indicate that
they are no tree climbers and
therefore feed on the ground, on
eggs of such species of birds, liz-
zards, snakes, ete. depositing
. their eggs on or under ground. |

Lately, in the Daily Express, a
very interesting article appeared
on the Gila Monster by T. S. Me- .
Geeney, and: it relates to actual
observations: It throws much light
on our subject, as to its life habits:

“The Gila is a deadly foe to small
animals and birds, and, while it
is averred by some well-known au-
thorities that the bite of the Gila
Monster is instantly fatal to small
animals and birds, and very in-
jurious, though seldom fatal to
man, I cannot agree with them
and must dispute their allegations,
as I personally know of several
eases where the bite of the Gila
monster proved fatat. Some years
ago, while riding over the trail be-
tween Deming, and the Florida
Mountains, I found the body of a
prospector who had died from the
bite of a Gila Monster, and' upon
one of my visits to the Mescalero
Indian reservation I saw an
Apache Indian who was dying
from ‘the bite he had received
from this reptile, while out hunt-
ing. In both cases the flesh
turned black, hence the name the
“black death.’’

““The bite of the Gila Monster
is not necessarily fatal if he is
pulled away from his victim be-
fore he has time to inject his poi-
son, and death only results when
the reptile has vomited. It takes
about five seconds after the reptile
fastens its teeth in its victim be-
fore the poison can pass through
its grooved teeth into the wound it
has made. The teeth serve as a
hvnodermic needle to convey the
poison into the blood.

At certain periods of the year.
the Gila Monster, when closely
pressed, will, show fight.by stand-
ing erect, with mouth wide open,
hissing and blowing forth its -poi-
sonous breath; at other times it is
hard to see, as its color becomes
dingy and it, conceals itself under
rocks and among roots of the cacti

and in walking about the hunter '

is apt to tread upon it.
164 TEXAS NATURE OBSERVATIONS AND REMINISCENCES.

 

 

A Younc Boa Consrrictor TEN Feet Lonc PHoTroGRArHED BY THE WRITER aT THE FORMER
San PEDRO SPRINGS ZOOLOGICAL GARDENS oR San ANTONIO

 

 

 

 

ANOTHER View or Hotpinc Rattlesnake HEAD FoR EXTRACTION oF FaNncs
(These and the Following Two Photo Illustrations Were Delayed in Applying to Previous Matter
on Texas Reptiles, etc.)
TEXAS NATURE OBSERVATIONS AND REMINISCENCES. 165

 

 

A Larce Kine SNAKE SWALLOWING ONE oF ITs OFrFspRING-—-A very rare and perhaps only specimen of
its kind on record ever photo-reproduced from nature; encountered by my son and some outing companions in
the fall of 1910, and photographed by the writer on the spot where found—along a river embankment, south of
San Antonio. The large snake was about three feet long, and the smaller one about eleven inches, both were
‘coiled up and wiggling inside some ‘grass and weeds; the smaller snake being swallowed several inches, After
killing them, they showed two fixed tangs and venom bladders, and both were of the usual banded tricolor :
vermillion red, citrus yellow and jet black circular stripes. (A similar .nake as this one is depicted elsewhere in
this book; but the snake had swallowed a different type of snake, of which the writer, after killing the old King
snake, in presence of Wm. R, Hoffmann, W. Fritze, and others, pulled about fourteen inches of the swallowed
snake’s body out of the other snake’s gullet. )

 

‘SKELETONS oF KinG SNAKE SHOWING Porson Fancs
(Original Photo Taken at Wm. Learn’s Reptile Establishment)

'
166 TEXAS NATURE OBSERVATIONS AND REMINISCENCES.

“From history, and following
the Gila Monster back to its origin
I find in the beginning that it be-
longed to the monitor family of

lizards who ‘inhabited the’ Nile
The mionitor, '

country in Egypt.
it is claimed, attained a length of
six feet, and lived:in and near the
lakes and rivers. How closely the
relationship between the Nile mon-

itor and the desert Gila Monster is
Iam unable to state. However,
this much is known, that in the
ages long since past the Gila Mon-
ster was a water reptile growing
in proportion to about the size of
a full-grown alligator, and it lived
where it is now found. That was
centuries ago, when the désert was
a part of the ocean.”’

The Haunts and Habits of the Texas Prairie and
Water Rat

The chissel-like and oblong white
teeth of our Texas prairie rat
are nicely represented in a separate
and original photo of a rat
having been caught in one of the
cactus jungles, near a ratnest—

above the entrance holes of their
hiding-places.

The. bite of one such rat is ex-
ceedingly painful and it is well
known, that a rat’s teeth cling to
the flesh of a rat terrier or any other.

t

 

 

 

 

 

Face VIEW OF Texas PRarRiz Rat Suowrnc THE LonG, i Like Teara

similar to the one seen on the
ground squirrel picture. With
these sharp teeth the prairie rats
easily - ‘gnaw.and.cut thick roots
in digging in’ their burrows, and
also all sorts of hard wood, which
these rats pile up in high mounds

dog trying to. kill ¢ one; and how
the dog generally’ howls’ ‘and twists
its head to rid itself of the. rat's
implanted | teeth. - This type of ro-
‘dent is distributed: throughout the
Texas prairie jungles, and always
with preference inside cactus thick-
TEXAS NATURE OBSERVATIONS AND. REMINISCENCES. 167

ets, where they build their peculiar
woodnests and breed enormously,
but held in check by their enemies
—snakes, owls, hawks and other
carnivorous animals of prey. Miles
and miles of such ratnests can be
seen in some of the olden time
pastures, with, usually, one nest
connecting with the other through
rat trails—narrow paths cleared

rat however, is strictly nocturnal,
and for this reason none of the
hundreds of rat nests met with
occasionally in cactus jungles show
any rat in day-time, and it is
rarely the case some are seen
very early, at sunrise, or late
in the evening when other night-
. marauding animals appear around
their secluded haunts.

 

 

 

 

 

 

A TypicaL Texas Prarriz Rat Nest anv Rats 1n Cactus JuNGLE (Leona Hills)

by the rats through all the ob-
structing underbrush and the small
serpentine prickley’ pear ‘bearing
red fruit.

Comparatively the ground squirrel
is @ much tamer rodent than the
prairie rat and it can often be
met with in its haunts early in
the morning up to midday, and
also toward evening; the prairie

y

Occasionally these prairie rats
migrate in immense numbers over
the prairie plains into pastures and
gardens, where they do immense
harm tothecrops, Anold German
farmer at the Cibolo once told me
how he witnessed during a bright
moonlight night thousands of the
rodents migrating and devastating
his fruits. This happened years ago:
168 TEXAS NATURE OBSERVATIONS AND REMINISCENCES.

As compared to the habits of
the ground. squirrel, the latter
is a much tamer animal than
our prairie rat. It can often

be encountered in its haunts from

early dawn up to noon time and
also toward evening, when it
prowls around in search of grain

food, and stands erect on its hind -

legs, listening for the~ slightest
noise. The prairie rat however,
is somewhat larger, and of lighter
color, than the so-called water rat,
which seeks its haunts along the
banks of water sources and which,
in olden days, and yet, abounded
in large numbers along the San
Antonioriver banks, theSan Pedro
creek, and other rivulets. Along
the San Pedro creek in particular
these rats were a great plague
in former years to the near-by
inhabitants, doing much havoe
domestically, as well as being a
great unsanitary nuisance in many
ways. These water rats are great
swimmers, and they will cross a
broad stream, often diving under
water when pursued. At the old

‘Mitchell’s Lake hunting-grounds.

some of these water rats were
quite numerously distributed along

the banks of the lake, and toward’

fall time and in summer seek the
upset boats as their hiding place,
and they would prepare their
breeding nests in a corner of the
boat. At one time we met three
such water rats below a_ boat
with a rat nest inside one of the
boat partitions, and they. quickly
escaped on lifting the boat—two
jumpingintothelakeand swimming
along vines and roots of trees
until a safe distance was reached
along the bank, where they entered
a hole in an old dried oak tree and
the third one tried to escape by
climbing up the branches of a
nearby. persimmon-tree where a
pair of dogs caught the rat later,
after a desperate fight, and killed it.
These rats havea much softer fur,
of whitishgray color, and they are
somewhat smaller than the town-
rat and much neater in appearance.

After the above data in the Tex-
as Field (1911.) I had occasion re-
cently (June 1913,) during an out-
ing in the Leona hills with a friend
to prepare a view of a typical Tex-
as prairie rat nest with three rats
on same, inside a pile of cactus
leaves, bearing fruit. Only parts
of the large ‘‘nest’’ is represented
in the photo which consisted of
piled-up dried cactus leaves, par-_
cels of corn and corn leaf, which
the rats had gathered from an
adjoining cornfield. The rats are
of ‘light gray appearance, with
white abdomen and feet. Hun-
dreds of such prairie rat nests ex-
ist throughout the wild brushy
cactus jungles, along and inside
the fenced-up pastures, and around
the large cattle tanks of western
Texas. The slick rodents build
these nests to protect themselves
from other animals, reptiles, owls
and hawks, and often are such
piled-up wood and manure nests
seen inside a thick thorny brush,
surrounded by dense cactus jun-
gles, and protected all around
with the spinous and very thin
branched serpentine  prickley-
pear cacti, which the rats gather
in the near or far off surroundings
and adjust over the hole entrances
in a circular form, and _ thereby
perfectly protecting them and
their brood from snakes and other.
animals. Gometimes. ‘also the in
and out entrance is surrounded
by short brush branches, covered
with sharp thorns;.or the shrewd
rodents prepare their haunts un-
der the broad and piled-up cactus
leaf, the trails leading under these
cactus piles in various directions,
to the main and spacious gather-
ing and breeding place; covered
also with the piled-up wood and
manure accumulations, and occa-
sionally the entire rat family can
be seen inside such rat nests. ,

For miles and miles the common
but beautiful blossoming and fruit
bearing prairie cactus can be seen
TEXAS NATURE OBSERVATIONS AND REMINISCENCES. 169

during May and June, when the
pear-shaped fruit ripens in July;
and in August, the prairie plains
along brushy and hilly cactus re-
gions are literally covered with
the attractive red, dark bluish, or
jet black fruit, intermingled with
other unripe green, light purple,
carmine-red and various other col-
ored cactus-pears—a very fasci-
nating sight to behold! The pear-
shaped fruit seen on the picture
herein, were of light pink color
and not matured. The jet black
variety of this fruit is eatible,
and the taste is not unpleasant,
whilst the other styles of ripe cac-
ti fruit is less palatable and some
are repungnant. The entire ripe
fruit is saturated in its fleshy
tissues with an intensely red col-
oring matter, which stains the
hands a beautiful flesh color; and
the aborigines used such coloring
material to paint their faces and
warring impliments. Carloads of
this fruit could be gathered in a
short time along the cactus jun-
gles, and perhaps converted Sako
some staining product for various
commercial purposes.

The fruit has often been eaten
by persons lost in the wilderness
and thus. sustained life; and the
cactus leaves serve the rats and

other animals as food during
droughty season, and often large
aeras of gnawed off cactus-leaves
can be seen all along the prairie
cactus plains.

These prairie rats, though most-
ly ground animals, are great tree
climbers, and I recollect a little
hunting episode at the Leona hills
some years ago, when camping out
at night with my friend A, Hau-
bold, under a huge oak tree and
close to a large pasture filled with
cactus jungles inside and along the
lane, close to some large water

tanks. It was a fine bright moon-
light night, and toward morning
just before sunrise, when my
friend suddenly grabbed his close
by, bb Remington. rifle and ex-
claimed in a whisper: ‘‘look at
that big rat above us, peeping
outside a hole in the upper stem
of the oak’’—and—‘‘bang’’ it
wriggled and tumbled outside the

‘hole to the ground, near our feet.

A short while after this another
rat was seen running up that
same oak tree stem—as fast as
any squirrel ever ran, and it also,
after a little while, peeping out of
the hole, was killed,

In years gone by one hardly
woull Lave dared to enter such |
junvies of cactus as now exist
and as seen surrounding the pic-
ture herein. It is a fact, they
teemed in those days with the
deadly rattlesnake and poisonous
prairie spiders; but, with the ex-

_ termination of late years of the

reptile pest and the cultivation
of vast aries of formerly impas-
sable brush land, it is compara-
tively safe to walk all along the
densest thickets of such cactus
jungles; however, of course, it is
always better to be on the safe
side and on the lookout of these.
Many miles of such old cactus
jungles and rat nests have now
been cleared around the beautiful
Leona valley and hills, and con-
verted into blooming irrigated
fields; aud the time may not be
far off when such cactus jungles

‘with rat nests will exist in mem-

ory only of an interesting by-gone
age of the prairie plains around
San Antonio. Some of our pres-

ent finest suburban villas and
residential districts were once

nothing but mesquite and cactus
jungles—from East End to the
Government and Tobin Hills—up
to and beyond Prospect Hill and
beyond the vales and hills of the
Leona and Medina regions.
170 TEXAS NATURE OBSERVATIONS. AND REMINISCENCES.

The Texas Ground Squirrel; Its Habits
and Its Haunts

Up North there exist several
of the chipmunk variety, but
one of the most interesting species
indigenous to our Texas climate
is our ‘‘ground squirrel.’”’ The
Northern species are differently
built, especially as to the striped
body and the ears. Northern so-
called ‘‘chipmunk”’ are more erect
and more pointed, whilst in our
Texas variety, the ears are more
flat and narrow, and they barely
protrude over the cranium. They
also are much more slender, with

1908, of the ‘‘Texas Field and
Sportsman”’ anent the advisibility
of exterminating the ground squir-
rel and, as the reports dwell on
the actual observations of reliable
parties, both notes in the Texas

Field and Sportsman are repro- |

duced for a better understanding
of the subject, as follows:
“‘Henry Howard, a prominent
farmer of Black Creek, near De-
vine, and a suécessful hunter, says
that he, has ‘kept a record of
auail’s nests found for the past

 

 

 

 

 

Texas GROUND SQuriRREL Near Cactus JUNGLE AND PRarriE,Rat Nest, MiITcHELL's LAKE

rather a thin and long body, a
long oval shaped head, interrupted
with white and dark stripes alon3
the back, and the tail is not as
bushy as is the chipmunk and by
far not as in the common tree-,
squirrel. As to its habits I may
be allowed to append some data
as to our ground squirrel being
an ‘‘egg-eater.”? Under the
heading: ‘‘Kill ‘the Ground
Squirrel,’’ two contributions ap-
peared in the September issue,

four years and the average of the
eggs destroyed during that time,
was 90 per cent. Last year he
found forty two nests: and only
one of them was not’ destroyed
before the eggs hatched. His rec-
ord covering the four years ‘shows
forty-four to eighty nests found.
He is a close observer of game
and reports a bountiful supply
of quail this year: He says if
the sportsmen would ‘devote more
of their time to protecting the quail
TEXAS NATURE OBSERVATIONS AND REMINISCENCES. 171

from these enemies that destroy
them, that in a few ‘years they
would not require any protection
from the hunters; that they would
increase so fast that they would
take the country. He says the
worst enemy they have is the
ground squirrel, which destroys
_ the eggs and eats the young birds.”

The second contribution in the
Field and Sportsman reads:

“Dr. George R. Dashiell of
Devine, one of the volunteer game
commissioners for this section,
reports that the greatest menace
to the propagation of quail in his
section this year was the little
ground squirrel. Dr. Dashiell has
field deputies appointed in his
territory, with instructions to make
surveys of the ground where quail
nest, and the movements of their
bevies when hatched, One en-
thusiastic birdologist under the
doctor’s supervision, made note
of a nest full of quail eggs one day,
and watched the disappearance
of one egg a day until they were
all gone except one. The enthusi-
astic birdologist determihed to
catch the thief. So he piped
the remaining egg and _ placed
therein poison. The next morning
he found in the nest a measley
little ground squirrel cold in death.
A close observation in that country
developed the fact that where
wolves are not numerous the ground
squirrel is plentiful, and depredates
upon the nests of Mrs. Bob White.”’

From these interesting observa-
tions it appears the ‘otherwise
very neat and attractive ground
squirrels are a great menace
to bird eggs, and the favored
game bird—the quail eggs in partic-
ular. But few bird species besides
the quail prepare their nests and
breed on the ground, and the
quail’s nest, often harboring twenty
or more eggs, is quite a rudimentary
arrangement of only a few grass-
stems and remnants of leaves,
and it is otherwise but little protect-
ed, except that quail prepare
their nests in well secluded under-

brush and dense grass, generally

close to or inside a thicket of
underbrush or piled-up tree branch-
es. Two such nests, with nearly
twenty eggs, were once seen by
the writer at a place where the
land had been cleared of brush
and where the clever female ‘‘Bob
White’’ had prepared her nest
near the center of the trash pile,
well protected from all sides; and
it was detected only when the bird
had flown away and exposed some
of the white eggs.

From the direct evidence related
above there hardly can be a
doubt that the ground squirrel
feeds on the eggs of quail; however,
it seems to the. writer the matter
heeds still further direct observa-
tion. Ground squirrels belong to
the same class of rodents as the
common squirrel family, rats, mice,
prairie dogs, the beaver, etc.,
but their main food undoubtedly
consists of grain, plants, roots and
fruit. But even the common tree
squirrel has been observed to
feed on animal foodstuffs; and
it is known that animals of other
tribes, which otherwise are strictly
herbivorous, also feed occasionally
and under certain forced. circum-
stances upon animal substanses.

The quail, being also a ground
bird, has easy access to its nest
by these rodents, but it must also
be considered that numerous other
animals of prey—mammals as well
as birds—are liable to | destroy
and feed on quail eggs; and also
the elements, excessive rains, storm
and hail is liable to destroy the
eggs or the entire young brood,
though not so numerous as is the
case in wild doves. The latter
prepare a very fragile nest on a
limb of a tree (mostly mesquite,)
and any heavy windstorm can
dislodge the breeding bird and
roll the eggs to the ground. There
is no doubt that it has been
proven in heavy rainstorms, that
innumerable dove and other bird
eggs or the young brood of same
have been destroyed by such
172 TEXAS NATURE OBSERVATIONS AND REMINISCENCES.

elements. Some of the night ma-
rauding animals of prey easily
can destroy the brood or the
eggs of quail and doves, as
also snakes are very fond of such
delicacies.

The influences, therefore, liable
to deminish game must be con-
sidered -conjointly with above.
But that the ground squirrel is
gaining ground all over Texas
is evident by its immense rapid
increase, according to reliable re-
ports. The writer in younger years
was always an admirer of nature’s
animated beings, and often made
outings for recreation whenever
occasion presented itself, but never
before has there been occasion

neat creatures prepare underground
furrows; but not, like the prairie
rat, with additional over-ground
material, heaped up in_ broad
piles, and with trails or pathways
from one nest to the other; but
they dig with their sharp claws
a hole large enough to enter,
(generally with a counter opening
several feet off to escape when
endangered), and perhaps deeper
chambers for their breeding nests
along the main furrows; and they
are a lively lot when detected
in these hiding places. They are
exceedingly quick in their motions,
and, like the prairie dog, in
serene weather will sun themselves
outside the hole in numbers; but

 

 

 

 

 

A CHIPMUNK *

to witness the ground squirrel
in the near vicinity of San Antonio,
while nowadays they are very
numerous, not alone near our
city, but all over the surrounding
country. What causes this? I
really believe the extermination
of other rodents and _ also
of serpents, is the prime cause.
Snakes, and in particular the
rattlesnake, feed principally on
rodents—rats, mice, prairie dogs,
etc.—and it can easily. be seen
that with the destruction and
ridding the country of snakes, the
rodents are rapidly on the increase.
And as they are a nuisance in
several respects. (grain and egg
eaters), it is certainly justifiable to
destroy them. These otherwise vary

as soon as an enemy is noticed
they whirl around and rapidly
retreat in their | burrows. After
a short while, however, one after
the other will reappear at the
opening hole again, and, if safe,
will roam around in search of
food.

The ground squirrel is a small
animal, not larger than a prairie
rat, but much more slender and
quicker in its movements, and it
sits on its hind legs when listening
to some foreign approach, or when
they sun themselves, and I -have
often seen them thus at Mitcheli’s
Lake and in the Leona Valley.
They are very attractive when
seen at close range, ‘their fur
being striped with dark brown
TEXAS NATURE OBSERVATIONS AND REMINISCENCES. 173

and white bands along the back,
and their tails are of the same
appearance as of the common tree
squirrel. Both jaws are supplied
with sharp and long teeth, char-
acteristic of all rodents, with which
they gnaw the food, mostly of a
vegetable nature and grain of
all sorts.

It affords the writer much
pleasure to submit a good original
photo of our Texas ground squir-
rel, in nearly normal size. This
specimen was met with at Mitchell’s
Lake hunting ground near one
of the many ratnests—piled up
with -dried wood branches, rem-
nants of cactus leaves and all
sort of dried up debris, and
closeto some cactus jungles abound-
ing there in numbers. Though not
as numerously as in former years,
the dreaded rattlesnake, the cotton-
tail rabit, the beautiful speckled

cactus wren, the woodpecker, the .

mockingbird and a host of other
warblers make these jungles lively
with their presence. At this time
of writing, in August (1911) most
of the cactus’ jungles around
the old Mitchell’s laguna have
been cleared to make room for
cultivation of the rich soil.

The ground along Mitchell’s Lake

around the custodian’s dwelling’

and the several camping houses

—a mixed sandy soil——and the °

cactus: jungles afford special in-

ducements and protection to these
queer earth dwellers—the ground
squirrel, as the holes and under-
ground burrows encountered there
are very numerously distributed
all over this interesting
and picturesque Indian section:
of olden days, and where San
Antonio nimrods seek recreation
in winter time in boatriding and
hunting the fleety water fowls.

As can be noticed throughout the
prairie where the ground squirrel
seeks its haunts, a peculiar in-
stinct more or less inherent to
all wild animals, enables, these
eute little rodents to prepare their
burrows in such a manner as to
escape quickly during threatening
danger. Therefore nearly all the
holes of the ground ‘squirrel have
counter openings several feet off the
main entrance, and a snake or any
other reptile in search of its victim,
enables the squirrel to escape from
the opposite opening.

Along the Mission route leading
to Berg’s Mill and the lower Mis-
sion, as well as most of the other
automobile routes outside San An-
tonio, numbers of ground squirrel
holes, and occasionally several of
the rodents can be met with. In
many instances they are rather
tame and will allow the passenger
to come quite near; mostly however
they are met running with tail
erect, swiftly to a sheltered place _
of their underground burrows.

A Rare Skunk and Its Habits

That a stray cat or a.dog or
even some dangerous reptile oc-
casionally invades a human dwel-
ling at some farmhouse is nothing
new but that such ‘undesirable
citizen of the jungles” as a skunk
should invade the, kitchen of a
Mexican cavallero, is indeed a
sight not daily _witnessed—even
at afarmhouse. But this happen-
ed last November at the hunting
grounds of the famous

Mitchell’s Lake preserve ten miles
south of San Antonio, Texas.

Part of this interesting lake,
the main boatlanding place, is
shown in the photo as it looks
today. It is about three miles
long and a favorite duck-shoot-
ing pond of the -Southwestern
Texas nimrods; but of late, game
is not quite as numerous for
reason, it seems, of the rapid
cultivation of the vast area of
174 TEXAS NATURE OBSERVATIONS AND REMINISCENCES.

the surrounding mesquite valley.
At the time of writing hundreds of
Mexicans with their queer camping
outfits, dispersed among the ‘hilly
regions and mesquite jungles west
of the lake, can be seen there at
work in clearing the brush and
trees, and the wild ducks and
other fowls, formerly alighting on
Mitchell’s lake by the thousands
and millions now only sparingly
congregate there. However, it is
presumed, as soon as the cleared
places around the old lagoon are

close to the stove of the kitchen,
and the other near its haunts in

. the nearby jungles, surrounded

by some dogs. It was a rainy
day and therefore the views did
not turn out as desired, but the
one herein shows his mephitic
majesty of the cactus jungles,
quite plainly.

The animal proved to be such
a rare variety of the skunk family
(Mephitis pestorius) that it may
be a lifetime to encounter a similar
species again in nature.

 

 

Main Boat Lanvinc at MitcHELL’s Lake, (Original Photo, Winter 1910)

ae

cultivated with green fields, the
lake may again be full of game.
During a visit to that lake we
happened to come across a Mexi-
can dwelling where pandemonium
reigned supreme—all on account
of a little skunk which had taken
the liberty to make its entrance
during acold night into the cavall-
ero’s kitchen. Having my kodak
with us, I managed to prepare
two photos of the intruder, one
showing the interesting animal

The ordinary skunk or “‘polecat” -
is entirely differently striped and
of much larger size, with only two
broad, continuous white stripes
along the margin of its back, whilst
this one had various interrupted
white stripes across its. black body,
with long bundles of white bushy
hair at its tail end part. .

-The prevailing cold weather at_
that time caused these, as so many.
other marauding animals, to seek
food and shelter near farmhouses. —
TEXAS NATURE OBSERVATIONS AND REMINISCENCES. 175

Occasionally these animals also en-
ter some dwelling in the hot sum-
mertime; and I recollect anarration,
years ago, when a skunk, during
a bright moonlight night, entered
_ the open window of a farmhouse
. and commenced to perform all
sorts of stunts with the farmers’
house-slippers. It came this way:
Whilst asleep, the farmer sudden-
ly awoke at midnight, and, be-
lieving the house-cat had entered
his sanctum, but little attention
was at first given. the intruder.

 

XN

some acrobatic stunts with the
slipper. It held the slipper be-
tween its front feet upward and rol-
led it around, like a child would
do in playing with a ball. After
it tired out, it slowly made its exit
through an open rear door of the
sleeping-room, and disappeared in
the yard, where it was killed the
next day by the dogs.

I may state, by the way, that
this is not an imaginary story,
but can be verified by my friend,
the farmer himself, who now re-

¥

 

A Rare SPECIMEN oF SKUNK ENcOUNTERED At MiTCHELL’s LAKE Huntinc GROUND

However, as the animal began
crawling on the farmer’s bed, and
quite close to the sleeper, the
farmer now could clearly notice
it to be a skunk—the moonlight
aiding him in discerning its white
and black-striped hair, and he
watched its every movement.
After prowling a while on the bed,
it slowly crawled down to the
floor again, and, taking one of the
farmer’s slippers, it rolled on its
back and commenced performing

sides in San Antonio, and is a
prominent alderman of the city
administration, and,‘at whose farm
the above incident occurred.

In looking up the literature
on these queer animals I found
a noteworthy account on _ the
habits of the skunk, in general,
by Dr. C. H. Merriam—“Mammals
of the Adirondack Region, New
York, 1884,’’ which reads::

“The skunk preys upon mice,
salamanders,’ frogs, and the eggs
176 TEXAS NATURE OBSERVATIONS AND REMINISCENCES.

of birds that nest on or within
reach of the ground, and if he
chances to stumble upon a hen’s
nest the eggs are liable to suffer,
etc.

“Of all of our native mammals,
perhaps no one is so universally
abused and has so many unpleas-
ant things said about it as the in-
nocent subject of the present bio-
graphy; and yet no other species
is half so valuable to the farmer.
Pre-eminently an insect eater, he
destroys more beetles, grasshoppers
and the like than. all our other
mammals tozether, and in addition
to these he devours vast numbers
of mice.

He does not evince that dread
of man that is so manifest in the
vast majority of our mammals,
and when met during any of his
circumnambulations rarely thinks
of running away. He is slow in
movement and deliberate in action,
and does not often hurry himself
in whatever he does. His ordi-
nary gait is a measured walk, but
when pressed for time, he breaks
into a low shuffling gallop. It is
hard to intimidate a skunk, but
when once really frightened, he
manages to get over ground at a
very fair pace. * * * —

“Skunks, particularly when
young, make very pretty pets,
being attractive in appearance,
gentle in disposition, interesting
in manners, and cleanly in habits.
They are playful, sometimes mis-
‘chievous, and manifest consider-
able affection for those who have
care of them. * * *”

The writer, I beg to remark,
approves the above classical trea-
tise on the skunk in toto, but, at
the same time, I am not inclined
to blame any farmer catching and
killing a skunk in his chicken-
coop, or after receiving a syringe-
full of the ‘‘pestiferous aroma”
trom his mephitic majesty!

Often in my younger years on
a farm, have I met during hunt-
ing trips, a skunk leisurely ramb-
ling about in search ‘of food, and

we came quite close to the animal
the least annoyed as far as its ‘‘per-
fume’”’ is concerned. When dogs
attack it, or when shot at or other-
wise annoyed, ‘‘then she lets loose,”
and, oh my! such an odor! ‘es-
pecially if it happens we should
receive ‘‘a full load of it.’’

Hand in hand with the above
personal observations of Dr. Mer-
riam, it is in place to again call
attention to some of the sugges-
tions the Editor of Texas Field
and National Guardsman also has
called attention to—the wanton
killing of so many other useful
animals of the prairie plains, especi-
ally the armadillo, one, it seems
to me, of the most innocent and
useful of all animals in zoologydom!

‘These animals, we all are aware,

destroy vast numbers of harmful
insects and their larvae, and still
the crave to kill them by the whole-
sale for onamental purposes has’
nearly entirely exterminated them
in many parts of Texas.

In one of the original photo illus-
trations herein, of Texas animals,
is seen a splendid reproduction of
our common and rather attractive
polecat or skunk, and it shows the
great difference in its striped body
as compared to the specimen en-
countered at Mitchell’s Lake and
described already.

This group of animals, with a
skunk in its center, represents a
number of strictly typical Texas
animals occasionally encountered
in the Mitchell’s Lake hunting
grounds, or close environment of ~
the jungles, forests and hilly re-
gions around San Antonio. and
other Southwestern localities. The
group was photographed by the
writer from a collection of typical
Texas animals at our San Pedro
Springs Zoological Museum, and
represents only a small parts of
the collections to be seen there—
some ten years ago.

‘On the left and. in the rear of
this illustration is seen a number
of various types of Texas prairie
TEXAS NATURE OBSERVATIONS AND REMINISCENCES. 177

hawks, and one of the large, dark
brown forest owls, familiar to all
hunters, especially such camping
at night in or near a forest, or in
a rivulet bottom. In olden times,
the loud, sonorous calling of these
owls often vexed the hunter or
traveler as being the loud call of
some Indian. Generally two, and
often more of these large owls are
heard during the stillness of the
night, calling and answering each
other, and the loud echoes are
heard reverberating throughout
the forest.

The armadillo is also represented
in the rear and to the right of the
view.

‘

versy—if so it can be called—
arose as to the turkey buzzard
being a useful animal or a nuisance,
and the writer had contributed his
share of observations in the year
1902 in The Texas Stockman and
Farmer of San Antonio, and though
since, the matter has been set-
tled, it seems against the buzzard.

Although not a veterinarian and
perhaps only of limited practical
experience on this particular sub-
ject, allow me to state that the
matter seems to me at least rather
premature and so far unwarranted
to exterminate the buzzard. With
this I do not, though, wish to be

 

 

 

 

 

Some quail, a cotton-tail misunderstood as doubting the
Some Typicat Texas Brrps AND ANIMALS AT THE Late ZooLocicaL MusEumM,
San Pgepro Sprincs Park (1902)
rabbit, a mocking bird and the statements of others, especially

sailor of the eternal blue Texas
skies—the buzzard is seen in the
view with outstretched wings.

Similar to the above described
skunk, the buzzard also has its
ominous as well as its useful
traits—ugly as they do appear at
close range but of graceful and
rather attractive appearance when
reposing on a dry tree, or along a
fence ‘with wide, out-stretched
wings basking in the sunshine or
gracefully sailing high up in the
blue Texas skies.

Some years ago quite a contro-

scientific investigations and ex-
periments, if any such have been
conducted on a responsible basis,
but I do believe that, as far as I
have considered the matter, the
same is yet in its infancy and needs
further and more exact observa-
tions and actual scientific experi-
mentations before these heretofore
protected scavengers of our
prairie plains are doomed to com-
plete extinction, which by the way
may be easier done on writing
paper than de facto. There is
hardly any game law in this or
178 TEXAS NATURE OBSERVATIONS AND REMINISCENCES.

any other country that ever pro-
tected an animal more stringently
than the Texas buzzard, and to
see them at once slaughtered by
the wholesale would indeed be a
novelty and a sign of the great
strife of modern scientific research
in the interest of animal and human
health.

From a general point of view and
some of my own observations, it
would seem that our’ buzzard
should not be exterminated for
these reasons: It is not proven, at
least not so far as the writer is in-
formed, that such diseases as black
leg, hog cholera, charbon, etc.,
are contracted solely or mostly
through the dejecta of buzzards.
We professionals know, and the
laiety as well, that all stock ani-
mals are very sensitive and parti-
cular in their feed and while feed-
ing. Then, also, it must be proven
that the dejecta of buzzards har-
bor such pathogenic bacteria or
micro-organisms as actually pro-
duce the above named diseases.
Hogs, for instance also, like the
buzzards, feed on carcasses, per-
haps also on such which were in
lifetime affected with communi-
cable diseases. These then could
be distributers of diseases also.
Fowl also, if affected with some
epidemic disease, if devoured after
death by hogs, or if left to decay,
by polluting some stream, could
communicate disease to cattle.

And the fact is, at least seeming-
ly so, and substantiated by obser-
vation, that carcasses of animals,
whether they came to death natur-
ally, or through disease, if located
near a creek, bank, or water used
by cattle, the decaying material,
after any rain, is likely to be washed
into the nearest pool of water, es-
pecially if such dead animal is lo-
cated directly on or very close to
any stream or pool of water from
which cattle, etc., are compelled to
drink. And another thing; it is
claimed by some observers and
writers that the buzzard carries off
decayed flesh and spreads it over a

large surrounding surface. I must
say, as far as my own observations
at butcher pens and farms is con-
cerned, that I cannot relate one
instance where this has been done,
at least that buzzards carry the
fiesh to any great distance. These
black vultures generally congre-
gate in large numbers around a
carcass and finish then and there
their meal without carrying any
away. This though, I believe,
is done by the so-called Mexican
eagle or buzzard, or some species
of hawks. Hogs, and es-
pecially wolves and wildcats carry
parts of a carcass away, and mil-
lions of flies feed on decaying ani-
mals and are liable to transport
and inoculate pathogenic germs.

Nature has most wisely and
nearly exclusively endowed the
buzzard, these scavengers of the
prairie and grand sailors of the
eternal ether of the blue skies of
Western Texas, with a great pur-
pose viz., the destruction of
carcasses by eating the decaying
flesh which would otherwise rot
in the atmosphere and undergo a
process of slow decay. Science,
though, will have to prove if such
devoured food, after undergoing
the process of digestion, contains
in the converted dejecta any patho-
genic bacteria causing such dis-
eases as mentioned. Or, whether,
as also indicated above, there
are other and perhaps more potent
sources of disease propagators in
cattle than the buzzard. The pro-
per authority, of course to decide
this matter would be the govern-
ment. Before, therefore, any such
stringent laws could be enacted
to exterminate these animals, more
exact observations should. be made
by competent scientific researches.

In conclusion, in reviewing the
above rather unpleasant matter
to discuss, but nevertheless of
vital importance, the remedy would
be plainly this: If it be proven
definitely that the buzzard is a
nuisance—a direct or indirect pro-
pagator of epidemic or other dis-
TEXAS NATURE OBSERVATIONS AND REMINISCENCES.

ease in stock cattle, etc., then the
buzzard must ‘‘vamos.”’ If,
though, the buzzard is of but lim-
ited cause in producing cattle dis-
ease, then, nevertheless, great care
should be taken in disposing of
dead animals. The best remedy
would be by cremation, either at
slaughter houses (butcher pens)
or when found near a tank or
rivulet. Burying underground
would be the next best remedy,
although in open prairie, wolves,
etc., may dig the ground open
again and expose the carcass. Of
chemicals, quicklime or some strong
acid would be the best, although
more costly than cremating or
burying underground.

Carcasses, near any water tanks,
troughs, etc., should at once be
removed far off and disposed of as
suggested. In drougthy time and
severe winter weather cattle seek

shelter near trees, perhaps where
hundreds of buzzards roost also,
and perhaps located near a water
pond. If then at such places cattle
die, the water could easily be con-
taminated by the decaying car-
cass, if the carcass lay in or near
the edge of the water. At the
same time such water pond has
been perhaps before contaminated
by the dejecta of the buzzards.
Which then, if cattle get sick by
being compelled to drink of such
water, is the main cause of such
sickness? Indeed hard to decide,
but it simply shows that owners
of cattle wherever located, should
inspect the watering places rigid-
ly during drougthy times and
remove any carcass found. Also
hog pens should be kept well iso-
lated from any watering place to
prevent any contamination of the
water with its consequences.

The Armadillo in Its haunts

One of the most interesting. of
wild Texas animals is the arma-
dillo (in German, ‘‘Guertelthier,’’)
or banded animal.

Like many other wild animals
once roaming numerously in the
neighborhood of inhabited places,
the armadillo is one of those pecu-
liar and interesting mammals gra-
dually nearing its extinction. Some
thirty and less years ago these
animals were very numerous near
farms, especially in the hilly re-
gions of Western Texas as well as
on the prairie plains surrounded by
cactus jungles. In Medina County
the writer had often met them in
those days, and many had been
captured by the late naturalist
and farmer, L. Toudouze, of Lo-
soya, around whose place wild
animals of the jungles were ex-
ceedingly numerous in those days,
roaming around the brushy and
sandy soil and the cactus plains,
up to the old renowned hunting
grounds of Mitchell’s Lake, south
of San Antonio, where also many
other native wild animals abound-

ed in the wild underbrush and
cactus jungles. But nowadays
most of such animals are extinct,
or at least exceedingly rarely met
with—the lynx, wild cat, panther,
bear, wild turkey, badger, deer,
wild hog, etc., for instance.
Around the mountainous plains
around New Braunfels, Leon
Springs, Boerne, Comfort, Kerr-
ville, Fredericksburg, etc., the ar-
madillo still abounds in numbers,
but they are rapidly diminishing
—to serve as luxury and orna-
ments in various things. Some of
the fashionable stores and curio
establishments in Texas cities have
large numbers of armadillo bas-
kets on exhibition for the trade,
and these baskets are really very
attractive and bring a good price.
But the onslought against these
animals will undoubtedly cxter-
minate them, as so many other
animals of the jungles which for
good reasons deserved such a fate
more than a helpless armadillo,
which, as stated, is usually slaugh-
180 TEXAS NATURE OBSERVATIONS AND REMINISCENCES.

tered only for its ornamental uti-
lity. This animal per se is a harm-

less creature, as it has no weapon .

of defense, its long mouthparts
baing supplie® with flat teeth
(molar teeth) and they never, to
my knowledge, make an attempt
to bite—the snout being very long,
and the mouth small. However,
it defends itself when possible to
do so, with its powerful and long

 

burrows underground. They have
short but exceedingly strong legs,
with their powerful claws rapidly
dig. their underground burrows,
or, during danger, to escape the
pursuit of hunters, dogs, ete.
The meat of the armadillo is
considered eatable, and a delicacy
by many. resembling somewhat
the meat of bear or of pork. Such
at least, I have often heard said
by armadillo hunters, especially

 

 

 

An ARMADILLO BasKET
(Original Photo, From Wm. Appmann’s Drug Store Exhibit of Armadillo Baskets)

claws which also serve the anima’
to dig and bury itself in a very
few minutes below the ground.
The external coverings of an
armadillo consists of a bony case
the frontal broad shield covering
and reaching over the front
shoulders, and the balance is com-
posed of movable, transverse bony
bands and thereby giving the body
considerable flexibility and ena-
bling the animal to ‘‘roll up”
when encountered in its native

Mexicans. These animals generally
are nocturnal in their habits and
though they feed on insects and
roots, they seem to be omnnivor-
ous as they eat all sorts of roots
and fruits, insects, worms, etc.,
and some species in various trop-
ical countries devour the semi-
putrid flesh of dead cattle, and
even it is mentioned in some na-
tural jhistory works, burrowing
into human graves. In pre-his
toric ages, history relates, that
TEXAS NATURE OBSERVATIONS AND REMINISCENCES. 181

during the tertiary period, parts
of Mexico and Texas southward to
Patagonia, was inhabited by the
‘““elytodons,’’ an enormous arma-
dillo, as large as a rhinoceros,
bony remnants of which have been
found abundantly in the bone
caves of Brazil.

In some countries the natives
roast the armadillo flesh in its
shelly surroundings and thus pre-
pared it is considered a great deli-
eacy. Here in Texas, however,

esting letter of inquiry about such
traits of the armadillo and also of
the ground squirrel.

Some vears ago I had published
a separate article on this subject
stating it would be of general in-
terest to hear from hunters and
farmers, of any observances an-
ent such qualities of the armadillo
as well as the ground squirrel,
which latter, by the way seems to
multiply considerably of late
years, and are met with close to

 

 

CAPTURED ARMADILLO TRYING TO EscaPE IN CHAPARRAL—SAN GERONIMO REGIONS

the writer is quite sure the reader
would prefer a genuine Mexican
tamale for all the roasted armadil-
lo flesh.

Of late date the armadillo, it
seems, has come into prominence
in connection with the destruction
of bird eggs, especially quail eggs,
and our friend, Profesosr Peacock,
of the Peacock Military Academy,
has written the writer an inter-

towns where they can often be
seen along the main roads and
close to their underground holes.

Some such animals though,
are strictly herbivorous, and
occasionally, under provoked cir-
cumstances or preference become
omnivorous, feeding on any sub-
stances they can get hold of to
sustain life, the same as our prairie
rat, snakes, and a number of night-
182 TEXAS NATURE OBSERVATIONS AND REMINISCENCES.

marauding animals, as also a few of
thefeatherery tribe, including the
chaparral cock, occasionally prey
on birds’ eggs and other foodstuffs
out of the ordinary.

As stated above, the armadillo
is mostly an insect and herb feeder,
and its native haunt is mostly in
secluded rocky regions, in forests
and jungle thickets where it lives
underground or in caves, and rock
cavities, and the writer was wit-
ness to several such haunts years
ago in the hilly regions of San

five young ones about a week old,
which apeared very attractive and
resembled so many miniature. pigs.
When seen by my friend, Mr. A.
Haubold, all rapidly retreated into
a large and deep underground
hole, and a wide trail could be
seen along the earth mound the
armadillo had prepared in digging
the hole, and leading through the
dense underbrush among some
thickets of mustang grape vines
and pecan trees.

It was during a bright moon-
light night, some ten years ago,

 

 

A CaptuRED ARMADILLO; SAN GERONIMO; CAMP IN REAR

Geronimo in Medina County. There
as well as in the rock regions at
Helotes, Boerne and other western
settlements the armadillo still
abounds to-day, but is rapidly
diminishing in numbers for rea-
sons stated. During an outing
last year (summer of 1910), we
came across a large female arma-
dillo on the river bottom, ten
miles below San Antonio, with

when several friends and the wri-
ter pitched their tent in the midst
of an old oak thicket close to a
running stream. The camp and
the interior of the tent was lighted
by a lantern, and whilst the boys
were enjoying a game of domino
all at once the loud barking of a
dog was heard through the cedars
of the Geronimo Valley, and about.
a half hour later we heard the loud
TEXAS NATURE OBSERVATIONS AND REMINISCENCES, 183

voice of a Mexican, who lived in a
Mexican jacal close by our camp,
calling “Un armadillo, un arma-
dillo, vengan pronto!’ All of us
picked up the nearby weapons
and hurried to the scene, but be-
fore we reached the place where the
armadillo had been captured by
the dogs the Mexican already
was on his way towards us with
his trophy, a big and fat armadillo.
We had the animal in camp dur-
ing the night, tied to a strong
rope, and we observed with what
dexterity the animal makes use
of its strong clawed feet. As soon
as it had a chance to reach the
ground, which was covered with
dried leaves of the oak trees, it
began to dig a hole with its front
feet (one of the boys holding the
rope attached to the hind leg) and
in a surprisingly short time Mr.
armadillo was nearly entirely bur-
ied under the leaves and earth.

I here present to my readers,
a splendid photograph of this
same armadillo, the hunter holding
it with a cord tied to its hind leg,
and who had a time to keep it from
jerking as it was very heavy and
lively, and tried its best to escape,
which it did two days after the
photo wastaken by oneof my boys.
It came about in this way: the Mex-
ican who had captured it with the
fine hunting dog,
the animal in a.large barrel close
to the romantic hacienda, at the
farm of a near relative of mine, not
thinking it had a chance to escape.
But on the third night this slick
armadillo managed to dig a large
hole under the barrel, (which had
no board bottom) and away it
went during the night, to its old
haunts. The view was taken in
the rear of an old-time rock fence,
and it depicts some of the sur-
rounding country, with part of a
forest where our tent was located.

TI will now describe the interest-
ing country scene northward along
the Bandera Road. The main open
road leading to Helotes, eighteen
miles northwest of San Antonio,

had placed,

now has a substantial foundation
for traffic, whilst in former years,
before the era of good roads build-
ing was inaugurated by the Bexar
County authorities, this road, as
well as all others leading outside
the city limits to the mountainous
regions, were in a most deplorable
condition, and the farmers had
considerable difficulty to come to
town to dispose of their wagon
loads of country products, hay,
wood, coal, ete., and it is com-
paraitvely easy traveling nowa-

days to and from the city and

country places.

From our nearby West End sub-
urbs, with its attractive modern
dwellings and the famous Military
Academy and the St. Louis Col-
lege, and the West End Lake, the
Bandera Road is-now in good trim
and leads the traveler to the Helo-
tes settlement, a thrifty little Ger-
man farming section, with lovely
vales and dense forests of live oak,
post oak, cedar, hackberry and
various other berry-bearing trees
and bushes, and where San Anto-
nians often take an outing or
spend a pleasant day at the old
“Schuetzen Verein Halle,” where
the fair sex and sturdy farmers
congregate on Saturdays and Sun-
days and enjoy music and dancing;
or they journey to the famous
Boegel rooming house and farm;
or, during the open hunting sea-
son, enjoy hunting and fishing
along the picturesque Leona Creek,
or ramble along hilly regions, which
are just now (May) exceedingly
attractive with their ever present
and blending prairie flora, and
wild berries, etc.

Some of the photos in other
pages, were prepared during
‘one of our tours through the Helo-
tes country and further north, de-
picting some of the picturesque hilly
ranges and farms along the Ban-
dera road between Helotes, at the,
San Geronimo settlements,; and.
other views taken show part of.
the mountain ranges and cliffs at:
184 TEXAS NATURE OBSERVATIONS AND REMINISCENCES.

San Geronimo, near the Gallagher
cattle ranch and the farm of Mr.
Edmund Henderson, a near re-
lative of the writer, the steep pre-
cipices containing large excava-
tions, which are overgrown with
mountain sage and moss, fern and
vines. This wild scenery is very
romantic and imposing, and ex-
tends for many miles intersected
with forest vegetation, sparkling
springs, surrounded with forest
vegetation, and rivulets, where
deer, and in olden times bear and

are met with in more or less pro-
fusion. This country is an Eden
for botanists, entomologists, and
the lover of Nature in general to
ramble around and study insect
life as well as the rare mountain
and forest flora, and there is no
end of exceedingly attractive na-
ture objects and landscapes for
the camarist.

‘The vales and mountain ranges
and forests interchange as one
travels along the Bandera Road
up to the famous Hoffman and

 

 

 

Some or THE San GERoniMO REGIONS—THE Haunts OF THE ARMADILLO, Etc.

buffalo and other wild forest ani-
mals abounded unmolested and
in profusion; and where, among a
sea of brilliant wild prairie flow-
ers, rare butterflies and other in-
sects abound, or, in the forest,
squirrels, quail, rabbits and other
small game are found, as well as
along the deep rock precipices,
the cliff swallows with myriads
of the lively swallows, the melo-
dious ‘“‘whip-poor-will’”’ and other
rare night-birds and their nests

the Gallagher Ranches at San
Geronimo; and the scenery is
grand all along, as shown by some
of the views herein of a small
portion of that country, and it
vividly depicts some of the en-
vironments encountered _ there.
Large cultivated fields and _ pic-
turesque Mexican dwellings are
dispersed along this hilly. route
along the Bandera Road, usually
situated among shade trees and
shrubbery; and hundreds of goats
 

TEXAS NATURE OBSERVATIONS AND REMINISCENCES. 185

and some cattle, owned mostly by
the Mexicans, can be seen there.

In these as well as the many
similarly situated mountain ran-
ges farther north and around
Boerne, Comfort, Waring, Kerr-
ville, etc., the tourist and health-
seeker can enjoy to his heart’s
content the grandeur and kalei-
doscopic land sceneries of these
regions. And whilst some of them
long ago have been supplied with

Our Texas bird family, with the
typicai ‘iexas nightingale, the
mockingbird and _ whip-poor-will,
the red cardinal, scizzor-tail bird
and thousands of other bird species,
our brilliant wild prairie flowers
which Dr. Lindheimer, in New
Braunfels half a century ago des-
cribed and classified so thoroughly ;
the many peculiar native trees
hundieds of years old—mesquite,

 

 

 

Tue ‘Buive Hote” or San GERoNIMO—A Natural Natatorium, near the old Gallagher Ranch Post
Office Station, Bandera Road, northwest of San Antonio; a large, round excavation inside solid rock
strata, over ten feet high, with waterfall; an exceedingly romantic scenery, surrounded by forest
trees, and once a gathering place for deer, wild turkey and all sorts of forest and mountain animals.
It is often used by the weary traveler as a camping and resting place; and outing parties occasionally
take a plunge into its asure blue waters, which are said to be nourished by a spring.

comfortable private accomoda-
tions for health seekers and outing
parties, the time may come when
these mountain ranges and pic-
turesque valleys will be convert-
ed into strictly modern and as
famous health resorts as any on
the American continent or those
of Europe.

hackberry, cedar, poplar; hickory,.
persimmon, mustang vines, pecan
and walnut, and a large variety
of other tree species and fruit-
bearing shrubbery—all of these
the tourist encounters in his travels
through those mountainous por-
tions, or along rivulets, the bottom
of forests and on open prairie;
186 TEXAS NATURE OBSERVATIONS AND REMINISCENCES.

and while many of the remote
mountainous regions are still in
their primitive state—just about
the same as hundreds of years ago,
when the Indian, buffalo, panther,
bear and other wild animals roam-
ed about and haunted the forests
and rocky caverns, it is a notice-
able fact that in late years, in con-
sequence of the heavy immigration
and the building of railroads, those
regions have changed immensely.

After the first German settlers,
who had many a desperate en-
counter in early days with red-
skins and wild beasts, noticed
what immense fertile soil Texas
harbors, many of those wild prai-
rie regions were soon converted in-
to blooming fields and gardens,
and not better testimony of this
high cultured state could be re-
corded to-day than the thriving,
industrious and beautiful towns
of Boerne, Comfort, New: Braun-
fels, Fredericksburg, and others.

But the flourishing neighboring
towns are not the only ones that
justly can be proud of their horti-
cultural achievements. Our own
City, at least in its close vicinity,
can also boast with no little pride
of its flourishing fields and truck
gaidens.

Where once nothing but a dense
wilderness of cacti and underbrush
and mesquite existed around our
beautiful Alamo City, we now can
notice a widespread area of the
finest gaiden products imaginable.
All sorts of grain and garden pro-
ducts: corn, maiz, rice, sugar cane,
alfalfa, oats, rye wheat, okra,
lettuce, cabbage, spinach, turnip,s
onions, and also different varieties
of fruit trees, melons, pumpkins,
cucumbers, potatoes and various
other market goods can here be
seen in profusion. And not alone
during the hot summer months,
but even in the midst of the cold
winter, these gardens delight the
visitor with their diversity of
vegetation.

Such is especially also the case

with the truck gardens along the
romantic pecan groves south of
the San Antonio River up to Me-
dina, and including the United
States Observation gardens and
the Southwestern Asylum proper-
ty.

And to our old townsman, F. F.
Collins and Mr. Brady the honor
is due of being the first who con-
ceived the happy idea of convert-
ing a vast cactus and mesquite
plain and eyesore into now flour-
ishing and blooming fields and
gardens, by aid of modern irriga-
tion facilities. Mr. Collins, in-
deed, must be a practical gardener
to have achieved such a success
in such a short time, and his fol-
lowers also have achieved wonder-
ful results with their irrigated
lands. Evidently, there exists an
immense subterranean water stra-
ta or basin in the surroundings of
of San. Antonio which furnishes
such enormous volumes of water
daily not alone to San Antonio
with its approximate population
of over 100,000 inhabitants, but
also to supply those and other irri-
gated fields in the western dis-
tricts of San Antonio; and these
fields also consume immense vol-
umes of the purest water imagin-
able.

If one visits those fields, along
the Leona Road, passing near the
Union Slaughter House, it is no-
ticed that the first and so far lar-
gest irrigated farm extends beyond
or south of the slaughter houses,
from the old Pleasanton Road
westward, up to the nice villas
of Mr. Collins; and near -these
other ingenious investors also
have estalished irrigated farms,
which extend nearly up to the
Leona hills, or about six miles in
length, and some of the bare lands
have just now been successfully
supplied with artesian wells.

The entire valley this side and
above Leona Creek will some of
these days—and in no long dis-
tance—be converted into one im-
TEXAS NATURE OBSERVATIONS AND REMINISCENCES, 187

mense large truck garden to sup-
ply our ever increasing market
with all the fine garden and field
products needed. The black and

light sandy soil is very fertile, is
comparatively level, and supplied
with inexhaustible subterraneous
water.

 

Near Extinction of Texas Bob Cat

The Wild Cat or ‘‘Bob-Cat,’’
‘“‘Catamount’’ is one of those wild
jungle animals that has, sp far,
survived the longest of all thé
Texas wild cat family of our prai-
rie plains; but they are gradually
becoming extinct as the years roll

and cactus jungles, close to the
farms and rivulets.

In those olden times, lots of
them could be met with during
hunting trips, especially in the
thickets around Mitchell’s Lake
and hilly regions close to the city

 

 

 

 

Face View oF Texas WILD Cat

on, éspecially near inhabited re-
gions,

In olden days, our Bobcat
roamed around the chaparral
and hilly regions near San An-
tonio promiscuously and numer-
ously in the remote plains, forests

but the rapid’ onmarch of civili-
zation, with aid of modern fire
arms and traps, has cleared the
jungles and farming districts of
most of them. The writer, when
a mere boy, had often met a wild-
cat close to town and in particu-
188 TEXAS NATURE OBSERVATIONS AND REMINISCENCES.

lar, around the old Alazan Creek,
in the dense chapstral and alcng
the ravines of the Leona, and also
in various other favored jungle
districts around our present met-
ropolis.

Being night marauders, these
wildcats had done a great deal of
harm to poultry and birds; and

 

 

ing trip in the jungles, the wild-
eat, similar to most other wild
beasts, hardly ever shows fight
direct, unless there may be some
interfering hunting dog; when
Mr. and Mrs. Bobcat surely will
fight. When thus disturbed, or
wounded in their lairs, or hemmed
in by dogs, the wildeat then be-

 

 

Per WiL_p Cat OwneEp By Mr. Ep. BEERE

the increased attention of late
years to the preservation of game,
has caused their extinction around
all inhabited places; but the cun-
ning wildcat is still there in vari-
ous remote districts, and it may be
quite a long time before the last of
its race is entirely extinguished.

When met with during a hunt-

comes a most. ferocious beast—
every hair on its body, like a.mad
boar, bristles with rage, and, like
an enraged tiger, it will spring
at its foes and claw or bite des-
perately.

Occasionally in the woods, jun-

gles, cuverns and ravines, or &
hollow tree, where these animals
TEXAS NATURE OBSERVATIONS AND REMINISCENCES. 189

breed, the entire cat family are
met with, and if the young eubs
are removed and properly taken
care of, they will, when still very
young grow up quite as tame as
our domestic cat family, and gen-
erally remain so up to ripe old age
However, now and then their in-
herited wild nature exerts itself,
especially if some chicken or some
other housepets should venture
too close. My friend, Mr. Edward
Beere of San Antonio some time
ago purchased a very young fe-
male bobcat from a farmer, which
he reared to its present nearly
full grown size, (the photograph
herein, which I prepared lately
for these sketches, is quite an in-
teresting wildcat study, as it rep-
resented one of the same eat, but
in different positions). Mr. Beere
had built a neat little frame house
for his. pet, and the first view
taken showed the bobtail cat
standing on top of the cathouse
roof; and a second view presented
the cat in a crouching position
on a platform and gnawing a large

soupbone. These different po-
sitions of the cat are seen on the
photo. A large bucket or tub is
seen on the photo (in the front
rear of the cathouse), and in this
tub the cat regularly, every morn-
ing, takes a bath, and it is quite a
treat to watch the cunning striped
eat performing all sorts of antics
inside and outside of its bath tub.

Mr. Beere, who is the proprietor
of the ‘‘Tavern Refreshment Gar-
den’’ on River Avenue, tells me
this wild cat never has caused any
trouble in raising it: on one or two
occasions however, some of his
yard fowls came just a little too
close to his earstwhile. marauding
majesty of the jungles and he
chopped off some vital part of the
intruders anatomy, .once a fine
turkey. This happened some time
ago, but stnce this, the wildcat has
grown up into the now magnificient
and entirely tame specimen, and it
is a great pet with many of the
visitors to the fine garden grounds
of Mr. Beere, opposite the famous -
old buffalo and elk enclosure on
River Avenue.

The Texas Coyote Pest

Prairiewolves—the large ‘‘Lo-
bo,’’? as well as the smaller ‘*co-
yote,’? in former years roamed
promiscuously about the hills and
prairie plains near San Antonio,
and in fact all over Texas, in large
numbers; and whilst their num-
bers has decreased considerably in
the immediate neighborhood, they
still abound in smaller groups
close to our metropolis and a stray
specimen is ocassionally met with
in a mile or two beyond the city
limits now adays.

The large lobo when hungry,
will attack and kill a large sheep
and goat or a young full grown
calf: and in olden days around
ranches, where such wolves at-

tacked a bunch of longhorn cattle
the latter would immediately
gather and form a phalanx in a
circular line, with the calves in
the center, and defend themselves
with their powerful long horns—
according to the statements of an
old Texas ranchman, who, in those
frontier days was always prepared
at night time to be called out with
his ready gun to heln the bellow-
ing herd and ward off the blood-
thirsty coyotes. In the midst of a
pitch dark night, this ranchman
one night suddenly grasped his
shotgun and in snite of the dark
night he went through all the cha-
parral and cactus thickets to aid
the loudly bellowing cattle which
were defending themselves fierce-
190 TEXAS NATURE OBSERVATIONS AND REMINISCENCES.

ly against a large pack of prairie-
wolves.

These largelobosand the coyote,
the old Texan further stated, be-
came so numerous all over Bexar
county that a bitter and relentless
war was waged throughout Texas
to exterminate the wolf pest, and
the large lobo wolf was nearly an-
nihilated after many years of con-
tinued warfare. And still, later,
and even todav the lobo wolf is

fowls also were not molested. Ven-
ison of all kind, which now was
safe against the annihilation of the
bloodthirsty lobo and ‘coyote
wolves, propagated so rapid-
ly that West Texas was pro-
claimed as a great hunting para-
dise; and never before, nor after-
ward, was venison so abundantly
to be had. The wolves were kill-
ed either with poison or the trap.
The farmers bought strychnine

 

 

 

 

 

Face View oF TEXas PRAIRIE WOLF

doing its deadly maraudin~ night-
work, especially around sheep and
cattle ranches. It was also re-
ported by some other reliable au-
thority that in all the coyote his-
tory of West Texas never before
fewer wolves existed than in the
year 1888. At that time a bunch
of lambs could be left in all the
safety against the wolves, and the

by the pound and this poison gen-
erally was carried in a buckskin
satchel and properly ~repared and
distributed.

Other wild animals in Texas
have decreased so much in the
last thirty years that stringent
state laws had to be inaugurated
in order to protect the little game
that is left; and it is a fact that
TEXAS NATURE OBSERVATIONS AND REMINISCENCES. 191

the coyotes had multivlied during
this time so immensely that they
not alone became dangerous to
sheep and cattle, but were to man.

The lobo wolf is nearly twice
as large and decidedly more pow-
erful than the coyote, and resem-
bles somewhat a large shepherd
dog. In my younger years, when
San Antonio resembled more a
small and peaceful Mexican vil-
lage than our present hustling
metropolis in those days lobo

brought one such black wolf to
San Antonio on his woodwaon.

The wolf was in a half starved
condition, and one of its front legs
was fractured, from a steel trap.
Its body was nearly jet black and
it had a very long shaped head, es-
pecially the ears were very long
and sharp pointed, and the exceed-
ingly shy animal was about the
meanest looking and most re-
pungnant animal one eared to
look at long in life. As to

 

My
ue:
y

 

 

San Antonio DEER Hunter Wiru Covote—Just KiLtep; a TypicaL HuntinG SCENE IN THE
Mountainous Recion oF SouTHWEST TEXAS

wolves were very numerous in the
near prairies plains and chaparral,
especially also in the hilly regions
of the Leona, where we often, in
eompany with elder brothers, had
met during an early morning, or
at dawn, large packs of lobo
wolves, and among these some
were of very dark brown and even
black color. The latter are now
adays nearly all exterminated, but
about two years ago, a farmer had

the coyote wolf, the young brood
is rather attractive, and they are
very playful in their haunts. This
I had oceasion to witness once
some years ago during a hunting

‘trip in company with Dr. R. L.

Withers and only three miles west
of Military Plaza. Accidentally
we came across two small animals
playing outside a large and broad
hole, on open prairie, close to a
pasture, and my friend Withers
192 TEXAS NATURE OBSERVATIONS AND REMINISCENCES.

mistook the wolves for two cotton-
tail rabbits—and quickly lifting
his gun to his shoulder popped
one of the animals down. Great
however was our surprise when,
instead of a rabbit, two young co-
yote wolves rolled around that
hole! It was quite late in the
evening, and the small coyotes
were far off and quite well pro-
tected by surrounding weeds, and
for this reason the animals could
not be well discerned,both of us
being indoubt, butI advised to pop
one down, and when we reached
the hole it was noticed that it led
to a deep cavern inside the earth,

was getting too late to make such
attempt again, and on our way
home, we met the two old coyotes
near the place the young ones
were encountered, but out of gun
range.

The nice prairie scene depicted
in these pages of a Texas coyote
behind some mesquite trees, was

‘kodaked by my friend, Mr. Louis

Guessaz, and it is an actual scene
‘on the spot’’ when the night ma-
rauder was captured with a steel
trap. - It seems coyotes were be-
coming very obnoxioug around
Mr. Guessaz’s farm yard, and one
bright moonlight night he treated

 

 

 

 

 

Larce Coyote CAuGHT IN 4 STEEL TRAP

the old wolf angrily trotting up
and down that subterranean cav-
ity. The little wolves looked very
neat—like a pair of young brown
puppies, of the German ‘‘Dax-
hund” type. They also had long
pointed ears, and a long shaped
face and snout, with long and
pointed ears and a long shaped
face and snout with its long and
sharp edged teeth. We carried
the trophies to the owner of the
pasture and great was his joy, but
sorry at the same time, that we
had not annihilated the whole ma-
rauding outfit in that cavity,
which we also regretted; but it

them with an extra fine meal, in
form of a baited steel trap, and
the victim seen depicted on the en-
graving must have made a mis-
step, as next morning the coyote
was found madly struggling in-
side the clutches of the trap; and -
in this position the photoview
was taken,

In the ‘‘Texas Field and Na-
tional Guardsman’’ (February is-
sue, 1913,) appeared an unusual
interesting and instructive article
on destroying the coyote in Ore-
gon, and I take the liberty to ap-
pend the entire report herein, as
follows:
TEXAS NATURE OBSERVATIONS AND REMINISCENCES. 193

Destroying the Coyote in Oregon

“Despite the fact that for years
every known contrivance has been
employed to bring about the de-

struction of the coyote in Oregon
he is still the worst pest that state
has to deal with. To his cunning
the sheepman and farmers -are
paying an annual tribute of no
less than $1,000,000. Each of half
a dozen neighboring states is
paying a tribute. In some
cases individual sheep owners are
paying as high as $35,000 a year
tribute.

If it were not for the fact that
the coyote is the shrewdest and
most careful beast that infests the
Oregon prairies, he would now be
in the class with the American
buffalo. But his cleverness has
kept him up through a terrible
struggle, until today he is almost
as serious a pest as he was 10
years ago, before the fight for his
destruction was begun. The sheep-
-men and farmers have struggled
against him in every possible way,
the state has spent a quarter of a
million dollars in bounties; the
Federal Government has_ spent
thousands of dollars in devising
ways of bringing about his de-
struction and yet he survives and
holds first place in .the list of
pests.

Until the last year he confined
his murderous life to the plains
of Eastern and Central Oregon,
where he preyed on sheep and
barnyard fowl, but now he is
spreading out his career over the
cascades into the, Williamette
Valley, where he will be an infi-
nitely more serious pest than he is
in Eastern Oregon, at present.
The coyote is much like a dog in
appearance, but he is much more
active. He has a wonderful in-
stinct, which seems to keep him
out of the traps, snares, pitfalls
and other contrivances set by
man. He is always on his guard

and never can be taken without
a hard fight. He is a coward
when he has a chance to run, but
he is a demon when he is cornered
and has to put up a fight for his
life. ‘

In Eastern Oregon sheep are
run in bands of 1500 to 2500 and it
is here that the coyote gets in his
work of destruction. These
bands of sheep are generally herd-
ed by one or more men and from
one to half a dozen dogs. Fre-
quently a band of from 20 to 100
sheep will get separated from the.
main herd and wander back out of
sight of the herder. If this band
of sheen is not brought back to the
main herd before night there is
absolutely no chance of their sur-
wiving until. morning. One co-
yote has been known to kill as
many as 75 sheep in one night.
He cuts their throats for the lust
of killing. He seems to have a
mania for murder and so kills the
sheep by the dozens merely for
the pleasure of the thing. A sheep
that is not killed by the coyote
outright will die if the animal
bites him. This probably is more
because of fright than poison, al-
though the poison theory is held
by some. ;

A coyote will have a range of
from 25 to 30 miles which he will
cover once every twenty-four
hours. Whena band of sheep
comes into his range he gets near
by and waits for an opportunity
to pick one of the animals and
murder it. Sometimes coyotes
stay in bands and follow herds of
sheep. In such cases they are al-
ways on the lookout for a chance
to grab one of the flock. Anoth-
er trick is for the coyote to hide
behind clumps of sage brush and
wait until a herd of sheep grazes
up to him, when he jumps out,
kills one or two of the sheep and
makes his escape.
194 TEXAS NATURE OBSERVATIONS AND REMINISCENCES.

The farmer suffers not only
from loss of sheep, but also from
barnyard fowls, calves, pigs and
even colts. Many farmers have
lost bands of calves by allowing
them to stay out over night. A
litter of young pigs is one of the
favorite dishes of the coyote. He
will creep into a pig pen in the
night and kill as many as a dozen
pigs in a few minutes. He catch-
es poultry by lying in wait in the
brush near a farm house. He has
been known to lie crouched up in
a clump of brush for hours at a
time waiting for a chicken to for-
age near enough for him to
grab it without endangering his
own life by getting within gun
range of the farmer. The coyote
is fond of eggs and is a very sly
nest robber.

Sheepmen suffer their greatest
loss of sheep in the lambing time,
when it is necessary to let, the
ewes stop on the range while the
young lambs are being born, and
are getting strong enough to
graze with the rest of the herd.
“It is necessary for the sheep own-
ers to build pens in which to keep
ewes and lambs. This more
than doubles the expense of lamb-
ing and even at that the coyote
sometimes get through the fences

and slaughter the entire herd of

ewes and lambs. The only safe
means is that employed by the
most of the large sheep owners is
of employing men to surround the
lambing pens and keep the co-
yotes away. Where four men
could easily take care of the lamb-
ing of a big band of sheep the co-
yote makes it necessary to em-
ploy more.

Dan Smythe, of Smythe Bros.,
sheep owners of Pendleton, said
recently that he estimated the co-
vote pest to cost his firm $25,000
a year. This amount includes the
value of the sheep which are
slauhtered by the pest and the
additional cost of protecting the
sheep. Mr. Smythe says many

sheepowners pay greater amounts
than that each year.

Invades Williamette Valley.

The coyote is rapidly becoming
a pest in the Williamette Valley
and it is feared that in time to
come he will present a very dif-
ficult problem for the rural peo-
ple to solve. Until recently he
was not able to cross the Cascade
Mountains, because in the stretch
of country from Eastern Oregon
to the Williamette Valley he could
find but little to eat. As the can-
yons and basins in the mountains
have been settled up the food sup-
ply for the coyote has been ex-
tended, until now it is possible
for him to make the entire trip
from Eastern Oregon to the Wil-
liamette Valley without going
hungry. Even in Multnomah
County the coyote is now found.
At Mount Scott and Gresham,
sheepman have lost sheep within
the last few months. One farmer
recently lost a band of thirty
sheep worth $20 each. This was
near Mount Scott.

West of the Cascades the coyote
has a big advantage in his favor
which, with his cunning, makes
him a pest that is almost impos-
sible to destroy. He has the thick
underbrush, which affords him a
good place to keep out of range
of the gunners and dogs. As for
traps, he knows how to evade
them, and he knows how to avert
most of the other contrivances
made for his destruction. So
with his development in the Wil-
liamette Valley he wil present a
serious problem.

West of the Cascades sheep are
not run as they are in Eastern
Oregon. Instead of bands of from
500 to 2500, they range in bands
of from 25 to 50 and have no herd-
er. This makes them easy prey
for.the coyote. At present the
coyote has cut so much of a figure
in the Williamette Valley that it
is estimated 50,000 more sheep
could be grazed here if he had not
TEXAS NATURE OBSERVATIONS AND REMINISCENCES. 195

come. These 50,000 sheep would
be worth $500,000.

There are some people who
claim that the coyote does good by
killing jackrabbits and pesti-
ferous squirrels, but the majority
of farmers agree that this good is
no comparison with the harm
done to the sheep and poultry of
the small farmer. Only when oth-
er food is scarce will a coyote
pick ona jackrabbit, because
when the coyote undertakes to
round up a rabbit he has at least
one hour’s good chase before him.
A rabbit will sometimes outrun
a coyote, and very seldom can he
be caught in less than an hour.
Sometimes it takes several hours.
This sort of subsistance is too vig-
orous to suit the coyote, and he
will select easier prey if there is
any chance.

The rabbit is said to have
ceased to be a pest everywhere,
excepting in the desert districts
of Umatilla, Klamath and Crook
Counties, and along Willow Creek
and other small creeks of Morrow
County, and possibly a few others
places. In these places the rabbit
does damage to alfalfa and grain
and garden truck. It is said a
coyote can do more damage to a
small farmer in 15 minutes than a
rabbit can do in an hour.

In recent years sheeymen caused
a general uprising against the co-
yote, and have devised various
means of destroying him. Most
of these campaigns have been par-
tially successful. None have
brought about the destruction of
covotes desired. The most com-
mon means of exterminating co-
votes is by means of poison, traps,
dogs and hunting.

Poison Menace to Dogs

Poison has been a failure be-
eause of the fact that as many
valuable sheep dogs are killed as
coyotes. Usually when a piece of
poisoned meat is put out, the best
dog on the farm or in the sheep
camp goes and gets it, instead of a

coyote. Some sheepmen have been
successful in killing hundreds of
coyotes, by scientific poisoning
processes, but success is rare. In
these cases, poison has been placed
on spoiled meat, eggs, or prunes.
It is said that the poison system
has resulted in the death of as
many dogs as coyotes.

The coyote is too wise for traps.
He has a very keen scent, and is
extremely sly and wise. It is said
that he has the gray fox beaten
for cunning. An example of the
failure of traps is recited by Mr.
Smythe of Pendleton. He says
a man in his neighborhood once
dragged the carcass of a horse in-
to the brush and carefully placed
traps closely together all around
the carcass. The traps were all
carefully covered, so that there
was no sign of any disorder in the

morning the man found that the

coyotes had torn the horse’s car-
cass to pieces and cleaned off all
the flesh without getting into a

‘single trap. There must have

been a large pack of the animals
at the scene, and not one dis-
turbed the covering of the traps.
Traps so laid about the body of
a sheep that it would seem impos-

‘sible for a coyote to get near with-

out being caught are averted by
the animals, and still the sheep
is eaten. It is only occasionally
that a coyote will get into a trap.
They are caught only when in-
genious methods are employed to
deaden the scent of the steel jaws
of the trap.

It is only in recent years that
dogs have been brought into the
fight against the coyotes. This
method has proven the most suc-
cessful of all. After much experi-
menting sheepmen have got the
proper kinds of dogs now and
they are killing off thousands of
coyotes annually. Coyote chasing
takes a dog which is swift and
savage. The coyote has a system
of snapping which puzzles most
dogs and unless a dog is trained
196 TEXAS NATURE OBSERVATIONS AND REMINISCENCES.

to fight coyotes the coyote gener-
ally gets away or has the best of
the encounter.

Russian Wolf hounds have been
the most successful. These are
very speedy and are great fight-
ers. At present the majority of
sheepmen and livestock ranches
have packs of these dogs trained
especially to fight coyotes. Train-
ing of an almost technical nature
is necessary. In the first place
they have to be trained to find
the coyotes. Then they must be
trained to run them down and
lastly ‘to kill them. The sheep-
man who has a well-trained pack
of Russian hounds generally has
but little trouble with coyotes.
The dogs kill some of the animals
and drive the others out of the
country to prey on other farmers
and sheepmen.

Sturdy Dogs for the Chase

Another good coyote dog is the
Russian stag hound. Good dogs
are also produced by mixing
breeds so as to combine the ele-
ments of various classes of dogs
for the particular purpose of
chasing and killing coyotes. For
Instance, the greyhound will be
erossed with the Russian Wolf
or stag hound. This will combine
speed and ferocity. A wolfhound
may be mixed with bulldog to
combine additional ferocity and
fighting ability. The fox hound
is recognized as a good coyote
chaser, but he is not good at kill-
ing them.

The main difficulty in fighting
with dogs is the hard strain nec-
essary on a chase. The rough
ranges and the rush and the heat
soon put a pack of dogs out of
commission. To avoid tiring out
the dogs they are sometimes
placed in cages on the backs of
wagons and released only when
coyote is run down and killed, the
dogs are placed back in the cage
to rest up for another chase.
Sometimes a chase will last an
hour or more. The man in charge

of the dogs will watch them
through field glasses and as soon
as the coyote is caught will hur-
ry to the scene and take the ani-
mal’s hide.

The Federal Government has
hired hunters in the field. They
slaughter hundreds of coyotes an-
nually with rifles. Still another
means of fighting the pest is to
find the whelping grounds and
kill the young. There are places
in the rough hills which afford
good dens for the animals. Here
Indians and others make good wa-
ges killing young coyotes and sell-
ing the pelts for bounty. Coyotes
breed rapidly. A female will
have from five to 11 whelps each
spring. A few coyotes, for that
reason, will soon stock up a range
on which the coyotes have been
exterminated.

The state bounty law, which be-
came effective in 1909, resulted
in the slaughter of thousands of
coyotes. In less than two years
a total of $137,080 has been paid
by the state and county as boun-
ties. Stockmen and _  sheepmen
say that the bounty law has made
a very noticable decrease in the
number of coyotes and in the
amount of damages. The pres-
ent law in Oregon is peculiar. The
terms are unusually strict the
person claiming a bounty being
required to turn over to the.
County Clerk in the county where
the coyote is killed the entire pelt,
including all the claws. The skin
must not be torn or mutilated. The
claimant must make affidavit that
the animal was killed within the
county by the claimant and was
not helped or fostered in captiv-
ity within six months of the time
the bounty is claimed. A bounty
of $1.50 is paid for each pelt.

Neighboring states also have
bounty laws but they differ ma-
terially from those of Oregon.
For that reason there is consider-
able trouble, sometimes persons
killing coyotes in one state, ship-
TEXAS NATURE OBSERVATIONS AND REMINISCENCES. 197

ping them to another for their
bounty, because a higher price is
paid. In Idaho the bounty is $2,
in Montana $2.50 and in Wash-
ington $1. Sheepmen are at pres-
ent attempting to devise ways and
means of making a uniform boun-
ty law in all Western states. The
sheepmen are great friends of the

bounty laws. They declare that
since the law went into effect the
decrease in the number of evvotes
has been noticable. They believe
the bounty law will ultimately
solve the coyote problem in East-
ern Oregon at least. In West-
ern Oregon there is an entirely
different situation’”’.

Texas Wild Hogs

In connection with the forego-
ing yreminiscenses, a few data
may be recalled of the Texas wild
hog of olden times—a descendent
of the domesticated swine; and
also, and in particular, of the Tex-
as javelin hog.

In olden days such pachyderma-
tous mammals as the wild swine

where large areas of land were
torn up and undermined with the-
huge tusks of these wild animals,
in search of food.

T recollect in my boyhood days
having joined hunting trips, when
occassionally groups of wild hogs
were encountered and some of
them killed by my elderly brothers

 

 

 

 

 

Texas JAVELIN. (One of L. A. Guessaz’ Trophies.)

a ‘‘no man’s property’’ roamed
about promiscously in various
parts of the Texas prairie jungles
and marshy lowlands,—near San
Antonio along the pecan and oak
forests and river bottoms, as well
as in pastures and the thickets of
cactus jungles and prairie plains,

and brought to San Antonio,
which in those days, was a mere
frontier village. As far as I recol-
lect, the hogs were of a grayish-
black color and the body covered
with wooly hair, interspersed
with course and thick bristles
along the back. In old specimens
198 TEXAS NATURE OBSERVATIONS AND REMINISCENCES.

the huge tusks of the lower jaws
gradually curved inward, and, be-
ing very sharp and hard as steel
they form a formidable weapon in
attacking their enemies, or in up-
rooting the ground in search of
food.

With the advancement of civili-
zation, the wild hog gradually was
exterminated. But there are still
with us—in the remote jungles of
various favored jungle districts
another class of wild hog: the
dreaded Peccary or javelin hog and
about which Mr. L. A. Guessaz,
at my request kindly furnished
me with the following data, of his
personal encounters and experi-
ences while hunting the javelin:

“The Texas javelin (which is
Spanish and pronounced haveleen)
more properly called the Texas
peccary, is a native of entire west-
ern Texas and Mexico, and differ
considerably from the wild swine
and the famous fighting wild boar
of Europe. They are smaller in
size, averaging from about 13
inches to 16 inches in height, while
the wild boar wil stand as much
as three feet at the shoulder, and
in general appearance are like
small dark colored pigs, well cov-
ered with bristles and have a deep
fringe of hair at the throat. There
are two kinds of peccaries as dis-
tinetly identified by naturalists
in general—the white lipped pec-
cary and the colored peccary, the
former, however,, being found
only in South America but I will
confine these remarks to the lat-
ter, which is the true Texas
javelin, deriving the title of ‘‘col-
lared peccary’’ from the fact that
it bears a white band all the way
around the neck, at a point imme-
diately in front of the shoulder.
Its entire neck and on down along
its entire back is covered with
long bristles and it is these that
when the javelin is brought at
bay, that make him look to be a
very formidable foe, for he causes
these to stand straight all around

his neck, and those on the top of
his back, if anything, lean for-
ward, thereby in appearance in-
creasing his height and circum-
ference some 6 to 8 inches. 1
have very often met a band of
these while still hunting for deer
in the mesquite and cactus wild-
erness of the western counties of
Texas, and have generally encoun-
tered them along the dry ereek
beds, or in low places, where the
“rooting was good.’’ The man-
ner in which one is apprised of
their presence varies, there were
times when I was strolling along
in thick brush and cactus unmind-
ful of any thing but deer, when
suddenly there would appear with-
in ten feet of me a great dark ob-
ject, emitting terrible grunts, and
snapping of teeth, while beyond
in the brush I could hear a rush-
ing, crackling and stampeding
noise, which in the course of only
a few seconds would evolve itself
into a whole bunch of ruffled-up
javelins standing stiff-legged and
staring at me, all the while imi-
tating the first one, which was
the leader of the bunch, usually
an old boar, and every blessed one
of them discharging the contents
of their musk gland which is situ-
ated on the back at a point where
the hind quarters connect with the
backbone. On one occasion I shot
this leader which ran off some
fifty yards mortally wounded, but
instantly another stepped right
up to. the same position and was
in turn’shot through to also run
a short distance to drop dead,
when a third one took the same
stand. This time this one was
shot through the shoulders and
he dropped dead in his tracks,
otherwise I firmly believe that an-
other would have taken the same
stand had he run like the other
two.

A friend who resides in Brew-
ster County, tells me that at one
time he and several of his cowboys
encountered a large herd of them
TEXAS NATURE OBSERVATIONS AND REMINISCENCES. 199

in a small canyon and ran them
into a ‘shalow cave, the entire
bunch disappearing except one
that stood at the cave entrance as
sentinel. The sentinel was shot
down when promptly another took
his place. He also was shot down
but was replaced by anohter, and
so on, ad infinitum until the whole
herd was exterminated.

As to their actually attacking
man I know of but one instance
when this occured. A man of the
name of Jim Thorne, who was a
cow man while engaged in his
duties of ‘‘riding fence,’’ per-
ceived a bunch of peccaries feed-
ing not distant from the line of
fence, among which was a litter
of pigs. The desire to have one

of these little pigs got the better

of his good judgment and off he
went. His mount easily overtook
the herd and then he dismounted.
In the course of the chase he was
led to a point about 150 yards
from his pony and about 100 yards
from the line of fence. He didn’t
realize this until he got hold of
one of the pigs which gave forth a
few lusty squeals. But, when he
saw the entire herd, with the of-
fended mother in the lead, charg-
ing in his direction, his powers of
deduction once more became nor-
mal and in the next instant he
found himself leading a herd of
Texas javelins in a race for the
fence, for be it noted right here,
that there wasn’t a shrub in the
neighborhood big enough to hold
anything heavier than a lizard.
At length he found himself
perched on one of the fence posts,
and later, as the position became
tedious and as the herd insisted on
‘‘milling’’ around this particular
post for a continued length of time
he changed his position to laying
lengthwise on the top wire of the
fence and remained there for more
than an hour, the herd having tar-
ried there for that length of time.
In addition to the above, I take
the liberty to append another in-

teresting and graphically written
article on a Texas javelin hunt,
which appeared in the Texas Field
(September, 1913, issue) relating
t» some Texas hunters hunting
javclins near the Nueces River,
wtout forty mites West of Cotulla
~-a wild and prolifie eountry for
these dangerous little wild hogs
as well as coyotes and rattle-
snakes. The hunters were on a
deer hunt in the winter of 1910,
on the Nueces River, and how one
of the four hunters got lost is.
graphically narrated by the writer
of that article:

“Up to this time, nothing had
been heard of John, and when w
time went on we did not hear
from him, we were beginning to
wonder what had _ happened,
when from far off to the north-
east we heard two shots in rapid
succession, followed by a third,
our distress signal. Instantly we
knew something out of the ordi-
nary had happened John, knew
every inch of the land along the
river, and we were certain that
he was not lost and trying to sum-
mons help to find his way to camp,
even though it was two hours
past darkness. We held a hasty
council and agreed to take a
couple of lanterns, saddle the
horses and go in the direction of
the signal. My brother agreed to
remain in camp, while Wess and
I went on the hunt for our com-
rade in distress.

After seeing to our guns, and
taking an extra supply of cart-
ridges along, we mounted, and
riding north for a few yards, we
entered an abandoned trail lead-
ing in the general direction of the
shots, each of us carrying a lan-
tern on opposite sides of our
horses, so that if we passed on
either side of him he would see
one of the lights and call us to
him. We had traveled for per-
haps a mile, when we heard the
distress signal again off a little
to the right of our course, and
200 TEXAS NATURE OBSERVATIONS AND REMINISCENCES.

putting spurs to our horses, we
galloped as fast as darkness and
the nature of the ground would
safely permit. We had not
proceeded far when we again
heard the signal, followed by a
faint, hoarse cry. What could it
mean? John was perfectly able
to care for himself under ordi-

nary circumstances, and we were’

at a loss to account for this evi-
den e of his distress. Wasting no
time, however, we traveled for
about a half: mile before we came
upon the unfortunate hunter.
Entering a small clearing just
as the moon peeped over the trees
to the east, we heard a voice from
the other side of the clearing
shout a warning in no uncertain
tones: ‘‘Look out, boys!’’ cried

John’s familiar voice, and not- .

withstanding the situation, we
were not able to suppress an ex-
clamation of delight to find him
still able to speak ‘‘What’s the
trouble here?’’ I yelled. ‘‘Jav-
elines!’’ he yelled back. It was
still too dark for us to make out
the situation clearly, as the moon,
from it’s low position, only filled
the clearing with long ghost-like
shadows; and after ascertaining
that John was in no immediate
danger, we decided to wait for
the moon to get in a more ad-
vantageous position before at-
tempting a rescue.

During our wait, we found out
as much of the circumstances of
our freind’s predicament as pos-
sible. It seems as if he was cross-
ing the clearing approaching the
thick brush along the swail of the
opposite side, }when the moticed
the form of a huge ‘javeline
standing behind some brush, a
short distance from the edge, and
taking a hasty aim he fired—and

was rewarded by a series of.

squeals from the only slightly
wounded javelin, quickly fol-
lowed by grunts and gnashing of
teeth from up and down the ra-
vine. Having previous experi-

ence with wounded javelines, he
did not waste unnecessary time,
but immediately made a run for
the nearest tree—and that was the
reason of his distress—for the
tree was only a small mesquite,
and not high enough, to take him
entirely out of harm’s way. The
rest of the adventure he told us
later, vor as the moon was now
shining brightly in the clearing,
we decided to work a little strat-
egic game on the peccaries, in
order to get John down from his
uncomfortable perch. The jave-
lines were still standing around
under the tree, looking with fierce
little beady eyes up at the hunter
who had been the cause of the
wounding of one of their number,
and the subsequent death of sev-
eral others. Occasionally one of.
the javelines would leave the
rest ahd go to the brush where
the wounded javelin was. still.
emitting occasional  squeals—
seemingly with the devilish inten-
tion of goading his comrades on
to the destruction o fthe man who
had wounded him; and he was cer-
tainly being rewarded well, for
every time he would squeal, the
rest of the bunch would renew
their attack with new energy, and
for a while it looked rather diffi-
cult for anything in the way of a
rescue, and John had fired all
except one of his cartridges, and
had succeeded in killing several
of them: but when his ammuni-
tion gave out the jaevlins seemed
to realize the fact, and stood di-
rectly under the tree in which he
was confined.

We decided that the only way
we could get John down was to
coax the javelines away from the
tree, and then one of us would
ride up and let him get on the
horse behind us, and it was finally
decided thatI should be the one
to go to the tree after him. I
can’t say that I enjoyed the job
much, for I knew as well as
anybody, the penalty of being
TEXAS NATURE OBSERVATIONS AND REMINISCENCES. 201

caught among javelines, even on
horseback; but something had to
be done, and the sooner the better.

In accordance with our plan,
Wess rode around on the far side
of the clearing, and approached
cautiously toward the tree from
almost opposite from where I was,
and when within about 15 yards
of the nearest peccary, he put the
spurs to his horse and galloped al-
most directly into their midst, and
then he suddenly wheeled his
horse to the right, firing three
shots from his automatic pistol as
he did so, and sueceeded in

result that I came very near goinz
on toward the tree when the horse
suddenly stopped, and try as I
would, I could not get the beast
any nearer to the dead animal than
about 20 feet. I knew it was not
safe for John to attempt to get
the horse that far away; so has-
tily unecoiling my lariat, I had
just succeeded in running a noose
in it when the first of the return-
ing peccaries arrived on the
scene; but I made a cast at the
dead body as my horse started to
leave, and, by a lucky chance,
the noose tightened around the

 

 

 

 

 

ANOTHER VIEW OF a JAVELIN Hoc

wounding one of the beasts, and
the rest of them immediately gave
hot pursuit. Knowing that they
would not follow his horse far, I
did not lose any time watching.
but immediately galloped up un-
der the tree to assist John down.
when the unexpected happened.
One of the javelines which had
been shot was lying directly un-
der the tree, and my horse dis-
covered it befort I did, with the

body, and, giving the rope a half-
hitch around the saddle horn, I
settled down in the saddle for the
impact when the slack was all
taken up, and I didn’t have loug
to wait, for the horse, thoroughiy
frightened, was leaving the clear-
ing in record breaking style, and
J think the dead javelin must
have been jerked about half-way
across the clearing the first
jump. The javelines luckily did
202 TEXAS NATURE OBSERVATIONS AND REMINISCENCES.

not pursue me far, and I dis-
mounted and took the rope from
the ill-smelling little beast, and
returned to where Wess was
waiting for me. We worked the
same plan over again, with the
result this time that I got my
horse under .the tree, and John
jumping quickly down, without
even waiting to pick up his gun,
which he had thrown down upon
our arrival, vaulted upon my
horse with me, and then the fun
began! (?). The horse I was rid-
ing had not been broken to carry
double and no sooner had he
struck, than with a snort and an
arching of the back the infernal
beast tried with a vim to unseat
us both. Things were certainly
getting bad, when the same thing
that got us in the trouble got us
out, namely, the javelins. One
of the little savage devils coming
back from the pursuit of Wess’
horse, saw the horse there, . and
apparently did not wait for an in-
vitation to join in the fun, but
came right in with a right good
will. The first intimation I had
of his presence was to hear him
snap his teeth directly behind
the madly pitching horse—and the
next thing I knew he _ had
slashed the horse’s right hind leg
with his razor-like teeth.
Well, if the situation had not
been so serious, it would have
been funny no doubt to have seen
how quickly the horse’s objection
to our presence on his back
changed to the javeline’s on his
hind leg! With a blood-curdling
seream of brute terror that was

half human, the horse did not wait
for the second attack, but imme-
diately started on a wild rin
back in the direction we had come
from. This piece of blind luck
was lucky, indeed, for us, for the
horse was absolutely unmanage-
able, and it was not until we
neared the camp, and Johr: risk-
ing broken bones and pear thorns,
jumped down as we were near-
ing the camp, and I then  suc-
ceeded in quieting the bleeding
horse enough to get him headed
more slowly toward our cainp.

It was now well past midnight,
but. we would not let John retire
until he had recounted his adver-
ture at length to us. It seenis as
if the leader of the javelines was
a evry large. boar, and this par-
ticular javelin was making things
interesting for John by making
leaps straight up in the air to try
to slash him with his teeth, and it
was not until he had fired four
shots at him did he succeed in kill-
ing him on account of the uncer-
tain shooting in the semi-dark-
ness. One thing John was puz-
zled over, was where this leader
of the band was when he first shot
the one in the brush, as he did not
appear upon the scene for over an
hour after he had been treed. Us-
ually, the leader of the band is
the first one upon the job; but
we decided he was wandering
about with some of the others
in search of some food. We agreed
that there must have been at
least 35 of the peccaries in that
bunch and a visit to the spot the
next day showed seven of them
dead.

 
TEXAS NATURE OBSERVATIONS AND REMINISCENCES, 203

Some Outing and Other Reminiscenses

of Bygone Days

In traveling along the fine
macadam touring route leading
to the famous Terrell Wells
Health Resort, and passing fur-
ther south, along picturesque
farms, country sceneries and
hilly regions, one comes to a

they involuntarily remind us of
Indian villages in the days of
Custer, only that, instead of be-
ing made of buffalo skins, the
roofs are covered with modern
tin sheets; and these small huts
are seen scattered all around

 

 

 

 

Tin Roor Hut or MEXIcAN LABORERS IN JUNGLE AROUND MITCHELL’s LAKE

quite recently wire-fenced en-
closure of a swampy Tule lake,
which is just now, in April, 1910,
surrounded by numbers of queer
and picturesque Mexican huts,
which the Mexican laborers had
built for the purpose of dwell-
ing there during the clearing of
the jungles and converting the
land into fertile fields, and their
‘appearance is so unique that

the brush. They are very prac-
tically arranged, and are easily
removable from one region of
the cleared brush and mesquite
trées to other points of the wild
pastures there. This fenced-up
swamp extends on both sides of
the road, with a fine new water
tank on the western side of the
road, and is a separate walled-up
portion of the Southwestern outlet
204 TEXAS NATURE OBSERVATIONS AND REMINISCENCES.

of the interesting Mitchell’s Lake,
or ‘‘Laguna de los Patos,’’ in Mex-
ican, on which numbers of the
lively and always chattering
water hens, ana in winter mil-
lions of black birds congregate.
Also in the adjoining fields we
find them, and _ occasionally
swarms of teal and other ducks
can be seen swimming around
on the water places, and seeking
their food; or at noon time,
bunches of water hens gather
on the water spaces between the
jungles and along the top of the
embankments; or they roost on

hunter to pop down some of the
overflying ducks (in most cases
as lost game, as the dense tule
was mostly impregnable to en-
ter with a boat). Of late years,
however, seemingly caused by
a severe winter frost, nearly all
of the tule has been annihilated,
and the greater part of the lake
is now barren of tule, with but
a few places for a blind. The
accompanying photo view
(which the writer prepared
years ago from the platform. of
one of these blinds) shows how
the lake at that time was coy-

 

Aw OLp-Time ScENERY OF MiTCHELL’s Lake (BY THE WriTER) WITH WATERHEN ON THE LAKE)

the lower branches of the brush
and small trees, close to the
water’s edge.

Traveling still further south,
and up a hill, a sign is met:
“Mitchell’s Lake Hunting Club,”
and here a driveway leads to
the residence of the custodian
of the Mitchell Lake hunting
grounds, Mr. Ed. Keilman, and to
the main club house, facing the
large lake with its tule jungles.

In former years this lake was
covered all around and inside
with man-high swampreed or
tule, and duck hunting was im-
mensely enjoyed, as the high
reeds afforded shelter to the

ered with these tule jungles,
with hunters in boat inside the
border of the dense tule on an
open space where the ducks
prefer to congregate. Further
westward the view shows part
of the opposite farm land, which
is studded with huge oak and
hackberry trees along the edges
ot the lake. It is here that
years ago, a hunting and out-
ing party and myself encount-
ered a beautiful water hen nest,
close to the boarder brush and
tule, and having my camera at
hand, the enclosed photograph
of same was taken at noontide.
The nest was first found by my
TEXAS NATURE OBSERVATIONS AND REMINISCENCES,

son-in-law, Wm. R. Hoffmann,
and we had a time of it to keep
‘the lively young water hen
(only a few days old) on the
nest in order to take this view.
The little fellow was later ten-
derly taken care of by one of
the ladies present. The nest
had thirteen eggs of white and
light brownish-red and slightly
speckled color and they were snug-
ly enclosed in the nice rotund
nest which the old water hen
had prepared entirely of parti-
cles of tule. Another photo-

environments and the myriads
of wasps’ nests and bats which
fed there on the millions of big
mosquitoes). These wasps’ nests
decorated every inch of the in-
ner roof; and a noteworthy co-
incidence it is that the wasps
very rarely attacked the hunt-
ers. The wasps’ nests were of
the ‘“muddauber” variety, which
the pesky insects prepare by
gathering soft particles of mud
—often miles away—to build
the peculiar mud mounds with
the many-funneled chambers, in

 

 

WaTERHEN TULE Nest With Eccs anp Younc HEn, at MITCHELL’s LakE HuntTING PRESERVE

graph herein shows a number
of the lively old water hens on
an open space of Mitchell’s
Lake, and I prepared the view
a week after the nest photo
from an elevation at the open
window of one of the old boat
houses at the southeast end of
the lake (now removed long
since). These old boat houses
were, in themselves, at the time
of their existence, a very in-
teresting phenomenon (on ac-
count of the picturesque lake

which the female wasp deposits
one egg. After the egg is de-
posited the wasp plasters all
these “incubating chambers”
hermetically with scft clay
until during the pupa state and
further metamorphosis of the
young developing wasp, the lat-
ter, at maturity, carves a hole
through the top of the covered
canal, and escapes into the
world, and at once begins to
help the balance of the nest
builders to prepare additional
206 TEXAS NATURE OBSERVATIONS AND REMINISCENCES.

chambers, and after to lay her
eggs therein, and thus perpetu-
ate their kind, like all other be-
ings of similar nature.

One of the most pesky and,
at times, annoying insects of
a different species, is the fearful
hornet wasp and the yellow
jacket’ wasp. These wasps in
olden times, and even now, are
very numerous around Mitch-
ell’s Lake; but, like the “mud-
dauber” wasp, they wouldn’t
molest anyone, if left alone.
Nests of the hornet wasp as
large as the circumference of a
bucket could occasionally be en-
countered, mostly in old oak
trees, where they have most
shelter, and-large black swarms
of them, like myriads of bees,
could be seen working incessant-
ly on their nests.

The breeding and develop-
mental cycle of these wasps is
very interesting and _ entirely
the same as the described spe-
cies of “mud wasps,” only that
the material they use in prepar-
ing their neat basket-shaped
and rotund nests consists en-
tirely of vegetable pulp tissue
and fibrous tissue, which the
wasps gather from plants along
the margin of the lake, and
gnaw into little pellets with
their powerful mandibles, and
transform into the delicate but
very firm and paper-like tissue
nests, using a coarser material
of fibrous tissue for the base
parts of the nest, and a white,
transparent tissue layer for the
upper cell compartments. The
photo herein, prepared some years
ago at Mitchell’s Lake, shows
the cubic arrangements of the
cell segments, as well as some
of the pesky insects at work in
preparing and increasing their
nest. This view rf my photo
collections of vituperous Texas
insects shows not alone the va-
rious cell segments of these in-

dustrious paper nest builders,
but also in some of the upper
cells the small white egg; and
the other cells around these
show the cell opening partly seal-
ed up with a rotund and white
membrane, prepared also of
vegetable fibrous tissue, whilst
still others are only partially
covered. Each cell compartment
is prepared with marvelous dex-
terity and mathematical pre-
cision, one cell interwoven into
the other, and each cell seg-
ment is over an inch deep, just
large enough and_ spacious
enough to comfortably house its
developing host. Verily, this is
wonderful! Just think of the
time and ingenuity human
hands or some machinery would
require to prepare such a com-
pact and accurate cell nest of
vegetable fibres as this one the
photo represents from nature!
During outings and hunting
trips one often encounters va-,
rious types of our Texas prairie
wasps, and among these the
‘“tarantula-killing wasp.” There
exist several varieties, one be-
ing a slender and lengthy, yel-
lowish-brown wasp, which hunts
‘up all the crevices and holes on
the, prairies where it abounds,
and noticing a tarantula spider,
it will at once enter the spider’s
haunts and extricate it, general-
ly after a lengthy battle, in
which the wasp usually is vic-
torious. It then removes its
victim with its powerful mandi-
bles to its underground breed-
ing place, which the wasp digs
with its front feet and mandi-
bles, usually in a secluded sandy
place, and which I have myself
seen done along the hills and
fishing places of San Geronimo.
In connection herewith I may
mention, by the way, the ex-

perience of my friend, Dr. W.

L. Bringhurst, of the San An-
tonio High School, who is a
close observer and _ brilliant
TEXAS NATURE OBSERVATIONS AND REMINISCENCES.

teacher on Texas natural his-
tory objects, had mentioned
during a discourse on the Texas
tarantula some years ago before
the local Scientific Society, in
which the Doctor told his hear-
ers of his experience in fishing
a tarantula out of a deen hole:
simply by attaching some insect
to the string, and letting this
bait slowly down into the hole.
The spider will soon grab and
hold the insect, and by slowly

207

crevices and holes and then at-
tacking and removing their vic-
tims. But there are two or
three particular types — large
and powerful wasps—which are
supplied with a deadly stinger,
and they attack suddenly and
plunge their venom dagger in
the abdomen of the victim and
kill him in a short time. As is
quite well known, the venom
and venom inoculation apparat-
us is situated at the proximal

 

Hornet Wasp Nest (MITCHELL’s Lake)

pulling the string upward the
tarantula can be disposed of at
leisure. Try it once.

As a rule all wasp species de-
stroy and prey on spiders as a
means of a food supply for
themselves, and during breed-
ing time for the young wasp
brood and the larval wasps.
Even the smallest variety of
wasps—those often seen flying
along stone and wooden walls—
seek the haunts of spiders and
other insects by crawling into

end part of the wasp’s abdomen,
and only a short, sharp and
slightly curved stinger or inoc-
ulation dagger protrudes at the
insect’s abdomen and is retract-
ed in its inactive condition; but
during the stinging act it is re-
peatedly and in quick succession
elongated and penetrates like a
dagger into the victim’s anat-
omy. When considered how in-
finitely small—the thickness of
a horse hair—the sting of these
and other poisonous insects is,
208 TEXAS NATURE OBSERVATIONS AND REMINISCENCES.

it can be conceived what an in-
finitesimal small quantity of
venom is injected during the
stinging act, and how powerful-
ly venomous this minimal poi-
son secretion acts upon the sys-
tem. There are instances on
record where animals, and even
persons, being repeatedly stung
by wasps or bees, have succumb-
ed, though this is a very rare
occurrence, and I have just
read in the daily dispatches of
the San Antonio Express how
a person was attacked by a
swarm of bees and had a very
narrow escape from _ being
stung to death; this dispatch
reading:

tracting the passage to the
lungs, almost closing it entirely,
and for several minutes he
gasped for breath. A’ physician
was hurriedly summoned, but
before he arrived Gouger had
revived. His companions say
that at one time it looked like
his breath was completely shut
oft for several seconds.”

The photomicrograph herein
shows the venom bladder and the
sharp and curved sting (of horny
consistency and sharper than a
needle) of a dissected bee’s sting-
ing apparatus plainly, and which
corresponds in its anatomy pre-
cisely with the stinging ap-
paratus of the wasp. When plunged

 

 

1
A Bez’s ABpoMEN, SHowING Its Porson BLADDER AND Duct, AND THE Two STING IMPLEMENTS
SON CADP E! Ea “

“Cotulla, Tex., April 28.—The
cutting of a bee tree on the
Nueces two miles above town
yesterday came near resulting
fatally to Roland A. Gouger, a
well known business man of
this place.

“A party numbering about
ten went to the place with the
intention of sawing the tree
down and getting the honey.
Before the tree was felled the
bees swarmed forth and liter-
ally covered Gouger, stinging
him many times about the head.
The poison made him deathly
sick and had the effect of con-

into the tissues during the stinging
act, the outer sharp and dagger-
like stinger sometimes breaks off
at the base part joint and remains
in the tissues of the skin and
causes intense pain, until removed.
Both these stinging tools are hol-
low inside, and the groove serves
the venom to quickly filter into
the sting wound. Identically the
same anatomical arrangement ex-
ists in the sting implements of the
hornet and tarantula killing wasp,
and all other genera of wasps
(compare the venom bladder and
stinger of hornet on page 6, third
row, last objects, of the miniature
TEXAS NATURE OBSERVATIONS AND REMINISCENCES. 209

photo; also, a tarantula killing va-
riety on same page, second row,
first object).

Our great Lone Star State,
and especially Western Texas, has
a large number of outing and at-
tractive hunting places, and a few
of the many nature-sceneries and
hunting grounds in the vicinity of
San Antonio may find place here,
conjointly with some of the other
articles herein. Some of these
berry and various shrubbery and
outing and hunting places are
interestingly at variance as to
soil formation and plant and animal
life.

_ The valley and hilly regions
between San Antonio’ and the
Leona up to the more mountainous
and more romantic regions, west
of San Antonio are entirely differ-
ent from the latter as ‘to the
soil and plant life, which, from
San Antonio up to the hilly regions
of Helotes,sixteen miles northwest,
varies a great deal from the moun-
tainous regions in its prairie flora
and its immense area of mesquite
and partly cactus jungles and

forests of live-oak, post oak, hack-

berry and various shrubbery and
prairie trees, including, along the
rivulets and bottomland, the pecan
tree the mustang grape, the walnut
tree, etc., whilst from the Helotes
settlement up to Gallagher’s
ranch, Bandera; Waring, Kerrville,
Fredricksburg and New Braunfels
the vegetation in the hilly regions
there, with the imposing and high
cedar trees and other forest vege-
tation and rocky soil and clifflike
rock formations and caverns, differs
a great deal from our flat land
around San Antonio. ;
Some of the photo views herein
show this difference in soil and
environment, especially a photo-
graph I had prepared some time
ago during a visit to a relative
at the San Geronimo regions.
The country there, some twenty-
seven miles, north-west of San
Antonio is exceedingly picturesque,

reminding one of European touring
places in Switzerland, Baden-Baden
and Thuringia. The famous Gal-
lagher cattle ranch at Geronimo
also has some very fine nature
sceneries along the rivulets and
clifflike and high rock formations,
with the dense cedar breaks and
other mountain vegetation. At
some places fish, especially trout
and bass and large perch can be
pulled out as. quick as the line
drops in the water, especially
along the rock spaces of tne creeks.
On the farm of Mr. E. Henderson,
Sr., San Geronimo, we find
the clifflike rock formations, with
caves and cavaties for wild animals,
and on the lower rock wall the
cliff-swallows had prepared their
funnel-shaped nests of mud.
Myriads of these swallows congre-
gate year after year along these
huge rock prescipices and re-occupy
the old mud nests or build new
ones, and it is a most fascinating
sight to behold how eagerly they
work at their nests and feed their
young brood.

At the Leona hills, west of San
Antonio, the hillsare of different
appearance. In olden days they
abounded with large game, such
as deer, an occasional panther and
other wild animals of the jungles;
also the wild turkey. Of late
years only rarely some deer and,
of the animals~of -prey,-only an
occasional wildcat, some coyotes, a
lobo wolf or a squirrel, possum or
coon; plenty of quail and wild
doves and rabits; and in winter,
some wild ducks on the creeks and
banks, the chaparral cock and
the ever present, but now nearly
exterminated rattlesnake are met
with, the latte: mostly in the
dense cactus jungles, which harbor

‘prairie rats and mice in the pecu-

lialry arranged and _ interesting
ratnests, which are composed of
gathered and accumulated, piled
up (often in high mounds, like
beaver huts) wood particles, manure
and remnants of cacti; and they
210 TEXAS NATURE OBSERVATIONS AND REMINISCENCES.

communicate throughout the chap-
arral and cactus jungles with rat
trails leading from one rat nest to
the other. Often these places are
the haunts of the rattlesnake, pole-
cat. possum, huge spiders, etc.

In olden times kingsnipes were
encountered very numerously
near such creeks and prairie plains
described and throughout the level
prairie land oi the Leona valley;
also northwest of San Antonio.
One early morning, in company*
with a friend, the late C. Seabough,

i

cities at night time and make a
fearful racket with their loud
screeching voices. When a mere
boy, and in company with my
older brothers, and a great, friend
of outdoor life at that time, these
curlews abounded in large flocks
after heavy rains, and it was a
great sight to notice hundreds
of them feeding on open prairie
near the Leona, or along the
stagnating water pools between
the mes uite brush, and to note
the fearful screaming noise they

 

 

A Texas CURELW oR KINGSNIPE; PRAIRIE SCENERY, LEONA VaLLEY, (Original View)

at the time reporter of the Express
staff, we met hundreds of curlews;
also as many, and even more,
of the plover snipe in this neighbor-
hood and valley further north of
the present Beacon Hill suburbs,
which at that time was all barren
prairie land. These large snipes
are great and reliable weather
prophets, and it is known to
observant hunters and cowboysand
farmers as well, that whenever,
in: spring or fall, heavy rains are
‘anticipated, these curlews migrate
in large: flocks over the land and

made after one of their flock had
been wounded. Again and again
they would come fiying in a circle
above and around some wounded
comrade, with a shrill and loud
peeping voice; then was the chance
to pop some more of them down—
that ix, if you happened to bea
good shot. In those days none
of the modern improved, quick-
loading and quick-shooting breech-
guns were in existence and often
before one had reloaded his gun,
these keen-eyed king-snipes made
their escape to other pasturing
TEXAS NATURE OBSERVATIONS AND REMINISCENCES. 211

places. Often had I watched these
long billed and graceful snipes,
how they fed with their long bills.
This had to be done very carefully
and unseen, as the least’ noise
of approach would scare them,
as well as hundreds of plover a
long distance further off; and at
various occasions I noticed them
pulling a long and wriggling earth-
worm out of their under-ground
holes. With their keen eyes they
would walk around the waterpools
or some soft ground, at wet places,
where earthworm-holes, enclosing
the large variety of earthworm
existed; and in these they inserted

snails, minnows, young crawfish
and frogs abound, though I had
no oceasion ever to have seen
them feed on the latter.
Curlew hunting nowadays is a
rare and tedious affair around
San Antonio. The quiet old hunt-
ing grounds of the good olden days,
abounding with game, are now
nearly all converted into cultivated
land, and Mister Curlew seeks his
haunts in the marshy regions
along the coast. Then also, dur-
ing the late many years, our
prairies had not the rain supply,
as was the case in the olden times.
Where now the enterprising and

 

 

Mission ‘'SaAn Juan,’’ Near Bero's MILL, SoutH oF San AnToNIO, Firry Years Aco;
(From Nature By H. Lunexwirz)

their long and slightly curved bill,
to grab the worm and extricate it.
These snipes have a curved, knob-
like protuberance at the end of
their bill, and with this they
dig the ground for worms and also
larval beetles and insects. The
same ingenuity is exercised by
others of the snipe family, in
particular the jack-snipe, and of
which the Mitchel Lake and Blue
Wing Lake preserve hunters and
others undoubtedly are aware.
For these reasons snipe prefer
to be in marshy watering places,
where worms, insects and larvae.

flourishing Collin’s farm is situated,
in olden times these grounds up
to the Leona hills, were one open
prairie, and each year, especially
in spring, rains fell in torrential
masses and made the roads often
impassable for even a hunter on
horseback, as experienced by the
writer in olden times. Old time
teamsters, with six and eight
mules attached to their freight
wagons, had a time of it to get
along the old Castroville read up
to the Leona or to Castroville;
and often wagons and Mexican
carretas with burros were seen
212 TEXAS NATURE OBSERVATIONS AND REMINISCENCES.

bogged deeply in the black and
tough soil or mud, sometimes for
days and weeks. In those days,
however, such game as plover,
curlews, wild sand-cranes, ducks
and geese abounded all over the
western prairie plains, and it was
a pleasure, though generally com-
bined with great hardship, to go
hunting; who in those days,
(when game was so plentiful, lead
and powder were scarce and one
had to load and reload his gun
not manufactured  cartridges,)
would have thought of shoot-
ing a _ single dove or _ shoot
three or six times; nay, like often
nowadays, ten to a hundred shots
' durnig a day’s hunt, at wild fowls
to bring home two or three thus
_ killed. Hunters in those olden
- days were well trained to shoot,
‘to get the game;and seldom was
game missed or crippled. They
were trained like soldiers to handle
their gun carefully and for sheer
- economical necessity—not to shoot
‘holes in the air’ like is practiced
. nowadays by some of our good
_friends and ‘“‘shoot-away-shells”
’nimrods! Then also a gun was
to be handled very carefully
on account of the method of
-loading. When once loaded the
‘caps had to be removed when
not in use, or to be more sure of
accident, the whole load had to
be extricated with a_ so-called
“serew-driver ramrod,’’ when the
gun was to be set aside at home.
What a difference now in loading
a gun and quickly emptying it
of its deadly shells—thanks to
the genius of our inventive modern
gun makers.

But I am tresspassing my orig-
inalintention—to write about olden
time conditionsand hunting grounds
around San Antonio. I will con-
tinue the latter for another chapter
and only include herein some old
time recollections of San Antonio. In
those days no skyscrapers adorned
the then quaint old Spanish-Mexican
frontier town ‘‘San Antonio de

Bexar,” as it is often remembered,
nor was anything known of as-
phalted streets or electric lights
and street cars, or automobiles,
telephones, waterworks, sanitary
sewerage systems and other mod-
ern commodities. And still the
inhabitants were quite contented
with what they possessed. The
houses in those days were mostly.
all built of soft rock or “adobe,”
and several of these houses are to be
seen here today: the old Seffel’s
blacksmith shop, Hartmann’s sa-
loon building and others on the
corner of Crockett street and Alamo
Plaza, and in various other dis-
tricts of our good old Alamo City.

In social circles, the old Casino
on market street, a great entertain-
ing center, especially of the German
element was what now is Beethoven
Hall, and Turner Hall, the Herman
Sons Home, the Chamber of Com-
merce and many ‘other modern
clubhouses; and it was frequented
by the military. staff on Gov-
ernment Hill. The — Ger-
man-English school. on South
Alamo street and also St. Mary’s
College were the main educational
institutions of old San Antonio.
Among some of the prominent
citizens, men who have helped the
old town-along to bring it up to
its modern metropolitan standard,
these men among many others
too numerous to mention here
were, as far as I can recollect:
Thielepape (first German Mayor
of San Antonio.).

Dr. F. Herff, the oldest veteran
physician of Texas, August Nette,
Julius Behrens, Wm A. and Simon
N. Menger, A. Nette, G. Duerler,
Kampmann, Maverick, Towig,
Stumberg, Dauenhauer, Frasch,
Frost, Schuetze, Wurzbach, Seffel,
Russy, Biehl, La Coste, Cosgrove,
Bro. Charles, Sullivan, Runge, Dr.
Hertzberg, Stein, Deussen, Fries,
Boelhauwe, Stumberg, Boettler,
Appmann, Judge Devine, Noonan,
Paschal, Haubold, Hensel, Calsen,
Moeller, Mueller, Braukach, Deu-
TEXAS NATURE OBSERVATIONS AND REMINISCENCES. 213

sen, Rossy, Dosch, (the crack shot,
and with Neumann, the founder
of the first Schuetzen-Verein in
San Antonio, with headquarters
near the Ohnesorge residence in
the eastern suburbs of the city,
on Powderhouse Hill) Charles Hum-
mel, A. Wagner, F. Rummel,
Guenther, Mauermann, J. Tengg,
Neumann, C. Degen, Biesen back,
Huth, Santleben, Geo. Bracken-
ridge, Wm. Schuwirth, Hass & Op-
penheimer, Zork, Moye, Schleicher,
Tobin, James Clavin, Kalteyer, Dr.
Cupples, Dr. Schloeman, Persch,
Staffel, Lungkwitz, Beckmann,
Baetz, Briam, Lockwood, Col. With-
ers, Dwyer, French, Grice, Siemering
Hanshke, Riotte, Pentenrieder,
Groos, Staake, Callaghan, Gilbeau,
Grenet, Charles C. Kleine, John
Wickeland, Frazer, Dreiss, Alex.
‘Sartor, Hoerner, Rosenheimer, C.
Barnes, Shook, Steves, O. C.
Guessaz and many others more or
less olden time citizens.

During that time also, Mr.
Lungwitz prepared his me-
morable drawing sketches of old
‘“‘San Antonio de Bexar.’’ And
whilst these drawings, including
eight separate sceneries around
San Antonio are of great historic
interest and true to nature to a
fault, nowadays the art of photo-
reproducing nature objects, even
in natural colors, of course is
more practical, less tedious, more
advanced, and more exact. But
the drawings of our late townsman,
H. Lungwitz will remain for all
times a masterpiece of San An-
tonio’s best artist in that line at
the time and a photocopy of one
of the drawings representing San
Antonio in olden times is seen
elsewhere in this book; and I also
append herein an original photo-
copy of one of the locally and his-
torically interesting drawings of
Mr. Lungwitz, representing the
ancient Missions, ‘‘San Juan’’
near the river and close to the old
Berg’s Mills bridge, on the South
toeuring loop of San Antonio. It

is a very interesting little picture
of olden day sceneries around our
Alamo City—some fifty years or
more years ago, showing the Mis-
sion San Juan and adjoining mis-
sion walls quite as intact as they
are seen there today, also, some
Mexican corrals enclosing the
small Mexican huts; some cattle
roaming about, or at rest under
the shade of a huge pecan tree;
and to the rear of the old Mission
are seen the high pecan and other
forest trees, along the San Antonio
river.

I had photoreproduced all eight
of the Lungwitz’s drawings of un-
usually interesting sceneries near
San Antonio; for some illustrated
magazines and this one is included
in these reminiscenses for reason
of having mentioned same, con-
jointly with the Mission Espada,
in other articles on nature obser-
vations around San Antonio.

All our suburban places, as_ well
as close-in parts of the city, with
the many palatial residences of
today, were in those days covered
with mesquite brush and other
chaparral. Alamo Plaza, now a
beautiful park, was then a
barren place, with stagnating water
pools and high weeds all around
and along the sidewalks; and this
was also the case more or less
with Main and Military Plazas
and Franklin Square. Where now
the imposing Market-hall stands,
on Milam square, this place was
covered with rankest high weeds
and ravines and surrounded with
the quaint old Mexican jakals
and some chile stands. And San
Pedro creek, now so narrow as to
nearly walk over it in most places,
was a broad stream, broader in
most places than our present river-
bed; and it was studded all along
from San Pedro Springs park,
where the lake was covered at
its edges with tule down to its
communication with theSan Anto-
nio river, with man-high reeds,
or tule, and with wide open places
214 TEXAS NATURE OBSERVATIONS AND REMINISCENCES.

at various places where we boys,
living close to this creek, caught
eels and catfish weighing over thirty
pounds and shot ducks close to the
Salinas street bridge. There was
a fine broad, open bathing pool
with crystal clear water, the
‘‘Huisache,’’ which was covered
all around with tule, north and
close to the old Menger Soap
Factory, where we boys, including
my old friend, the Honorable
John H. James (now Justice of the
Supreme Court of Appeals), Bob

Marks, Inselmann, Fries,
Fred Russy, Santleben and a num-
ber of other citizens took an occa-
sional swim in that pool during
the summer months. Look how
that creek appears today! But
then, whilst those good old days
have passed, we are now more
comfortably supplied with fine
artesian water, and with swim-
ming pools in our own houses;
advancements of mankind between,
now and fifty years ago of old
“San Antonio de Bexar!’’

Some Hunting and Fishing Reminiscences

_In its near vicinity, our old his-
toric Alamo City has a number of
fine outing, fishing and hunting
places, notably the San Antonio
River and the Salado River bot-
toms with its inviting forest trees,
such as the pecan and walnut, the
willow and the box elder, the live
oak and the postoak, the poplar
and the huisasche, mustang grape
vines, and various berry-bearing
shrubbery; the ancient and at-
tractive Spanish missions, which to-
day yet, though partly crumbled,
remain as massive and imposing
as when they were built hundreds
of years ago and delight the tourist;
the salado, Leone, Almos, Cibolo
and Medina creek valleys, with
their attractive forests and mes-
quite plains, cultivated fields and
divers nature sceneries: the lovely
“head of the river,’ with its un-
excelled forests and park, spark-
ling springs, panoramic villas, bril-
liant flowers and wild plants in gen-
eral; the Graytown lake, and Blue
Wing lake, southwest of San An-
tonio, a modern and _ up-to-date
outing preserve which is expected
to soon become one of the most
favored and foremost hunting and
fishing places in the entire South-
west, by reason of its romantic
location and excellent duck hunt-
ing. The lake has been stocked

lately with a good many thousand
young fry.

In the good old _ days,
before railroads, automobiles and
all other modern conveniences
including the modern rapid fire
repeating guns, the old hunting
grounds about San Antonio were
full of all sort of game, including
deer, bear, turkey geese and ducks,
curlew, plover and all sort of other
small game, and a favorite hunt-
ing place of the writer were the
Leone Hills, Mitchell’s Lake and
Graytown, some 21 miles south-
east of San Antonio. The latter
place was at that time but spar-
ingly settled and the duck shooting
season was immensely enjoyed. at
the large tule-grown lake there;
also wild turkeys and deer and all
sorts of wild animals were numer-
ous there. I recollect a trip I made
with the late Adolph Dreiss and
Mr. Fritze when I bagged my first
wild turkey, a twenty-two poun-
der (when weighed at home).
This happened at a time—some
32 years ago—when also the large
migratory pigeons were there in
the oak forests by the millions;
I remember seeing the ground
under these oak trees literally
covered with acorns and the hulls
of same, together with broken
branches. The shooting of this
TEXAS NATURE OBSERVATIONS AND REMINISCENCES. 215

turkey was quite an episode. My
friends. Dreiss and Fritze were
sitting on the front seat of an am-
bulance whilst we were driving
through the quiet but most im-
posing forest of oak and pecan
trees toward evening one day.

Our Winter Camp Unpver a LARGE Oak TREE WITH A TURKEY AND SOME Rasrits HANGING ON IT

While the two gentlemen had their
guns stored underneath their feet,
I had my old ‘‘reliable’’ ready for
action, in. case we should
meet some game. Hardly had we
entered the shades of the forest

 

when about thirty yards off in an
open space of a brush thicket I
perceived about ten wild turkeys
including two fine gobblers. As
soon as I saw them I told the dri-
ver to stop the horses, and ‘‘bang,”’
down came one of the bigest gobb-

lers in the group. But my friends
were not at all pleased that I was
in such a hurry to shoot and I re-
ceived some rather uncomplimen-
tary ‘Hail Columbia’ for the
act; but all was soon serene again

N
216 TEXAS NATURE OBSERVATIONS AND REMINISCENCES.

as I promised to give them the
next chance,—even if the speedy
turkeys were a mile off. Later we
camped under a huge oak tree
when this turkey, some ducks and
rabbits were hung up, a big camp-
firemade, some game fried and a cup
of hot coffee was enjoyed immensely
after our trip and a bitter cold
night.

Of late years a combination of
gun hunting and camera shooting
has become a very fascinating and
instructive pastime during inter-

of hired Mexicans, and other caus-
es; but later on, during December,
up to March, ducks were much
more numerous and a great many
of them were bagged.

During this time I prepared sev-
eral of the’ so-called ‘‘pull-
the-string’’ photographs, which
are also seen reproduced herein.
These views come in very handy
when one wishes to appear on
the view himself—for instance,
in the view next page which I pre-
pared after some of my neighbors’

 

 

O_p Huntine Grounps at THE Leona Hitts, West of San Antonio, (Original Photo)

vals of legal hunting. At Mit-

‘chell’s Lake in particular a great

field presents itself for the ama-
teur photographer and kodakist. A
good many. of the illustrations
seen in these sketches and others
have become life-time remin-
iscences of past hunting trips.
The beginning of last winter’s
hunting season was not very en-
couraging at Mitchell’s Lake, most-
ly on account of the clearing of
the adjoining pastures by hordes

game had been arranged at the
hunting grounds on a dry tree
trunk. It was a very cold winter
day, but the sun was shining
brightly when the ‘‘self-view’’ was
taken, the photo showing the
string which had been attached to
the shutter mechanism of the
camera to regulate the exposure.

Whilst. this view was taken,
two of my friends and hunting
companions were seen returning
from a successful mornings’ shoot-
TEXAS NATURE OBSERVATIONS AND REMINISCENCES. 217

ing on the lake and they were
rowing up to the bank in their
small boat which was quite filled
with game, and they halted in
front of a large tree close to the
edge of Mitchell's Lake. Being
anxious to prepare a good view
and hunting scene of that lake
with its jungles of tules in the
rear I had some of their game
prought to the shore where it was
adjusted to the branches of the

As to other hunting and fishing
places, Colonel Oscar C. Guessaz,
chief editor of Texas Field, etc.,
in his vast experiences as an old
Texas hunter and unexcelled wri-
ter on Texas game, publishes the
following memoranda. Herewith
are a few excerpts from ‘Where
to Hunt and Fish.’’

FISHING
“At Rockport one can engage the

 

 

PREPARING A ‘‘SELF-MaDE’’ PHotroGrapH at MiITCHELL’s LAKE; WINTER, 1910

tree and the result is the view
herewith which is a typical hunt-
ing scene along the interesting
lake during winter time where
millions of the small black birds
and swarms of ducks and water
fowls congregate and make a
deafening noise during the bom-
bardment of the many huuters,
or during their intervals of flight
from one end of the lake to the
other, or down to the coast.

services of several ex-market hun-
ters who are now guides for sports-
men. Sea-worthy boats capable
of carrying 10 people, can be had
at from $5:00 to $17.00 per day.
If you want something to drink
take it from San Antonio, as Rock-
port is a dry town.

Tarpon: The best tarpon waters
are those of Aransas Pass. Go to
Rockport, Texas, and you will be
sent across the bay to Tarpon, on
218 TEXAS NATURE OBSERVATIONS AND REMINISCENCES.

Mustang Island, -where you will
find a splendid hotel in the Tarpon
Inn, kept by Mrs. Carter and her
son. There you will find the best
tarpon fishing in the world and
may have a go at Spanish mackerel
and. blue fish in season, to say
nothing about the everlasting sport
on trout and red fish.

Corpus Christi, Port Lavaca, in
fact anywhere on the Gulf Coast,

 

from there in a day the stage will
take you 60 miles overland and put
you in the very best bass country
in the world. This beautiful river
whose waters are as clear as crystal,
flows through pecan bottoms for
many miles and in the bends and
rapids of this stream can be found
everything that delights the ang-
ler’s heart. Great beds of water
cress adorn the banks of the river

 

ANOTHER ‘‘PULL-THE-STRING’’ VIEW OF MITCHELL’s LAKE TROPHIES BY THE WRITER; WINTER 1911

the ambitious angler will find his
favorite sport in the line of salt
water fishing.

For black bass, channel catfish,
sun perch, etc., no waters in the
world can beat our Western Tex-
as streams. The best of them all,
however, is the Johnson Fork of
the Llano River, which joins the
main stream at Junction City, in
Kimble County. Take the train
at San Antonio to Kerville and

at every bend a luxuriant growth
of wild mint will be found a wel-
come ornament to the country
today, to say nothing about the
flavor. This stream has every-
thing necessary for the successful
brewing of a mint julep save the
whiskey, which article of luxury .
can be easily carried by the astute
fisherman.

In the winter season a pains-

taking hunter can find splendid
TEXAS NATURE OBSERVATIONS AND REMINISCENCES. 219

sport following the meanderings
of the beautiful Guadalupe River,
which flows from Kerrville, 72
miles northwest of San Antonio,
down to Comfort, where good ac-
comodations can be found. He
‘can follow the river down to War-
ing, Wellfare and on down to
Boerne, taking cither the rail-
road of the San Antonio and Aran-
sas Pass train. Many sportsmen
like this kind of hunting as one

lards and teal; a squirrel, turkey
and rabbits on the same hunt.
To be sure, it is not the same kind
of hunting one finds on the coast,
but for a good tramp, under the
shade of trees and a picturesque
stream, the Guadalupe hunt can’t
be beat.

At Rockport oue can hire any
kind of a boat he desires, and a
cruise to the mouth of the San An-
tonio River, at which is what is

 

WINTER SCENERY WITH HunTERS ON MITCHELL’s LakE, BY THE WRITER, 1899

often bags a brace of mallards at
‘points where they like to feed;
generally the rapids where grow
water cress and other water plants,
besides the food that may be float-
ing down the stream. Then at the
bends of the river which is densely
weeded, the hunter often flushes
a covey of quail, or may come
across a squirrel or turkey. Many
times the hunter has bagged mal-

called Hines Bay, will result in
splendid bags of canvasbacks and
redheads. A letter to Texas Field
will elicit full information as to
where to go and to whom to apply
for boats, or any other information.
BEARS, WOLVES AND MOUNTAIN LION

For this game the hunter must
go to Marfa or Alpine, on the South-
ern Pacific Railway and at those
points outfits can be secured fit for
220 TEXAS NATURE OBSERVATIONS AND REMINISCENCES.

a strenuous tramp to the Chisos
Moutains, 100 miles away. There
bear can be found in reasonable
quantities, but mountain lions and
wolves are in abundance, as well
as black-tailed deer, which grow
to an enormous size, often weighing
250 pounds.

Del Rio is a very good place
from which to organize a bear and
panther hunt. This charming city,
is 120 miles from San Antonio,
on the Southern Pacific Railway.

DEER AND TURKEY

In the Helotes Mountains that
lie generally northwest of San An-
tonio and within 18 miles of that
city, good deer shooting can be
had from November until January
each year.

Pearsall, Cotulla, Asherton and
Encinal stations, on the Interna-
tional and Great Northern Rail-
way are good points from which
the best deer shooting can be had.

Hondo, Sabinal, Kline and Spof-
ford Junction, on the Southern
Pacific, west, are also excellent
points for deer, and can be reached
from San Antonio in a few hours’
run from that city.

QUAIL AND RABBITS

Probably no other region in the
world offers the splendid field
shooting that is still to be found in
Southwest Texas. The limit on
quail is 25 birds per day per man,
and the sport to be had is second
to none in the world. There are

so many good places for quail,

that it is impossible for us to enum-
erate them all in this short ar-
ticle, but you can make no mistake
in coming straight to San Antonio
where choice can be made from
over 200 good points where the hun-
ter can find good cover, plenty of
water and birds enough to enable
a good shot to kill his limit in two
hours.
BASS FISHING

Just one day’s ride from San
Antonio by automobile the angler
can reach the dream of the fish-
erman’s life; a beautiful, rushing,
cold water stream, the South Fork

of theLlano River, running mostly
through rock bottom, with bor-
dures of wild mint, water cress,
elephant ears, ferns of all kinds,
picturesque caverns, impolluted by
the hand of the vandal, and shaded
by trees, hackberries, elms and
cottonwoods. There the greatest
fish hog in the world can glut him-
self with all kinds of fish, which,
together with the ever-present
squirrel offers an inducement that
is as charming as it is rare. This
glorious spot can also be reached
by taking the San Antonio and
Aransas Pass train at 4 p. m.
each day, arriving at the charming
city of Kerrville at 7:00 the same
evening, where the fisherman will
find good hotels where he can
abide the night. The following
morning he can take the stage and
arrive at the fishing place at
7 p. m., after one of the most
charming and picturesque rides
imaginable.”’

As to deer hunting in olden
times, whilst good numbers of
deer still abound in the old hunt-
ing grounds of Western Texas
to-day, they, like the other large
game, will gradually be extermi-
nated in the inhabited regions.
Large herds of them could often
be seen in olden days around Leon
Springs, Boerne and Comfort and
all the other mountainous regions
—just like the herds of tame deer
seen to-day in our beautiful Brack-
enridge Park. The lovely vales and
hills around Boerne in former
years always were a prolific ramb-
ling place for the hunter, the old
sturdy settlers, mostly German
farmers, being dependent upon
their prowess in killing game for a
living. There were no game laws
in those days, nay, not until just
a few years ago, maybe six or eight,
were there any game laws enacted.
Neither were there any ’’game
hogs,’’ which came later, to shoot
and kill whatever they came across.
When a mere boy, and living with
my parents on a farm near Boerne,
one of our neighbors—Anton
TEXAS NATURE OBSERVATIONS AND REMINISCENCES, 221

Bergman—was the champion hun-
ter at Boerne in those days, about
fifty-two years ago. Whenever he
went for deer or turkey there was
something doing, and each time
a deer fell to his unerring aim.
Then the loud sound of a horn
could be heard echoing along the
hills and throughout the quaint
old settlement of Boerne. He al-
ways carried a hunter’s horn with
him and often three or four bug-
ling sounds in succession were
heard which meant three or four
deer, and when in distress or in
want of more pack mules he would

some good hunting dogs with
them, and some of the finest hunt-
ing hounds I ever went on a pre-
serve with were owned by
Mr. Walton at the old ranch of
Mr. Bart de Witt, some twelve
miles below San Antonio.

The jungles around San Anto-
nio in olden times—even those
suburban places now occupied by
palatial homes in the near sub-
urban districts were the haunts of
wild animals and reptiles which
later on, retreated to more remote
and secure places and there killed
and annihilated completely later.

 

 

 

A Larce Lynx Devourtnc SomME WaTER-FowL; Kittep sy Mr L. Toupouse at MITCHELL’S

Lake, Many Years AGO.

keep the bugling up for some time
until additional help came to him.
Wild turkey also, in those days,
were as numerous around Boerne
as quail and doves around San
Antonio to-day. But the onward
march of civilization has gradually
exterminated a whole lot of game
and spoiled the romance of the
good olden days, never to appear
again. Mr. Bergman, and others
of my acquaintance in those days,
especially the late veteran Texas
deer hunter, Captain Dosch, had

(Photo by the Writer, 1892)

An occasional deer, coyote or lobo
wolf or a wild cat is even now yet

_ but very rarely seen in the jungles

around the Leona and other out-
side brush thickets, but the dense
cactus jungles and brushy hills,
especially around lLosoya and
Mitchell’s Lake in olden times
abounded with all sorts of large
and small wid animals, and it is
there where some fifty years ago
an old Texas naturalist and hun-
ter, the late Leon Toudouse, a tax-
idermist of national fame, killed
222 TEXAS NATURE OBSERVATIONS AND REMINISCENCES.

great numbers of wild beasts and
prepared their hides and finally
exhibited them in his private home
museum at Losoya, in the same
position encountered in nature.
I still have a number of photos of
the Toudouse collection of Texas
wild animals and one of these is
reproduced in this magazine. It
is that of a lynx which Mr. Tou-
douse had killed along the brush
thickets and the shore of the old
Mitchell’s Lake. In those days:

prised this lynx whilst devouring
its prey. He and his son were
hunting for game along the lake
when, toward evening, they heard
some commotion in a brush thicket
and there, in the midst of same,
they saw a lynx with the neck part
of a spoonbill in its mouth which
had been torn off the body. The
lynx, alert to a delicate sense, as is
the nature of the cat family, upon
perceiving the intruder, glared
fiercely with its fear-inspiring eyes

 

 

 

A Cozy Fisninc Prace Atonc San Antonio River Forest Bottom, WiTH Rampant GRAPE

AND Ivy Vines, TWELVE MILES BELow Ciry.

lots of wild animals prowled around
that lake at night in search of prey
along the dense tule jungles and
underbrush. Mr. Touduse killed
this lynx toward evening whilst
it was in the act of devouring
a large waterfowl of the red spoon
bill variety—now extinct, accord-
ing to Hornaday.

I recollect to-day yet how Mr.
Toudouse told me the way he sur-

‘

(Original Photo)

tried to make its escape, but a
quick rifle shot put an end to its
marauding career.

As to touring, hunting and fish-
ing places around San Antnoio in
general, we are now entirely safe
from wild beasts anywhere, though
an occasional ‘‘bob cat’? or lobo
wolf, or a rattlesnake or moccasin
may be met with in remote dis-
tricts; but it is exceedingly: sel-
TEXAS NATURE OBSERVATIONS AND REMINISCENCES. 223

dom that fatalities from the latter
occur. The average traveler or
hunter being nowadays better in-
formed as to the haunts and habits
of such animals and of the emergen-
cy appliances in case of accidental
injury, and as may be ‘found in
previous articles on the scientific
treatment of snakebites, ete., in
this book issue.

San Antonio’s environments and

the Texas rivulets in general, es-
pecially the coast regions, have
always been great fishing resorts
for outing parties and lovers of the
rod and reel. In olden times the
San Antonio River and the San
Pedro Creek—both now nearly
gone dry by reason of the enorm-

mous consumptioi of subterranian
and other causes, and also the ad-
joining Salado Creek, the Leona,
Guadalupe and Medina Rivers,
besides other streams were swarm-
ing with the finny tribe, and big
fellows at that. Catfish, bass and
eels of enormous size were caught
to the heart’s content, and the old
San Pedro Creek in olden days
was full of them. I recollect when

 

‘Boat Fisuinc ALonc THE BEAUTIFUL Forest Bottoms oF THE SALADO CREEK, East oF San ANTONIO;
Oncz, AND IN SOME Places YET, A GREAT FISHING PLACE FoR EgL, CaTFisH, Trout, Erc.
(An Old Photoview by the Writer)

living near the creek some forty
years ago, how a Mexican had to
help me pull out a catfish of about
forty pounds which was caught in
one of the large open tule places
the Salinas Street bridge, called
the ‘“‘Huisatche Hole,’ a favorite
bathing place for boys in those
224 TEXAS NATURE OBSERVATIONS AND REMINISCENCES.

happy days. At the present time
one has to go quite a distance for
real good fishing, but the trains
and automobiles bring us in a
short time to the beautiful forest
bottoms of the Guadalupe or to
the Medina and other fishing
places of renown. Eel fishing in
olden times was especially en-
joyed by the younger people, and
most of our rivulets contained

live at New Braunfels can get all
the eels he wishes at any time
asked for. An eel is considered
delicious eating when properly
prepared.

As stated, eel fishing, to be suc-
cessful, is always done at night
time, and usually with the aid of
a lantern, as the pathways along
the fording places are often diffi-
cult to find at night, and the lan-

 

 

 

 

Aw Ee. Heap (Asove) anD a Moccasin’s HEAD (FOR CoMPaRISION)

more or less of them, and it affords
much sport in pulling an eel
out of its watery element. They
are generally and nearly exclusive-
ly caught at night time and with
preference during rainy days, when
they are very lively seeking their
food. The Guadalupe and Medina
rivers are quite full of them and
a friend of mine whose parents

tern also serves to help in baiting
the hooks and keeping a lookout
for water snakes and various night
prowling animals along the. creek
or river banks. An interesting
event it is when an eel is caught,
as the eel is one of the most pow-
erful of fish species, considering
its usual size of only two or three
feet, and it takes a very strong
TEXAS NATURE OBSERVATIONS AND REMINISCENCES. 225

pole and a strong line and hook
to land him safely. There is no
other fish of its size that has that
peculiar jerking power and “‘pull-
ing away of the line’ as an eel,
and it takes all the exertion of both
hands to pull an eel out of its
watery element. Any fisherman of
experience will corroborate this.

Eels are often caught at night
on a trot line or a common fish
line staked to some secure low
branch of a tree or along the bank,
and occasionally a large string of
all sorts of fish, perch, catfish, trout,
bass, buffalo and others are caught
on such trot lines at one setting
during the night, especially during
cloudy or rainy weather, when fish
in general are more lively in search
of food.

The usual size of the Texas eel
is about two or three feet, but some
exceptionally large specimens,from
five to six feet long are occasionally
caught in some of the Texas rivers.
The specimens seen depicted from
nature in this issue were caught by
Wm. Hoffman’s brother at the
latter’s home in New Braunfels in
the Guadalupe River, where eel and
agreat variety of other fish abound.
Where water cress and other plants
are plentiful eels prefer to con-
gregate in search of crawfish, in-
sects and their larvae, and small
fish. The large earthworm, how-
ever, is the best bait for eel, also
liver is good, and the writer caught
the last one with some old cheese.

In viewing the interesting pho-
tos herein of a large eel’s mouth
parts (one of which was artifi-
cially spread open) a large num-
ber of small and sharp teeth are
seen along the front and side parts
of the lower jaw. These are the
grab teeth and serve the animal
for capturing and masticating its
food, and woe unto any one get-
ting his finger accidentally into
the mouth of a live eel!

‘The head and entire body, its

absence of fins and its enormous

flexibility and slippery appearance
makes the eel resemble closely the

body of a snake. However, the eel
is vold of scales, and its head parts
though resembling a snake’s head,
have different anatomical arrange- ,
ments, and it differs in its uni-
form rounded head and neck, its
short and broad tongue, grab teeth
and eyes, which are much larger
than the optics of a snake, as seen
in the engraving.

For comparison I have added a
water moccasin’s head below the
eel’s head (also a side view) show-
ing the wide differences in the
broad outlines of the head and jaw;
bones, the scales and both poison
fangs.

This reptile is the genuine cot-
ton-mouth moccasin, a dangerous:
snake, often confounded with other
harmless water snakes, but rarely
met with now days. The genuine
moccasin is more of a land snake
out it lurks close to the water’s
edge or is met with suspended on a
branch overhanging the water.
{t is a smaller but broader snake
than the common black or dark
orown water snakes oftener en-
countered in remote fishing places,
the latter snakes being void of
poison fangs.

The writer has, in other articles
often called attention to the dif-
ference between a genuine moc-
casin and the other variety of
river snakes. Around inhabited
places the genuine moccasin is
very seldom seen; some of the
other vatiety, however, resembles
it in some respects and it is there-
fore of course always advisable
to exterminate them, and these,
as well as the rattlesnake, have
been exterminated extensively in
late years with the rapid onward
march of civilization along. the
rivulets of Texas.

A common harmless snake would
have shown the close resemblance
of an eel’s head more readily in
our illustration, and this mocca-
sin’s head parts were added merely
as an interesting contrast for the
eel’s head parts.

For the reason of this resemb-
226 TEXAS NATURE OBSERVATIONS AND REMINISCENCES.

lance to a snake eels are abhorrent
to some persons; but an cel’s flesh
if properly cooked, is as fine a dish
as any other fish meat. Some pco-
ple fry or bake the meat after the
eel is skinned. The best way to pre-
pare them, however, is by putting
the entire eel first in salt or ashes
and thereby easily removing the
slimy coat entirely. Then the eel
is laid in vinegar for many hours,
and then thoroughly cooked with
the addition of laurel leaves, pep-
per, salt, cloves and celery. When
thus prepared with some lemon
juice on top, it is a delicious meal,
‘ also when converted into jelly.

Eels were held in great esteem
by the Greeks and Romans, and
enormous prices were some times
paid for them; by the Egyptians,
on the other hand, they were held
in abhorrence. Their snake-like
appearance has had much to do
with the prejudice entertained by
many people against eels, and to
this may be attributed the fact
that in Scotland this valuable fish
is almost wholly rejected as an ar-
ticle of food. Their value in this
respect has, however, been recog-
nized in England from very early
times.

Eels are very largely consumed
in London, the greater proportion
of them, numbering about 10,000,-
000, being brought alive annually
from Holland in welled boats.

The greatest eel breeding estab-
lishment in the world is that at
Commachio, onthe Adriatic, where
an immense swamp has been uti-
lized for this purpose.. The indus-
try is very ancient, having yielded
in the Sixteenth Century an annu-
al revenue of 12,000 pounds to the
Roman Pontiffs.

Formerly it was believed by
naturalists that the eel was a
viviporous animal; later observa-
tions, however, shows that the
eel lays its eggs similar to other
fish species. The spawn is gener-
ally deposited at some, shallow
place near the water’s edge in
sandy soil where, in time, the small

worm-like eels are hatched out;
and in some regions where they
abound more than here, they
swarm by the millions against the
stream and creep over any ob-
stacles encountered in their mi-
gratory droves after crawling over
obstacles during their migration
(according to reliable observa-
tion) some twenty-four feet above
the water’s surface to reach the
water ahead.

During winter eels lie huddled
together like so many snakes, and
similar to such reptiles, in sandy
soil or muddy excavations and ina
dormant condition until, during
spring time, they awaken and are
then very voracious for food and
thus easier to catch. In their dor-
mant state the natives of some
countries know exactly where such
eels are located, when the eels are
easily captured with special spears
—often by the hundreds—and
brought to market. In our Texas
climate the ecl is often daught
also during the winter, unless it
be a very severe cold one.

One of the most interesting eel
species is the so-called electric eel,
belonging to an especial family of
eels, and encountered in the mar-
shes of Brazil, where they are ab-
horred and encountered with ter-
ror, owing to their ‘peculiar elec-
trical apparatus these eels conceal
and discharge along each side of
the lower portion of the tail. They
are eaten by the Indians of Brazil,
who generally kill them by driving:
a herd of horses into the marshes

-and thereby exhausting the eel’s

electric shocks, when also some
horses are killed by these cels.
Humboldt, in his travels had first
deseribed these eels, and I trans-
late the following from Dr. H:
Klencke’s German works: ‘‘ Alex-
ander von Humboldt’s Leben und
Wirken Reisen und Wissen; ein
Biographisches Denkmal.”’

“In thenear vicinity of Calabozo,
Brazil, electric eels are very num-
erous, in stagnant waters as well
as in the inlets of the Orinoco.
TEXAS NATURE OBSERVATIONS AND REMINISCENCES. 227

They possess the peculiarity to
convey electric shocks when touch-
ed and will kil! fish as well as they
become dangerous to animals and
man. Humboldt and Bonplant in-
tended to make experiments in the
huts of the natives, but, owing to
the exaggerated fear of the latter
of the clectric shock of these cels,
it was impossible for three days
to get one single specimen. At
‘last they succeeded in getting one
iiving but very much exhausted

a large cavallada of wild horses
and jacks sueceeded in forcing
this cavallada into the stagnant
swamp, Humboldt and his friend
could conceive the practicability
of the Indians ‘fishing with hor-
ses.. The stamping and alarm of
wild horses and jacks brought the
eels out of their mud holes and
swampy haunts and irritated them
to attack the animals. They swam
under and on the surface of the
muddy water and forced them-

 

InpIANS CaTcHInGc Est With Witp Horses

(Photo Reproduced by Writer from Klencke’s Works)

specimen which, however, gave
very unsatisfactory results. Hum-
boldt therefore, concluded to take
the risk and hunt such eels. In
company with his eompanion.
Bouplant, he ‘induced — several
native Indians to visit a swampy
enclosure or tank near the village
of Rastro d’Abaxo, which was sur-
rounded with huge trees and frag-
rant flowers. The Indians at once
concluded to catch the eels with
horses and only after the leader of

selves under the belly of the hor-
ses and jacks. An unusual sight
now began. The Indians, all pro-
vided with harpoons and long,
thin bamboo canes and_ spears,
surrounded the swampy enclo-
sure, and some ascended a nearby
tree, the branches of which hung
over the water’s surface. With
wild, loud voices and_ gesticula-
lions and dancing around, with
the use of their long weapons, they
hindered the animals from com-
228 TEXAS NATURE OBSERVATIONS AND REMINISCENCES.

ing ashore. The electric eels were
now perfectly aroused and scared
from the tremendous noise of the
stampeding animals and the yell-
ing and dancing of the Indians,
but they defended themselves by
discharging their electric batteries
and it seemed for a while they
would hold the ground. Some of
the horses however, succumbed to
the severe electric shocks adminis-

two of the horses were drowned,
and Humboldt thought that. all
the horses used for this novel fish-
ing would finally succumb, but
gradually the even struggle for
existence and supremacy ceased,
and the electric eels dispersed.

“The eels, the Indians explained,
need a long rest now and abun-
dant nourishment to gain strength
again, which had been lost by

 

 

 

 

Fisuinc ALonc THE Romantic San Antonio River BELow Bere’s MILL

tered to them against their bellies
and sank under the water. Others,
wild with fear, snorting terribly,
stood up and tried to escape, but
the Indians managed always to
drive them back into the eel pond
and it was seldom that a horse
escaped the eagle-eye and dex-
terity of the Indians and made his
escapéd. Some of the animals that
hadescape trembled with fear and
pain and threw themselves on the
sandy soil.

“During the first five minutes

unloading their electric organs.

-The Indians also declared that if

the animals are driven two days
in succession into the swampy .eel
pond not one would succumb after
the second day as they became
immune against the shocks.”

The near environments of San
Antonio up to the Guadalupe and
Medina rivers can boast of some
romantic fishing and general out-
ing places, such as are herein
vividly depicted.

The above scenic view of a fish-
TEXAS NATURE OBSERVATIONS AND REMINISCENCES. 229

‘ing party was taken by the writer
some years ago, some ten miles
“south of San Antonio, near a large
irrigated field and Cassin’s Lake,
to the west. There are a number of
exceedingly attractive and _ pic-
turesque river bottom scenes near
the above place. From the old
renowned Berg’s Mill fishing places,
with it’s historic Mission San Juan
to the east of the river down to the
ancient and picturesque Mission
Espada. For the amateur kodakist
there is hardly any ‘better field in
Texas. In olden times the old
Medina River bottoms were a very
prolific field for sportimen, and the
writer recollects the many fiine

 

 

“ALLIGATOR HoLLow’’ MAGNIFICENT SCENERY

ALONG THE MepiIna RIVER
ducks, geese, curlew, turkey and
squirrels and an occasional deer and
wild hog my companions and I had
killed some forty-five years ago,
and the large strings of fish that
were caught in the pellucid Medina
River.

The elegant views herein, of afew
of the thousands of picturesque
fishing places along the Medina—
these about 40 miles northwest of
San Antonio-—-were taken by mem-
bers of an outing party.. One scene
is of especial interes and depicts
some of the huge precipices along
the Medina, extending for miles and
miles along its banks. It represents
what is called the ‘‘Alligator Hol-
low,” a very large and cave-like

excavation inside the steep rock
walls seen on view above, and be-
yond is the picnic party gathered
on top of the huge rock piles facing
the River.

The wild scenery along these rock
precipices, with their many caves
and mountain vegetation is indes-
cribably picturesque, and one must
go see these places to appreciate
them fully.

The two other views show some
of the outing party in a small boat
close to a huge rock along the river,
and close to the romantic bank of
the Medina with its high cypress
trees, walnut, pecan, elder, poplar,
mustang grape vines, cedar trees,
fern plants and brilliant flowers.
It is here, some ten miles north of
the gigantic Medina Dam project,
that the writer lately had a most
enjoyable outing and ate in one day
more fine fish than in along time
in San Antonio, when we were the
guests of a relative who had pitched
his camp for a few weeks outing.
He had an up-to-date camping out-
fit with a fine tent, hammock,
cooking outfit, hunting and fishing
paraphernalia, besides all other
comforts of a modern camp, under
a large liveoak tree on a high em-
bankment overlooking the magni-
ficent Medina River scenery all
about. '

At the above mentioned outing |
places lovers of nature and sport
will be amply repaid for a day or
more of recreation, and they will
feel like the country people living
in their humble but contented ways.
And, as I stood there, the guests of
my friend in his camp, I felt like
owning a nice little home there
myself, and’ thought of the in-
spiring poetry of Marvin C,
Jenkins, who, at such a moment
so marvelously depicts our own
feelings in the following verses:

“What would ye give for a home
like mine,

Cozily nestling ‘neath the pines? -

’Tis humble, I know, but, for all
of that,
230 TEXAS NATURE OBSERVATIONS AND REMINISCENCES.

I would not change for your city
flat.

Ah! look in the glass at your poor:

worn face,
And come with me to my country
place,
Among the beasts and the birds to
live—
Ah! Slaves of the Dollar, what
would you give?

“What would you give to come

with us,

Away from the noises and city
fuss—

In our log cabin among the
trees—

Among the birds and the hum-
ming bees?

Beautiful Nature! this is the
place

Where man meets his Maker,
face to face.

His work you will find here on
every hand,

Come! abide with me in this
- wonderful land.

“What would you give to be with
me.

In the brook, with the water up
to my knee,

With rod and reel, as I cast
about ?—

Ah! what would you give to see
the trout?

As he plunges and leaps, his
freedom to gain,

Your hot blood goes rushing
through every vein. _

Ah! men in your office, who
plot and scheme, _

Come fishing with me in the
silvery stream.

“What would you give to see the
fun,

As I go forth with my dog and
gun?—

Returning soon with a full
game-bag,

Pleasant change from your
city drag,

Where you forfeit your soul for
the greed of wealth,

And you and your children are
broken in health.

Ah! come with me to the woods
and hills

Where we know no pains, or
aches, or ills.”’

 

 

 

Hicu Rock Precipices ALONG tHE Menina River, NortTHweEst oF Sas ANTONIO
TEXAS NATURE OBSERVATIONS AND REMINISCENCES. 231

 

 

BEauTIFUL SCENERY ALONG THE MeEpINA River, 40 Mites NortHwest oF SAN ANTONIO

 

 

FIsHINL ON THE Mepina RIVER
232 TEXAS NATURE OBSERVATIONS AND REMINISCENCES.

 

 

 

 

(Courtesy of the Texas Stockman and Farmer)

 

 

M

 

Farm Scenery aT San Geronimo, Near Banvera Roan, NortHwest or SAN Antonio, (Original Photo)
TEXAS NATURE OBSERVATIONS AND REMINISCENCES. 233

During a late trip to the Medina
‘river in July 1911, we came across
some of the highest rocky embank-
ments we had seen yet in that wild
romantic country, aud some of the
photographs herein give a clear idea
how they look; one esdecially show-

forests and surrounding mountains,
and it is here (photo page 230) I am
told, in the neighborhood of Pipe’s
Creek, entering the Medina River,
that last year three ladies drowned
accidentally, not being aware of
the deep and dangerous places

 

 

 

 

 

San Antonio OuTING Party ALOnG THE Romantic Mepina River, Fourteen MILes
SourHWEsT OF SAN ANTONIO }

ing the huge rockwalls about thirty
or more feet above the Medina river
with large crevices and two of
the touring party are seen sitting
on top of the high cliffs overlooking
the romantic Indian river valley,

they waded in to,bathe,"and met
their death. In olden days these
romantic regions were the haunts
of an extinct race—the Indians,
and hardly a more ideal place,
with lots of wild game and fish
234 TEXAS NATURE OBSERVATIONS AND REMINISCENCES.

can be imagined for Indians to
live at; the immense rock pre-
cipices and caves and crevices hav-
ing offered shelter to the Indians as
well as the wild beasts—now also
more or less extinct. Near to
our camp lives an old experienced
trapper who has in late years
cleared these regions of all sorts of
wild animals as well as dangerous
reptiles, and he made some good
money by his trade—the prepared
skins of the wild cat, panther, fox,
opossum, civetcat, armadillo, coon,

ands of them covered the immense
and and partly rotund cavern
and high precipices of the huge
rock walls, and the photograph
shows this elegantly, besides the
immense rock walls, caverns and
caves and and some of the outing
party sitting and standing inside
the arch of these huge rock
caverns and beneath the masses
of swallow nests. That was a tu-
multuous noise; a_ screeching,
whirling around, and_ intensely
fascinating sight to behold as

 

 

 

 

 

San ANTONIO TouRISTS AT MEDINA RivER EMBANKMENTS, INSIDE AN IMMENSE CAVE-LIKE
Rocky ExcavaTIon—Tue Upper CurvepD Roor STUDDED WITH THOUSANDS OF THE
Cirrr-SwaLLows’ Mup Nests; In Open Days tHE Haunts oF LarcEe WILD
BEasTs AND THE INDIAN; ABouT 42 Mites NorTHWEST OF SAN ANTONIO

skunk, lobo wolf and coyote and
other jungle animals.

Some of these intensely attrac-
tive regions, besides wild animals,
owls, hawks, and serpents, are
the hosts of the interesting
cliffswallow alluded to in a separate
chapter of these reminescenees; and
never in my life have I come
across such masses of swallow
nests as seen also on the photo
illustration that was taken near
our camp. Hundreds and thous-

we approached near and under
the nests to prepare some views

-of them—and the one in this

photo view only shows some
large masses, but not all of the
myriads of nests in the adjoining
excavations.

These swallow-made houses were
all well preserved—modern civiliza-
tion with some vandals not having
destroyed the nests as yet—as
TEXAS NATURE OBSERVATIONS AND REMINISCENCES. 235

seen also on the illustration. Just
think of the time and labor these
industrious martins spend in build-
ing these nests—with small parcels
of soft clay—each nest close to
the other, and in shape and size
of a cocoanut shell, and how
securely the nests were adjusted
on the high dome and walls of
the cliffs above the party of
visitors seen on the photo.

Some of these wild regions along
the Medina river are also famed
‘for the large beehives met there
and of the guano caves, tons of
guano I was told, being stored away
in some of the caves and cavern
—perhaps not explored a- .-.
In these southern region. 9. the

Medina river nex ©’ Hanis, Texas,
some years ago, my old friend,
the late Captain Rheichartz, of
D’Hanis had sent the writer some
samples of bat guano gathered by
himself at the large guano caves
near Frio City for microscopic
examination; and it was amazing
to note the immense quantity
of anatomical remnants of insects,
mostly mosquitoes and _ flies.

I had a number of fine micro-
photographs of the prepared sl de
samples, which I sent to Captain
Rheichartz; but whether the rich
guano caves were further explored
and utilized commercially, I never
found out.

 

 

 

Nice CattLz ScENERY IN Jounson-GRaAss PASTURE, AT THE CassiN’s IRRIGATED FIELDS

SoutH oF San AnTONIO,

(Original Photo)
236 TEXAS NATURE OBSERVATIONS AND REMINISCENCES.

Some Outing Reminiscences

The prairie plains and forests
around San Antonio abound with
various wild ruit-bearing — trees
and shrubbery, which are more or
less eatable and delicious, and
are a great boon to animal life
on the plains during droughty
times of the year, and a great
variety of such wild fruit serves

wild animals, including especially
the feathery tribe, as nourishment
during the warm seasons and in
droughty time. Cattle especially
are very fond of the prairie fruit,
for instance the mesquite bean;
and of late years some enterprising
cattle raisers are advocating the
special care of the mesquite tree,

 

 

 

 

 

Forest SCENERY AT OuR BEAUTIFUL SALADO CREEK Bottom, East_or SangAnTonio.

mankind as delicious foodstuffs
in the kitchen, for instance the
strawberry, dewberry, plum, cherry
grapes, pecan, agarita berry, etc.,
whilst others and all of these,
the mesquite bean, persimmon,
the cactus fruit, hackberry, yellow
berry, blackberry etc., serve the

on account of its useful beans—
by converting them into a whole-
some mealpowder to serve as
food for cattle and horses. In
droughty years, when hay is
scarce and other feedstuffs high
in price, such mesquite bean meal,

.as well as prepared cactus leaves,

(By the Writer, 1889)
TEXAS NATURE OBSERVATIONS AND REMINISCENCES, 237

furnish good food for cattle as well
as other animals.

Our large black and marble-
round persimmons are delicious and
are also a valuable food for some
animals of the prairie, and also to
man, as they make a good preserve
orjelly. It is well known that the
ripe persimmons are a delicious
food to birds and many of the
wild rodents, and various insects
and beetles, and some variety of
prairie flies in particular are fond
of them; and such animals as
coons and opossums and other

turkeys and opossums, squirrels and
other rodents with substantial food;
and it is well known how cleverly
the rodents gather their supply
of acorns and pecans during harvest
time, and carefully store away
for the pending winter or droughty
times.

Some of the most delicious of
wild fruit or berry is offered to
man, as the wild grape and the
agarita. Of the former there are
two kinds: the large ‘‘Mustang,”’
and the small black variety. Our
rivulets, and in particular the

 

 

 

Witp GRAPEVINES ON THE SAN AnToNIO RIVER

animals of the plains fatten upon
_them. Sometimes also squirrels,
prairie rats and other rodents,
when the pecan and corn crop is
short, feed upon persimmons and
mesquite beans (as I have occasion-
ally seen on hunting trips.)

The purple-red fruit of the
Opuntia cactus also furnish food
for many of the wild animals,
and often sustains life during
severe droughty seasons. The oak
trees, when the acorns ripen and
fall to the ground, also furnish
such animals as deer, wildhogs,

San Antonio River, the Guadalupe,
the Medina and others, are abund-
antly supplied with wild Mustang
grapes which furnish a most deli-
cious jelly and a fine wine, if
properly prepared. These immense
and rampant grapevines along the
rivulets and in forest-bottoms al-
ways has been, and always will
be a most attractive Nature scene,
especially in smmmer‘ when the
branches and vines are covered
with bunches of blueish and glitter-
ing grapes, which, when near to the
ground can easily be gathered; but
238 TEXAS NATURE OBSERVATIONS AND REMINISCENCES.

mostly they are in inaccessible
places, reaching to the top of the
forest-tree, and often hundreds of
feet high.

The. accompanying photograph
I prepared last fall of some of
these grapevines, which fairly
illustrates the exceeding attractive-
ness of these rampant vines and
‘the forest scenery close to the
romantic San Antonio River, some
ten miles below San Antonio—
the vines entirely covering the
trees and overhanging the river
below.

months, our agaritas blossom at
an early date in Spring. and
fully ripen in May when they
are gathered for various houschold
purposes, but in particular for
preparing jelly, syrup. wine and
pies. ‘The jelly also can be con-
verted into a delicious and refresh-
ing beverage, during the hot sum-
mer months, by adding a little
lemon juice, and if preferred, a
little ‘‘spirits’’ to a tumbler full
of water and some sugar.

The agarita bush grows in
nearly all soils and locations of

 

i
GaTHERING AGARITA BERRIES From BusH

Some other and also most de-
licious wild fruit indigenous to
our Texas climate, is our so-
called ‘‘agarita”’ or sour berry, vine-
gar. berry, or ‘“‘Berberis Vulgaris,”
its latin name. It is one of the
most conspicuous of our shrubery—
bearing fruit of the prairie plains,
for reasons of its dagger-pointed
(three cornered) leaves, and _ its
multiple and intensely yellow-col-
ored fragrant blossoms; and, whilst
the many and various other prairie-
berries ripen: during .the summer

the prairie, but generally it
is seen in the hilly and rocky
regions around San Antonio, where
during blossoming and fruit-ripen-
ing time it is easily distinguished
from other shrubbery, for reason
of the stated sharp-pointed leaves
and the red color of its succulent
berries.

Ordinarily the gathering of
agarita-berries is a rather tedious
and often painful procedure, and
persons uninformed of the proper
way to gather them often tear
TEXAS NATURE OBSERVATIONS AND REMINISCENCES. 239

or break large numbers of limbs
laden with bunches of berries
in order to peal them off afterward.
This breaking of the branches
is very injurious to the future
welfare of the bush, and adds to
the gradual extermination of this
useful bush, and it can wholly

regions north-west of San Antonio.
The berry-bearing agarita bushes
were at that time so fully laden
with the red berries that the
branches drooped low to the gruund
and could be seen for a long
distance.

In driving along our roads where

 

A ConrortTion OF AGARITA AND PERSIMMON BRANCHES

be avoided, simply by placing a
large cloth, or an umbrella below
the lowest branches near the ground
and gently: striking the branches
or limbs with a stick—as seen in
the photograph prepared by the
writer last summer, in the hilly

the Agarita plants grow in the
near vicinity of the city, often
numbers of broken-off and dried
agarita branches can be noticed
scattered around; and it would
have been much better to gather
the berries according to the de-
240 TEXAS NATURE OBSERVATIONS AND REMINISCENCES.

scribed plan, and thereby save
the bush for future fruit bearing.
‘In the accompanying photo, the
proper mode of gathering agaritas
is vividly depicted, showing one
of our party holding the berry-
laden branch with one hand, whilst
the other hand gently thrashes
them off by rapid strokes on the
branch. (The photo of this agarita
bush shows the branches blurred—
from a stroke it had received a
few seconds before taking the
view.) The berries thus handled,
drop to the cloth below and the
bushes are not mutilated to any

extent, and the same thrashed -

branches will: bear fruit again
the following year.

At some seasons, especially in
droughty times, these agaritas,
as well as other fruit-bearing bushes
are invaded by myriads of various
insects which feed on the berries,
and these insects in return are
a great boon to our mockingbird
and other warblers of the Texas
plains.

The other photograph represents

parts of one of the agarita bushes
and also branches of the wild
persimmon with ripe fruit. The
best way to rid the thrashed’
berries of all brush debris and
insects was invented by one of
the gentlemen seen on the first
photograph. After the berries had
been gathered as described, (and
they had a large tin bucket and
a box filled to the brim,) one of the
boys suggested to try a screened
window-frame (which happened to
be at the farm. where the berries
were gathered) and it worked fine!
After elevating one end of the wire
screen, several handsful of the.
gathered berries were put at the
top, and after tapping the screen
with the hand, all the _ berries
rolled down into a large kettle
below, whilst the debris of leaves
and small fragments of branches
and numerous insects remained
on the surface of the wire screen.
In this way the greater part of
the large bucket full of berries
was soon cleared in a comparative
short time of all deleterious ma-
terial.

Midsummer Outing at the Beautiful Guadalupe
River---Insect Plague in Camp

Texas, and admirers of na-
ture in general, are proud of the
many romantic rivulets.and for-
est sceneries we possess, travers-
ing the great State of Texas, and
the pleasure they afford to outing
parties. This pleasure, however,
of hiking into the woods, especial-
lv during hot summer days, is not
at all times a pleasurable one—by
no means! Often unforseen ob-
stacles must be contended with,
and one, therefore, has to be pre-
pared for such emergencies during
outings in our hot summer days.
Above all, one should be provided

with plenty of wholesome drink-
ing water and the necessary food
supplies, of course, especially if
intended to camp out far off frum
some farmhouse or a cool spring.
For drinking purposes, there is no
better contrivance on the market
than the so-called ‘‘ African wa-
ter cooler bag,’’ holding about two
gallons of water. Such water-

‘bag (seen attached to buggy, on
one of the original pictures here-

in) keeps the water just right,
cool—the hotter the atmosphere.
the cooler the water in the bag—
and it is more handy and trans-
TEXAS NATURE OBSERVATIONS AND REMINISCENCES. 241

portable than any other water
supply vehicle which. however,
are also necessary in case of far
off and prolonged trips. ‘Then,
also, one should have a smali
emergency supply box with kim,
containing such articles as a pair
of forceps or pincers, camphor and
earbolic acid salve; pennyroyal
oil, turpentine, a roller bandage
and absorbent cotton, adhesive
plaster roll, permanganate of
potasium, strychnia tablets, la-
pactic pills,needleandthread, mos-

Larger insects, such as wasps,
bees spiders, scorpions and oth-
ers, rarely attack a person if not
molested directly, but sting, they
will and badlv, too, if onee en-
raged especially the wasps.
There exists several distinct varie-
ties of prairie and forest wasps,
and of the latter, the large, red-
ish-brown, or nearly red, colored
hornetwasp, supplied with fear-
fully large stinging implemrnts,
is the most vicious and most pain-
ful insect. During a late outing,

 

 

 

 

 

 

Boat FIsHING ON THE GUADALUPE RIVER

quito netting; and, also, soap,
towels, underwear, stockings, slip-
pers, ete., all of which may come
very handy at times. Select a
shady clear place, and remove all
rubbish around camp, <A good
hammock comes very handy, also,
as well as a folding tent and a
small collapsible table, ete. Be-
fore retiring to sleep, use some of
the camphor or pennyroyal oil—it
will help to ward off the mos-
quitos and ticks and other insects
—more or less always present in
forest bottoms close to a rivulet.

in June, in the beautiful forest
bottom of the Guadalupe valley,
near Seguin, large swarms of these
vituperous hornets were met with,
and one of our party coming ac-
cidentally in. contact with a hornet
breeding nest, was desperately at-
tacked and stung ,and the wounds
were so painful he had to quickly
undress and plunge himself into
the close-by Guadalupe river to
escape the enraged red wasps and
alleviate the fearful burning,
stinging wounds.

Other mean little insects molest-
242 TEXAS NATURE OBSERVATIONS. AND REMINISCENCES.

ing the camper during outings is
the small, crablike woodticks,
the smaller plant inseet; mos ,ui-
toes, gnats, and the omnipresent
flies—this latter, especially in
large swarms, when fish are
caught and cleaned of their scales
and entrals. In hot weather hun-
dreds and thousands of them soon
gather around the camp, and un-
less the fish or meat of any kind
be well protected, the latter wil!
surely soon be covered with imi!-

time and luck in catching large
strings of fish, and, one broiling
hot afternoon one of the clzaned
fish was overlooked putting it in
a screened box, and when we re-
turned later from another tour of
inspecting a trotline we were
amazed with the amount of eggs
the flies had deposited in that
fish—by the teaspoonful! Having
a near-focusing lens and camera
with us, I prepared the photo-mi-
erographic view here'n seen, show-

 

 

 

 

THE Fiy Pest in Camp

lions of fly eggs. The flies zrawl
with prefernce inside the open
fish, and there deposit their clus-
ters of small, oblong cggs between
the folds of the gills and inside
the entral’s cavity.

During an outing end of July,
this year (1913) at the lovely
Guadalupe river bottom, near Sis-
terdale, we had a very enjoyable

ing some eggs magnified several
diameters. In a day or two more,
these same fly eggs wotld have
been converted into living fly lar-
vae, and eventually into a. new
crop of flies to molest other camp-
ers and deposit their eggs. But
they were all destroyed with a
little boiling water poured upon
the eggs and the meat of the con-
TEXAS NATURE OBSERVATIONS AND REMINISCENCES. 243

taminated fish was used to bait
a large trotline during night
hours.

Such are some of the disagree-
able annoyances in camp life;
however, it also gave us 1 cued
lesson, not alone how to destroy,
with one sweep of a little botiing
‘water, myriads of developing
flies, but also, my compan-
ion, Alfred Haubold, detected a
new means of warding off any
flies and other insectis from infest-
ing and breeding on fish and

Boerne, and six miles beyond War-
ing, is about one of the most in-
teresting and highly picturesque
outing places of Western Texas.
One of the photo-views herem
vividly depicts the grandeur of
the Guadalupe river close to Se-
guin and gives an idea how the
Balance of the scenery along this
rivulet looks—like all along its
northern and northwestern course
into the hilly and mountaincus re-
gions. The place we camped late-
Ixy was an indescribably pietur-

 

 

 

 

In Camp, Near GUADALUPE RIVER

other meatstuffs simply by sprink-
liag the inside fish parts with
‘‘Mexine’’—a pepper preparation
for making Mexican dishes. This
absolutely kept the flies o1?, whilst
mere salt and black pepper powder
would not have any effect on the
flies. Try it once, ye campers!
The Guadalupe river, where we
camped and fished, beyond Se-
guin, and especially at Sisterdale,
some twelve miles north of the
picturesque railroad town of

esque place, surrounded with huge
and century-old cypress and some
pecans, oak, elder, cedar and other
forest trees; and plenty of such
game as squirrels and rabbits, es-
pecially, also, swamp-rabbits
abounded; whilst at night some of
the large night owls kept as
awake with their peculiar sonor-
ous: calling from one end of the
forest to: the other.

The camn picture seen herein
was taken on the road leading to
244 TEXAS NATURE OBSERVATIONS AND REMINISCENCES.

the Guadalupe river, near Sister-
dale where quite a string of trout.
and catfish were caught, and sus-
pended later on a long line for
this view. It was only a temporary
camving place, as the fly and in-
sect pest was bad; but later, we
camped close to the river, in full
view of the grand Guadalupe
scenery resembling those seen
on the boat fishing photo view
along the river banks, and here
we spent a few delightful: days
close to a farm.

ead

 

a broad smile of contentment.
What also interested us very much
were some very old log houses-—
built by the first settlers around
Sisterdale, and also the maay an-
cient and solidly built rock fences
traversing the picturesque vales
and hilly forest regions all
around the old post oak Sister-
dale valley. These vales and hilly
forest regions in olden days (and,
to some extent to-day yet) were
full of large, wild game, especially
deer, wild turkey and bear, roam-

A Typicat Loc House or THE First SETTLERS OF THE WESTERN WILDERNESSES
(Reproduced by the Writer from Rudolf Cronau's Historical Work: ‘‘America"”’

What interested us also, and
most, during our late outing trips
to the Guadalupe river—partlv
per auto, and the last trip in bug-
gies (a little less convenient, but
by far more enjoyable to observe
the grand nature sceneries) was
the highly prosperous condition of
the farming districts all along the
Boerne and Guadalupe valleys;
the fields and crops never before
looked any better to us, and the
farmers, mostly Germans, all wore

 

ing around the steep canyons,
postoak brush and dense forests,
and a book could be written about
them when listening to the hunt-
ing tales of the old, sturdy Ger-
man settlers of unsurpassed beau-
tiful Sisterdale.

On the way homeward, we
camped near a queer Mexican set-
tlement and limekiln plant near
Boerne, and the latter reminded
us of the large rock quarry ro-
tunda at Laurel Heights, north
TEXAS NATURE OBSERVATIONS AND REMINISCENCES, 245

of San Antoino, and the blasting
of the huge rock walls at that
kiln sounded like cannon shots
and the roaring of artillery fire,
reechoed along the hilly regions.
The queer little Mexican huts pre-
sented a very picturesque and
lively little Mexican: village, sur-
rounded as it is by evergreen hills
and fields, and as it was ‘‘water
melon time,’’ we enjoyed a tweu-
ty-pounder ‘‘sandilla’’—con mun-
cho gusto!

Returning home a large batch
of mail was awaiting me, and
among the letters, one especially
was very interesting, coming from
a dear friend and relative, who
had, on account of his health, just
traveled nearly a thousand miles
in New Mexico, and as his letter
shows the great contrast of that
wild country as compared with
our cultivated Texas regions, I
append same in these few
sketches, to.wit:

Gallup, New Mexico, July 21,
1913.—‘‘Shortly after leaving the
mountains last spring, three oth-
ers and myself rigged up an out-
fit of a wagon, six burros, tents,
cooking utensils, guns, fishing
tackle and lots of chuck. Two of
the boys also bought saddle horses.
Our intention was to make an all-
summer trip of it, spending sev-
eral weeks in the White moun-
tains of New Mexico and White
mountains of Arizona, go through
the petrified forest, see the pre-
historic cliff dwellings and the
Grand Canyon of Arizona.

The sport in the White moun-
tains of New Mexico proved to be
rather tame, as we did not see
any game, with the exception of
birds and such like.

‘We hunted for large game for
a week, and as we did not have
any success, pushed on to the
White mountains of Arizona. Our
first town in Arizona was a small
Morman settlement eighty miles
from the railroad. At that place

we got information about the best
grounds in the mountains for
camping. The road up the moun-
tain was a mere cow trail, awful
steep and rough. Going up we
broke the wagon tongue, and com-
ing down, the rear axle, both aeci-
dents occurring within ‘three hun-
dred yards of one another, and
about six miles from the town.
We had to pitch camp both times
and ride into town for repairs.
It was a hard trip, but I feel that
it was worth it, as I have never
seen prettier country. We camped
on what is called the upper fork
of Black river. The hills are
covered with fine grass and wild
flowers, and the mountain
streams were cold as ice, and
were stocked with mountain trout.
It was the latter part of June that
we camped there, but there was
quite a bit of snow on the ground
and there was ice in our pails
several mornings. At sunset we
would start a big bonfire, which
we kept going several hours.
Those were the hours I enjoyed
most of all. A big bonfire, a
pipe or two of tobacco and a
bunch of good, congenial fellows,
makes a very pleasant closing of
the day.

After leaving the mountains,
we got down in the flat country,
where we almost burned up.

‘We went through the petrified
forest, which consisted of pieces of
petrified tree trunks and limbs
strewn about the ground.

The largest solid piece I saw
was about five feet thick and six
or seven feet long. They are varie-
gated, and make rather a pretty
sight. From there we went
through the Navajo Indian res-
ervation, stopped at a govern-
ment school and also a mission
school.

We suffered quite a bit through
that part of the country, as most
of it is desert and barren of grass.
We carried grain, but not hay
with us, and several days the stock
246 TEXAS NATURE OBSERVATIONS AND REMINISCENCES.

did not get any grazing at all.

Flagstaff was our last stop be-
fore we reached the Grand Can-
yon. We camped there _ several
days, and rode out to cliff dwell-
ings, which are ten miles from
town.

There is a trail leading into the
eliffs which are in large triang-
ular shaped canyons. The dwell-
ings are about halfway up the
eliffs. The. soft strata .of rock
were evidently washed out at some
prehistoric time, and between the
two stratas of hard rock the
dwellings were built. The build-
ings consisted of walling in the
sides and front with rocks and
mud.

The Grand Canyon was a great
sight to witness, We saw it from
Grand View Point, which is con-
sidered one of the best views of
the canyon. At this point, it is
several miles wide, and, in places,
about a mile deep. The walis of
the canyon are very rugged and
the formation is of quite a num-
ber of different colors. The colors
seem to change from time to time
during the day, as the svn hits it
at different angles. and makes it
an ever changing view.

At the bottom is the Colorado
river, which looks about as large
as the Flores street ditch in San
Antonio from the top, but is really
quite a large river.

I would like to have stayed
there several days and gone to the
bottom of it, but we were up
against the water proposition.
All the water tanks along the road
were dry, and our stock did with-
out water for two days. We got
plenty for drinking purposes from
an outo that we met on the way.
Water at the hotel at Grandview,
which was the only water within
miles, cost 25 cents a head fer
stock and 25 cents zach for our
kegs. Coming back to New Mex-
ico, we had to follow the railroad,
on account of water, as all tanks,
canyons and streams between

there and Winslow, Arizona,
were dry. This side of Winslow,
there are a number of windmills,
but the water is awful full of gyp.
Navajos are scattered all along
this part of the country, and we
passed quite a number of Indian
villages. They look about the
same as the Mexican settlements.
There were a few farms, but most
of the Indians in this section
make a living raising sheep, cat-
tle and horses, also make blank-
ets and silver jewelry.

The first rain we had to con-
tend with, was about ten days
ago, but it has rained every day
since.
storm Friday, which made travel
almost impossible. About sundown
Friday, we reached a homestead,
and the fellow at the place in-
sisted we stay with him over night,
which we were only too glad to
do, for the ground was simply
covered with water. ,

‘We learned there was a Navajo
fete going on about three miles
from there, so after supper we
went over. Several hundred
Indians were there, and as many
horses, for each Indian has his
pony.

Some twenty-five or thirty
campfires were burning, near as
many huts, or enclosures, built for
the occasion.

While they have a number of
different dances, the only one we
saw was where a man with the
tom-tom would stand in the center
while the rest of the Indians
would gather around him and
chant, their bodies swaying to
the time of the chant.

When an Indian got sleepy, he
went over to one of the campfires
and rolled up in his blanket with
his feet towards the fire. He kept
his horse saddled and tied, or
held the lines in his hands.

We did not get back to the
house until midnight, and though
I was about. played out, was glad
I went. The next day we arrived

Had quite a rain and hail:
TEXAS NATURE OBSERVATIONS AND REMINISCENCES. 247

at Gallup. Here our party broke
up. The summer rains have set
in and it makes traveling too dis-
agreeable.

I have been on the lookout for
a Gila monster ever since I got
in this part of the country, but
have not seen any, nor have I
been able to get one in any of the
towns, Have seen thousands of
small lizards of different kinds,
but besides lizards and horned
toads, have not seen any reptiles,
with the exception of one rattle-
snake, in New Mexico and one in
Arizona. If I can find a Gila, I
will surely send it to you.

I saw quite a few deer and an-
telope in the mountains west of
Flagstaff. Stopped one day at a
tanking outfit for dinner, and
was given a piece of mutton,
which surely did taste like veni-
son. When I passed the camp
going up to the canyon, I saw
five black-tail deer not more than
a thousand yards from thé camp.
I was too close to camp to risk a
shot, but told the bunch I saw
them and suppose they located
them after I left. Sincerely,

MAX.

Nature Scenes Around Beautiful San Antonio

Nature -has wonderfully en-
dowed our old Alamo City and
its immediate and remote en-
vironments with hundreds of
thousands of attractive nature-
sceneries; and equally as many
of these sceneries have been more
or less elegantly photo-repro-
duced by professionals, as well as
amateur specialists. :

In the following pages the
writer takes the liberty to add
a few more original reminiscences
and typical nature-sceneries—
conjointly with others already
published herein.

But it would be folly to’ at-
tempt renumerating in detail even
a small percentage of all the im-
portant and interesting sceneries
of nature surrounding our beauti-
ful San Antonio, as there is no
end to such,

To begin with—here is for in-
stance an interesting olden time
amateur view of the writer’s rep-
resenting scenery of a ‘‘charco’’ or
“aroyo”, (small stagnant rivulet
or pool of rain water) nine miles
west of San Antonio, surrounded
by a liveoak and mesquite forest
in the rear, a gathering place for
cattle of the pasture in which the

scenery is located, and a place
where in olden days lots of deer,
wild turkey, wild animals of the
jungles and endless numbers of
small game, including the. large-
billed kingsnipe or  curlew,
abounded and found shelter in
summer and winter, and plenty of
feed in the surrounding oak bot-
toms and pasture plains. The
surroundings of this same scen-
ery is, or was, covered with miles
of dense jungles of the opuntia
cactus and prickly pear plants,
and several large tanks were
scattered for miles along the
oak and mesquite and under-
brush, and they afforded fine
hunting in winter time for ducks
and deer seeking these secluded
water places; and it was also (for
reason of the shelter these large
pastures and olden-time hunting
grounds afforded) the haunts of
numerous types of small wild an-
imals, and a prolific shelter place
—among the cactus jungles with
the peculiar prairie rat nests—
for the dreaded rattlesnake, the
opossum, skunks and the smaller
types of prairie-rodents.

Most of these large pastures, or

a major part of them, are now-~
248 TEXAS NATURE OBSERVATIONS AND REMINISCENCES.

adays cleared of jungles and con-
verted into cultivated fields, with
prosperous farms, and game of all
kinds has consequently dimin-
ished considerably in these days
of our rapidly advanced era of
modern civilization.

Another interesting and olden-
times nature-scenery around San
Antonio is represented in the

east of the city, in a hilly region
—now traversed by street cars
and studded with palatial modern
residences—the view being taken
after some torrential rains and
in the neighborhood of a hilly re-
gion, close to the old gravel ‘pit
in the eastern suburbs of the city.
The goats and sheep—hundreds
of them—were owned by Mexi-

 

 

 

An O_p Time PRAIRIE SCENERY AND Huntinc GRouND at THE RoMANnTIC WITHERS, LEONA PASTURE

original picture herein of another
large pool of stagnating water,
surrounded by oak and mesquite
trees, and a large number of goats
and sheep scattered around the
underbrush thickets of this tank.
It was an unusually fascinating,
and in older days, a typical scen-
ery around old San Antonio; and

this view was taken a few. miles.

cans, and it always was a most
fascinating sight to behold how
they rambled over the bushy hills
and underbrush in large flocks
and, as seen in this instance,
around both sides of a large stag-
nating’ waterpool. These same
places are now more or less
cleared of trees and shrubbery
and laid out in building lots, or
TEXAS NATURE OBSERVATIONS AND REMINISCENCES. 249

occupied by attractive residences
and dairies, etc.

Among others of thousands of
attractive nature-sceneries around
the Alamo City none—except per-
haps the old Missions, the Gov-
ernment Post and our beautiful
City Parks of late years—have
been admired more and have been
subjected to photo-reproduction
than the San Pedro Springs Park
and Zoological Garden, and the
_..old Brackenridge Park, with its

company with an old friend and
formerly County Physician—Dr.
Robert Lee Winters of San An-
tonio; and another view of the
park shows some of the deer
scattered among the forest of
hackberry trees and shrubbery—
a midwinter scenery, reminding
one of the large herds of deer
seen in olden times out on the
plains and hilly regions northwest
of San Antonio. —

In olden days San Antonio’s.

“

 

 

 

 

wae :
An OLD-Time Goat AND SHEEP SCENERY, AROUND A WaATER-POOL, SURROUNDED WitH HuisacuEe, Oaks, HACKBERRY

AND Mesquitr TREES; NEAR San ANTONIO

century-old forest trees, elegant
driveways, river-sceneries, flow-
er beds, and collection of wild an-
imals, including the buffalo, elk,
deer and a large number of ex-
ceedingly attractive fowls of va-
rious types and colors.

The photo herein gives a faint
idea of the beauty and attractive-
ness of this park, with
its moss-covered trees and shrub-
bery, taken many years: ago in

most popular park—the San Pe-
dro Springs Park, with its impos-
ing shade trees—its oak, hack-
berry, poplar, willow, walnut, pe-
can, cottonwood, huisache and
other forest trees appeared more
attractive than now in its wild
and natural beauty; but most of
the old-time forest trees—some
over a century old, are there to-
day yet. There are attractive
walks, also the ancient and beau-
250 TEXAS NATURE OBSERVATIONS AND REMINISCENCES.

tiful springs and the fine broad
lake. In olden days the latter
was studded along its borders
with high tule, which also could
be seen all along the serpentine
course of the then broad San
Pedro Creek down to and travers-
ing the heart of the city in its
western districts.

In these olden times—‘“in the
days of old man Duerler” (one of

tent in the shade of nature’s grand
dome of forest trees and close to
sparkling springs and the inter-
esting lake. This lake is vividly
depicted in one of the original
photos here, with some of the old
forest trees herein along its
southeastern border, and two of
the swan houses on the lake.

Of much interest also is an
olden time original photograph

 

Op Time SCENERY IN BRACKENRIDGE PARK

the first settlers and custodian of
the San Pedro Springs Park) this
natural forest was the great-
est pride of San Antonians, as
here it was (in lieu of the other
romantic parks and outing places
of San Antonio which : came
later) that.school-and private pic-
nics, and all other gatherings, in-
cluding ail the city festivities, were
held. and enjoyed to heart’s con-

herein depicting some of the cen-
tury-old mustang grapevines and
arch—a very attractive nature-
scenery and old-time landmark
of the San Pedro Springs forest.
This old shady vine-arch, situated
at the time in the center part of
the natural San Pedro Park, was
a favorite playground for children
in summer, but some years back
this old and greatly admired
TEXAS NATURE OBSERVATIONS AND REMINISCENCES. 251

grapevine arch made room for the
modern improvements seen today
at this popular outing resort; and
one more of the many, once ex-
ceedingly attractive landmarks of
our old San Pedro’ Park, includ-
ing. the old Duerler homestead,
with its adjoining large music and
dance hall, surrounded by a dense
forest of giant oak trees and ever-
green shrubbery, and the old and
much-admired museum, with its
collection of typical Texas ani-
mals, and including a costly and

Another landmark of the thous-
ands of San Antonio’s interest-
ing nature-assets, full of beautiful
scenes and romance, is our old

‘San Antonio River and its tribu-

tary creeks. But here also it
would be folly to attempt review-
ing all of our river’s beauty-spots
—several of which having already
been mentioned and photo-illus-
trated in this book, and
only, therefore, two additional il-
lustrations from nature may be
added—both great outing and

 

DEER AND Forest SCENERY AT BRACKENRIDGE Park, Near Op CLurn House BUILDING

rare mineral collection of curios;

and the once famed Zoological
Garden, with its more or less
typical Texas and Mexican col-
lection of wild animals—all this is
now gone into oblivion with the
enormous advancements of mod-
ern times and a busy business
world—but ‘the sturdy old oak
trees, the ancient springs and the
old park and lake are there today.
and will be there for centuries to
come—it is hoped.

fishing places along the romantic
pecan groves and river bottoms
south of San Antonio. Both of the
river scenes depicted herein show
the river bottom place where the
prairie hawk, mentioned in an-
other article, was captured, and it
fairly illustrates what these attrac-
tive fishing places, and others,
look like—with the imposing for-
est vegetation and trees and the
river tule along its edge, etc. In
olden days.all of these river-bot-

 
 

 

252 TEXAS NATURE OBSERVATIONS AND REMINISCENCES.

tom places were full of forest
game and any amount of fine fish,
including the eel, could be caught
ina short time—whilst today,
with the large amount of fishing
and hunting parties frequenting
the river bottoms, such game as
ducks, squirrels, coons, ‘possum,
swamp rabbits, cotton tails, quail
and doves, and other small game
is exceedingly rare in most of
the old romping places along

tive recreation places San An-
tonio’s environments can afford.
‘0.

At this season of thé year, in
springtime—beginning of April,
our Texas prairies and plains
are “all in glory’—or, rather,
‘fall is one ‘flora!’’’ From the
cities’ limits to all over the
country, and in particular also
around San Antonio, along the
vales and hilly regions and

 

 

 

 

Se 2 aren
Kerr) Sane

 

 

Forest SCENERY AND LAKE AT SAN PEDRO SPRINGS PARK

our romantic river-bottoms —
at least in the near vicinity of
our present metropolis; however,
these outing places, especially
around the old Berg’s Mill and
southeast of the Missions San
Juan and Espada, as well as the
Cassin Lake and the new Blue
Wing Lake preserves, will always
remain some of the most attrac-

pastures and bottom-land, prai-
rie flowers are seen in unusual
profusion and brilliant colors
this year—due to the heavy
rains of late and the country’s
early spring. In drougthy years
these same regions are but
sparingly supplied with wild
flowers; however, a great va-
riety of them are always more
TEXAS NATURE OBSERVATIONS AND REMINISCENCES. 253

or less present, and it is inter-
esting to note how our different
prairie soil influences these
plants in their growth and va-
rious types. In some regions
only one certain type of wild
flowers grows, for instance the
brilliant “blue-bonnet’” flower,
and the purple verbena; the
wild colchicum or white prairie
lily; the so-called ‘‘daisies,” the

Antonio to Fort Clark in April,
1875 (when I had the honor to
be a commissioned acting as-
sistant surgeon, U. 8. A.)

This trip had also been made
in the month of April, and
rains had been falling in the
previous months and during
the winter, in torrential show-
ers, filling up the creeks and
rivers to the brim. And it was

 

 

MustanG GRAPEVINE ARCH IN CENTER Part oF SAN PEDRO SPRINGS

red and yellow buttercups; the
multicolored thimble flower and
many others, which, as a rule,
are isolated from other wild
flowers and in numbers cover-
ing many acres in various
places of the prairie and often
endless miles of ground, and
which I recollect having wit-
nessed during cavalry escort of
Uncle Sam’s troops from San

at that time, also, when the
kingsnipe or curlew and game
-of all kinds abounded profusely
—and jackrabbits! I never be-
fore nor later had seen as
many of these long-eared rab-
bits in my life; and the team-
sters following our escort put
their long whips into use, as

also some of the soldiers along

the route from Spofford Junc-
254 TEXAS NATURE OBSERVATIONS AND REMINISCENCES.

tion to Del Rio made use of
their sixshooters. Uncle Sam’s
‘soldiers, it is known the world
over, are crack shots with the

pistol, and on arriving at the
Nueces River, whilst taking a
swim in that romantic country
around Del Rio, some of the
soldiers made targets of the

Such were some of the good
olden time “reminiscences” of
1875.

I append in these sketches a few
original photo views from my pri-
vate collection of Texas prairie
sceneries.

To those taking the least ‘in-
terest in nature’s great works,
will find a multitude of interest-

 

 

 

 

In Mipst A WILDERNESS OF TEXAS PRAIRIE Flowers NEAR San ANTONIO

many moccasins abounding -
there—the genuine, broad-head-
ed and deadly water-moccasin,
many of which the soldiers
destroyed by shooting with their
six-shooters whilst they swam
along the water’s edge or basking
in the sun on some rocks or ever-
hanging tree branches.

ing nature-sceneries and nature-

‘products around San Antonio’s

near vicinity. Besides prairie
flowers, it is the peculiar and
interesting pachydermatoid cactus
plant, which, though rather a
very common and ugly plant
to many, these plants, during
bloom: and berry-bearing time,

 
TEXAS NATURE OBSERVATIONS AND REMINISCENCES. 255

are of great interest and at-
traciton.

Some of these prairie cacti
and the various near-related
dagger plants prefer an especial
soil and environments to
thrive in. The large leafed and
brilliantly blooming and most
common opuntia cactus, with
its yellowish, star-shaped. blos-
soms and intense red color of
the oval-shaped berries, and
others, the brilliant cereus cac-
_ tus, and a host of others, all
thrive on “any old” soil, though
the latter, including the sharp

 

In a write-up in our Sunday’s
Express, some years ago, on
these typical prairie plants, the
following was mentioned by
the writer: ‘‘If one passes on
down’ Alamo Plaza along the
finest ornamental city park of
all Texas, a group of Texas and
Mexican cactus plants can be
seen near the center of that ele-
gant park, close to the band-
stand, and surrounded by ever-
green tropical plants and pala-
tial modern buildings.

“Few persons, however, may
be aware that those peculiar

GaTHERING WILD Flowers ALONG THE CHARMING SAN ANTONIO RIVER

dagger-ornamented melon cac-
tus, thrive best in hilly and
rocky regions all over South-
west Texas, and where they de-
light the eye with their attract-
ive colors.

As a rule these cactus plants
bloom but a few days, when the
stamina is converted into the
globular fruit of deep red and
very attractive color. Some of
these cactus berries, when en-
tirely ripe, are edible, especially
to song-birds, also to the ro-
dents and other animals of the
cactus jungles.

and interesting pachydermatoid
plants once decorated the wild
jungles of prairie plains and
had been transplanted to a
place where they now are ad-
mired by thousands of tourists
the year over and people con-
gregating daily along Alamo
Plaza Park. And, whilst tropi-
cal Mexico is the ideal land of
cacti, our fine Texas climate
also furnishes a large variety
of these interesting plants.

“T wish to'call attention to the
broadfaced: prickly pear cactus
(Opuntia Engelmanii), that un-
256 TEXAS NATURE OBSERVATIONS AND REMINISCENCES,

dergoes a peculiar cycle of de-
velopment, which is not gen-
erally known or _ observed,
namely, the sprouting of young
leaves directly from the pear-
shaped fruit. Out in the jungles
of the prairie this process can
be witnessed as late as Decem-
ber and January, when one or
more sprouts of new leaves can
be seen on a large number of
fruit-bearing cacti.

of the Express; and quite a
number of such, as also of oth-
er bird’s nests, were encount-
ered in the neighboring jungles,
all being empty and deserted,
of course, but all were protected
and the nests generally built be-
tween the main bifurcation of
the stem and leaves. Several
were formed entirely of parcels
of the wild broomweed, but the
nest cavity was snugly outlined

 

Forest Scenery Atonc THE Romantic San Antonio River, East oF THE ANCIENT MISSION
“Espaba,'’ SouTH oF San ANTONIO

“At the time of this writing,
in December, I encountered an
interesting group of such
sprouting opuntia cacti. The
main plant was over nine feet
high. Besides this interesting
metamorphosis in plant life,
the group also had hidden be-
tween several thorny cactus
leaves, one of the funnel-shaped
nests seen in a previous issue

with soft grass and feathers,
and in one, remnants of the soft
wool of a rabbit. was found.
“The prairie plains and hilly
regions around San Antonio
and of Bexar County harbor a
great variety of exceedingly at-
tractive cacti which, especially
during the blooming season, at-
tract attention by their brilliant
colored flowers. Close to the
TEXAS NATURE OBSERVATIONS AND REMINISCENCES. 257

narrated opuntia jungles, stated
above, I noticed one of the
dreaded round prairie cactus,
typical to the Texas soil, and
which the cowboy and cattlemen
in general abhor for reason of
its enormous and sharp-pointed
thorns, and which the Mexi-
cans term “mata caballo,’’ mean-
ing “kills the horse.” When
cattle, or a horse, etc., step on
these thorny cactus some of the

.

several inches above ground, in
some isolated region near hilly
places or on the flat prairie.
“Not all sharp-spiked dagger
plants—a certain variety—are
the so-calied “Spanish dagger,”
but they are named the Span-
ish “amole.” The roots of this

amole plant are often gathered
tor the purpose of washing
flannel goods, etc., and as a
substitute for soap, and soap

 

 

 

 

TARGET PRACTICE IN TEXAS FLOWER LanD

spikes are liable to injure or
enter the hoof parts, with the
result of serious inflammation
or death of the animal from te-
tanus. The thorns of this cac-
tus, slightly curved at the sharp
end part, are as hard as ivory,
and the rotund cactus itself is
of very compact and tough na-
ture, generally protruding only

dealers prepare a fine “amole *
soap” from this jungle plant.
In the fall these amole plants
are exceedingly attractive for...
reason of the many alabaster-
white and bell-shaped blossoms
they bear. The blossoms sprout.
on a centrally located stem,
some four to six feet higher
than the dagger leaves, and are,
258 TEXAS NATURE OBSERVATIONS AND REMINISCENCES.

therefore, conspicuous over the night raids that cattle are liable
prairie plains, at great distance. to be injured, or during the

“Cattle and horses generally swift rides of the cowboy’s
avoid places where such cacti horse through the jungles. é

 

 

 

 

Saw Antonio OutinG Party; AFTERNOON SIESTA IN TEXAS FLOWER-Lanp—UnpER a HucE
Hackserry Tree; River Bottom Forest ScENERY; SourH OF SAN ANTONIO

as the sharp-spiked melon cac- ‘Usually this cactus variety
tus abound, and it is mostly is of an isolated nature in its
during a stampede or during habits, being generally found
TEXAS NATURE OBSERVATIONS AND REMINISCENCES, 259

at some open space along a hilly
ridge, or between small brushy
spaces.

“The large-leaved opuntia cac-
tus is really very attractive
during. the blooming season
with its gold-yellow or pink-
colored flowers; and it is here in
the thickly-grown cactus jungles
where such animals as the prai-
rie rat and mice, the ground
squirrel, the polecat and rattle-
snake, etc., seek a protecting
dwelling place. The prairie rat,
in pai ticular, a night-marauding

over the different holes in the
ground, leaving enough spacr
for entrance. These holes are
not deep, as is the case of the
ground squirrel, but communi-
cate under the piles of debris.
In severe droughty seasons the
prairie rat is dependent on eat-
ing the opuntia leaves, and large.
tracts of such eaten leaves can
often be seen in the jungles.
“During late years and with
the enormous on-march of mod-
ern Civilization, vast areas of
such cactus jungles have been

 

San ANTONIANS AT THE CHARMING CoMAL Rivuvet, NEAR THE PRETTIEST PARK IN TEXas

(Landa’s Park at New Braunfels)

rodent, has its nest in these
cactus jungles. A nest encount-
ered during an outing at the
Leona Hills showed how the
rats had accumulated all sorts
of wood debris and the rem-
nants of the common serpentine
eactus plant, the fruit of which,
and also of the large prickly pear
serves them sometimes as food.
They protect their nests by
placing particles of wood, man-
ure and remnants of cacti, etc.,

cleared and converted into flour-
ishing fields or irrigated farms,
with happy homes and prosper-
ous conditions all over the
Southwest Texas farming dis-
tricts.”

San Antonio has a number of
private owners of exceedingly
attractive cactus plants, and be-
sides Alamo Plaza Park, the fine
landscape garden ground front-
ing the Southern Pacific depot
had some very imposing cactus
260 TEXAS NATURE OBSERVATIONS AND REMINISCENCES.

collections. Some years ago
Mr. Carl Runge had the largest
private cactus collection in the
city, if not in the State, Mexi-
can as well as Texas collection
of cacti. Some of the rare Mex-
ican varieties, when blooming,
were of especial beauty, but
also many of the blooming Tex-
as cerei cacti were exceedingly
attractive and were very much
in demand by the public, espe-
cially ladies. Some of these
cacti would bloom only a cquple

the Mission San Juan, have col-
lections of the large variety of
serpentine cactus, which are
very attractive in bloom time
on account of the deep red and
nearly blending rich colors. The
cactus wren and other weaver

birds prefer to build their nests

in those high cactus trees, as
also the mocking bird and red
bird.
ee ae
The hilly regions with the post-
oak valleys in olden days abounded

 

 

 

A Loncearep Rassit Beinc Draccep Away BY ONE oF THE Tom Cats

of days, whilst others remained
in full bloom for weeks, or new
sprouts would develop during
night into gorgeous flowers and
delight the spectator, especially
the small rotund or oblong and
oval shaped cacti encountered
in the hilly regions close to San
Antonio and around Helotes,
Boerne, Fredericksburg, Kerr-
ville, New Braunfels and other
Texas cities. Some of our orna-
mental and attractive ceme-
teries, and private owners near

with lots of small and even large
game now and then, but of late
years the country around the head
of the river,,up to Wetmore, has
been building up so rapidly, and
the old hunting grounds converted
into cultivated land, that game of
all kind is getting mighty scarce
around there, with the exception of
an occasional squirrel, a few quail,
and the cottontail rabbit and the
long eared ‘‘lepuscommunis.’’

The farmersg.in general, and a
friend there in particular, do rot
TEXAS NATURE OBSERVATIONS AND REMINISCENCES. 261

object to shooting these long-eared
and injurious field marauders
and often has the writer been
urged to hunt them at a
certain large pasture along the
picturesque Olmos Valley settle-
ment, where in former years, lots
of plover and some curlew, doves,
quail and squirrels abounded in
large numbers, as well as the dread-
ed crotalus horridus, in the re-
mote brushy hills and the old-
time pasture fences. —

Lately, during a trip to those
regions, at the request of a farmer
“to shoot as many of the ‘mule-

 

bed ‘‘his long-eared master of the
prairie-plains”’ by the neck, lifted
it up, and dragged it away beyond
the woodpile. Then the other
growling cat tackled the heavy
rabbit; and in these positions the
enclosed illustrations were quickly
taken by the writer.

The rabbits were so heavy, it

‘took all the strength of the 13-

year old child of the farmer (seen
In rear of one of the photos) to
lift it up, and it was a queer sight
to behold, how the large and growl-
ing, black tomcat, with uplifted
right foot and big yellow and

 

 

Larce Brack Tom Cat Wirth Uprirtep Paw_Deryine Its GrowLinc ANTAGONIST
To Tackle THE GamME On THE GrouND

ear rabbits as possibly we could,’’
was duly complied with, and in
a very short time, five of them were
“rolled over,’ or “in.s Gaars ge-
bissen,’’ as the German nimrods ex-
press it.

Packing the best one to camp,
the others were taken to the far-
mer’s house for disposal (in some
way) and whilst talking “town
topics’ to the farmer, we were
surprised to see two of the far-
mer’s big tomcats getting away
with one of the long-eared prairie-
trotters,in front some wood piles;
i. e. first one of the two cats grab-

glittering eyes, first tackled the
long-eared lepus and afterward the
other, panther-like, sneaking and
growling cat managed to snatch it
away. The first photo-view shows
the cat in the act of lifting the
rabbit up, which it carried a great
distance away for its meal, in
company, later, with the farm dogs.

These large tomeats are unusually
strong and of attractive appear-
ance, and the farmer told us that
besides hundreds of prairie rats
and mice, they also cleared the
farm of ground squirrels and other
night marauding animals.
262 TEXAS NATURE OBSERVATIONS AND REMINISCENCES.

Some Mitchell’s Lake Reminiscenses and Hunting
Scenes of Smal] Game Around San Antonio

 

Mitchell’s Lake, Cassin’s Lake,
and the old Greytown Laguna de
los Patos, as well as the more
modern Blue Wing Lake, are
all more or less known as fine
hunting preserves for the fleety
web-foots, as well as snipe,
swamp-rabbits and occasionally,

es and a number of huge forest
trees submerged in the lake water,
with some ducks and water hens
gathered around a tree stump,
(under some moss-laden old hack-
berry trees). One of the old for-
est monarchs, fronting the boat-
house, had been felled years ago,

 

 

 

MitcHe.i’s Lake Scenery Nzar Oup Boat House (Now Long Ago Abandoned)
HoTO By THE WRITER, WINTER 1908)

‘the haunts of wild geese, pelicans
and the long billed curlew or king
snipe; and what this interesting
Mitchell’s lagoon looked like years
ago, is presented in the three orig-
inal photographie views herein
showing one of the old boat hous-

by lightning, and remnants of
same are seen at Mitchell’s lake
to this day, and it had often been
used as a ‘‘blind’’ to pop some
of the waterfowl close to this tree
remnant. This part of the old
lake always presented a beautiful
TEXAS NATURE OBSERVATIONS AND REMINISCENCES. 263

landscape .scene in olden days
when it was laden with man-high
tule-reed, and millions of wild
ducks and chattering water-hens
gathered from their northern
flights inside the three mile long
tule-lake, to afford fine sport for
San Antonio hunters and other
sportsmen. Close to this same lake
scenery the writer, years ago, ex-
perienced a rather unpleasant oc-
currance, not so easily forgotton,
as it concerned two of my inti-
mate friends, both business men
of San Antonio and lovers of an
occasional hunting trip to the lake.

on to at intervals, their boat would
have upset, with perhaps loss of
life. But they managed to land
about two miles off where the
wind storm had drifted them and
rammed the boat into the shallow
water and mud which wet them
to the skin from head to foot. I
happened, luckily, to stay on the
shore and never before nor after-
ward did I foster such fear for
the safety of two friends than on
this memorable day at Mitchell’s
lake.

Before my friends started their
periless hunting tour in the boat, _.

 

 

Hunters on Lake Durinc A FearFUL Stormy Day

It-was a stormy morning that cer-
tain day and a fearful gale blew
over the tule jungles, upsetting
many of the small boats around
the shore and inside some of the
open tule spaces; and during such
weather conditions it was that my
friends had ventured out, during
a more calm period, into the tule
spaces. But the swift hurricane
that followed gave the hunters in
their small shallow boat no chance
to return to shore, the wind storm
drifting them in an opposite Ci-
rection; and were it not for rea-
son of the high tule-reed to hold

a photograph of which, with both -
gentlemen therein, is reproduced
kere). I prepared a camp fire of
which also a picture is seen in
these pages, showing another
hunting companion who is stoop-
ine over the fire and warming up
for action. This portion of Mit-
chell’s lake is very close to the one
seen on the _ first photo,
showing a number of the
small boats and numerous water
fowls close to the mile-long tule
jungles,a fine scenery and familiar
to anyone posted on the hunting
topography of old Mitchel’s lake.
264 TEXAS NATURE OBSERVATIONS AND REMINISCENCES.

When my two friends, (Lucas and
Grosenbacher,) returned to our
camp loaded with ducks and a
swamp- -rabbit there was great re-
joicing, especially when the scent
of a fine roasted beef-steak and
the aroma of hot coffe was wafted
on the breeze to their nostrils.
This same camp with hunter
“‘testing’’ the coffee; some wild
ducks on the shadowy ground; a
cow feeding in the rear, etc.,
also depicted herein, Saheee,

own self, on the picture. The
large tree trunk felled by light-
ning and depicted in first photo,
was close by, as also some fine
large ducks in our camp. My
two friends also were loaded with
a full string of fine ducks, hung
over their shoulders; and after
placing the camp ducks on the
large tree trunk and ourselves in
view position, I managed to pre-
pare the hunting scene reproduced
in these pages; also another view

 

 

“Warminc Up’’ Durinc a BittER Corp Day 1n Camp aT MITCHELL’s LAKE
(Old Time Hunting Scenery, by the Writer)

at another occasion, and almost at
the same camp scenes, one
cold, but very bright day, I hap-
pened to meet my old Mitchell’s
lake hunting companions, Hensel
and Callsen, both just arriving at
their cosy club-house near the
lake shore and loaded with ducks,

and I invited them to a little sur-.

prise experiment: of being ‘‘shot”’
with the camera, including my

of two other enthusiastic hunters
and the writer (seen holding the
string which exnosed the plate).

After this little intermezzo on
Mitchell’s lake reminiscenses 4
a few more illustrations may be
added here regarding small same
hunting near San Antonio which
explain themselves.

Game in general is rather-searce
in the immediate vicinity of San
TEXAS NATURE OBSERVATIONS AND REMINISCENCES. 265

 

 

 

 

Camp Near LakE, IN SHADOW OF OAK TREES
266 TEXAS NATURE OBSERVATIONS AND REMINISCENCES.

Antonio, for reason of modern ad-
vanced conditions and the increase
of hunting facilities; and one now-
adays has to make long trips to
get his quota of legal game.

In olden times one hardly would
take notice of such game as rab-
_ bits, doves, squirrels, quail and
plover; curlew were so numerous
that a mile or two distant from

town afforded all the sport one
eared to find in that line. How-
ever, with modern facilities of
traveling, all the game allowed
by law can yet be had in far off
and game favored districts, and a
bunch of quail and doves like the
original photo-view herein from
nature is often bagged; also of
various rabbits, the latter, like at

this time of writing in winter, 1911
are often hauled into town for-the
market by the wagonload, and
large bunches of them can often
be seen at local market stores, or
at the market house throughout
winter time.

By request of the writer, my
friend, Mr. W. Stucke, prepared a
rice photo of one such_market rab-

 

YWINTER SCENERY AT MITCHELL’s LakE: HeENSEL, CALSEN AND THE Man Wuo ‘'SHort’’ THEM ALL WITHA ‘'PULL THE-STRING -

bit exhibit, seen reproduced else-
where, for these remarks. As a
rule, the small cotton-tail rabbit
finds better consumers than the
long-eared jack-rabbit. The latter
however, if quite young and bodi-
ly sound and properly prepared as
‘‘Hasenpfeffer’’ is a fine dish, es-
especially if procured from near
a vegetable farm or garden, where
TEXAS NATURE OBSERVATIONS AND REMINISCENCES, 267

these rabbits prefer to congregate
at night time, and fatten up on
the juicy plants where they do
much harm to plants and therefore
are annihilated as much as _possi-
ble. Squirrels also, in olden days
roamed about in the forests and
fields in uncountable numbers, es-
_pecially also in river bottoms dur-
ing the pecan crop, and in fields
doing much damage to both. In

fur of all rabbits is thrown away
while if properly converted into
fur caps, these rabbit skins ean
be utilized to much advantage as a
market value. The photo herein
of one such rabbit fur cap,
shows how neatly such cap can be
prepared. The writer has worn
this same cap for two winters and
it is very comfortable on cold
winter days and night time, as

 

 

 

MitcHELL’s LAKE SCENERY IN WINTER 1909. (PHoto By WritTER)

places near town-where they ex-
isted very abundantly they are
nowadays nearly exterminated,
with periodically a few specimens
in the close vicinity of our river
bottoms and forests.

One item strikes the writer in
connection with rabbits consumed
by the wholesale throughout the
winter months, namely the fur of
these rodents. Usually the skin or

well as ornamental and durable.
The upper crown part of this cap
was prepared from the fur of a
swamp-rabbit and the body or bal-
ance of the cap from jack-rabbit
fur. It was presented to me by a
lady relative and friend of one of
the oldest expert tannery firms of
San Autonio, the H. Haubold tan-
nery. oe
268 TEXAS NATURE OBSERVATIONS AND REMINISCENCES.

 

 

 

 

 

A Day’s Quart anp Dove Hunt Near San AnTOoNIO
TEXAS NATURE OBSERVATIONS AND REMINISCENCES. 269

Mexican Settlements and Early Days Reminiscenses
of Old San Antonio

(PxHoto ILLustRATED By THE WriTER)
‘5

Besides the San Pedro and
Alazan creeks, from their upper
sources near the San Pedro
Springs Lake and the West End

_Lake down to the San Antonio
river along its serpentine wind-
ings, large rows of Mexican
dwellings existed in olden times,

“and many today yet, along
these and other rivulets, and in
particular also west of the Mis-
sion “Concepcion de Aguna,”
two miles below the. present

with raw hides, buffalo skins,
and mostly with man-high
reeds or tule then and now
yet growing along the _ ro-
mantic river bank of the forest
bottoms. A few remnants of
such huts can be seen today yet.
around the Missions “San Juan,”
“San. Jose,” “Espada” and
others, surrounded with the usual
*‘corral,’? and numbers of dogs
and cats, burros, mocking bird
cages, and other more or less

 

 

 

Mission ‘‘Concercion’’ Near San ANTONIO
(By the Writer, in 1886)

metropolis of San Antonio, the
Mexican settlements being nam-
ed: “Nogalitos”—perhaps from
the luxuriant trees, mostly pe-
can, walnut, boxelder, willow,
poplars, huisache and other
typical native trees and shrub-
bery surrounding both sides of
the riviultes. There also exist-
ed in olden days many ancient

Mexican and Indian jacals
—mere plastered mudhouses
and sheds prepared from

mesquite wood and_ covered

typical Mexican paraphernalia ;.
and they are also seen
around tthe first Mission
“Concepcion”—a photo view
of which the writer prepared
many years ago in a sur-
rounding pasture northeast.
of this Mission. The sur-
roundings of this old Mission—a
masterpiece of ancient architec-
ture, after nearly two hundred
years can be seen there today yet
in as erect and massive structure
as when it was first built by the
270 TEXAS NATURE OBSERVATIONS AND REMINISCENCES.

Spaniards in 1720, Of late years
its surrounding districts have
been  cosiderably
underbrush and jungles, and
handsome modern homes and
villas and irrigated fields. adorn
their place—century-old pecan
and oak trees, forming a fringe on
each side of the fine macada-
mized streets and _ boulevards
leading to the various Missions,
the Fair Grounds, Hot Wells Park,
Park, Exposition Park, etc.

Such olden-time Mexican ja-
cals, though crude and _primi-

cleared. of.

ordinary commodities of life, they
are very cleanly as to the premises
and they are the most contented
lot of people on earth, with what
little they possess to sustain life.
These reflections of course con-
cern only the lower class of the
Mexican populace and their pri-
mitive dwellings, ete. The higher
class all have more substantial
dwellings, and the well-to-do
Mexican fellow citizens are well
educated and highly respected

.and many always have been iden-

tified with the municipal and ed-

 

 

 

MEXICAN JACAL AND SHED, Some Firry Years Oup, ALonc tHE San ANTONIO RIVER

tive, were built very substanti-
ally as far as weather safety
is concerned; and they always,
for reason of their quaint and
picturesque appearance, have been
admired by tourists and sight-
seers in general. For want of
proper ventilation and other in-
fluences, many of the inmates of
such huts suffered much in winter
time through illness. Ag a rule,
though deprived of many of the

ucational affairs of San Antonio.
Most of even the very poorest of
native Mexicans are nowadays
more Americanized and they strive

_to better their environments, and

become better civilians.

How the lower class of these
people are housed is well known
to most of us—and their primi-
tive huts and tents were not so
badly. built after all! The Mexi-
cans show much skill and inge-
TEXAS NATURE OBSERVATIONS AND REMINISCENCES. 271

nuity in preparing their dwell-
ings—and as seen in particuls

in one of the original illustrations
of one of such, rather ancient and
now abandoned and delapidated
Mexican dwelling. During an out-
ing and hunting trip along the
picturesque river bottom south of
San Antonio during winter and a

 

and as it began raining on our
arrival, we seeked shelter in this
old Mexican hut. Some of the
lucky nimrods of our party had
shot a number of teal ducks along
the river bank. They were strung
on the nearby hackberry tree
limbs, and some on the old posts
in front of the hut. These posts,

 

 

 

REMNANTS OF AN ANCIENT MEXICAN JACAL

severe cold and rainy day, we
came across this old abandoned
Mexican hut—picturesquely locat-
ed between forest trees and vines,
and close to a fine irrigated pie

of land. Huge pecan trees loaded
with ripening pecans and hack-

berry trees are located all around, .

seen in the picture, served their
time for a shed in front of the
old hut—the ravages of time and
weather conditions, however, de-
stroyed the flat tule roof coverings
of the front shed—seen in part on
the ground and close to the hut
entrance. The interior and general
272 TEXAS NATURE OBSERVATIONS AND REMINISCENCES.

make up of this ancient Mexican
jacal was quite an interesting
study! The interior rooms, bare of
any window, was a nine by twenty
feet chamber, and undoubtedly
used by the entire family. The
frame-work of this hut consisted
of three very thick poles from
the hackberry tree, put deeply in
the ground, about five feet apart,
with the thickest pole in the
center. About two feet of the
upper trunk, or bifurcation of
these hackberry trees, served
to support a long and_ thick
hackberry pole—tightly fastened
between the forked trunk of the

hackberry stems along the north
and south sides—in order to sup-
port the roof coverings which
consist of patches of tule. All
of the wooden cross-bars were
tightly adjusted to the main
forked stems by means of wire
and rawhide strips, as well as
strips of the Texas dagger plant
—‘“amole.” The intersecting
spaces of the north side wooden
structure had been plastered
with black and yellowish adobe
mud; but all the thus plastered
south wall of the hut had
crumbled off from the ravages
of time, and exposing the in-

 

 

 

An OLp MEXICAN VILLAGE SCENERY, ALAZAN CREEK,

three central poles which were
only ten feet apart. Then, on the
north and south sides of this
structure a row of other, but
more slender hackberry poles
had been placed deeply into the
ground—all with a fork at the
upper end, over which long
cross-stems of hackberry were
securely placed. These north
and south sides supporting
side rows of wooden logs
were only about four feet above
the ground, and the three twenty
feet long cross bars had been
covered by numbers of other

terior of the hut, with only a few
of the supporting side stems left.
Some long nails had been driven
about a foot apart all along the
north and south side supporting
hackberry stems—to hang up
sundry domestic objects; and
a long wire had ‘been strung
from one end of the supporting
stems to the other—undoubtedly
serving to hang up dry meat—
the raw meat usually being first
well salted and then hung up-on
a line inside the yard or corral
or along a line stretched out over

the fence and exposed to the sun.
TEXAS NATURE OBSERVATIONS AND REMINISCENCES. 273

After such meat is perfectly
dried out it keeps well for a
long time and is used for the
various Mexican dishes—such
as: “Carne acada,” Chile con
carne”—con frijoles y tortillas;
“Enchiladass’” con tortillas, ta-
males, etc.

Usually a small fenced
field—often surrounded by dense
cactus jungles and mesquite
brush, surround such dwelling,
planted with corn, sugar cane,
pumpkins, beans, pepper, etc.,
with perhaps also some cows and
goats—the latter “the poor

the lower branches laden thick-
ly with ripening pecans, reach-
ing clear to the ground. The old
picturesque hut, seen reproduced.
herein, at first sight looked
as it may crumble down
over our heads, but on clos-
er inspection we tound it still
had a very solid hold—enough
to stand for many years hence.
The outer entrance was covered
with all sorts of junk—an old
rocking chair “de la Madama,”
water jugs, tinware, old shoes,
ete. It is really wonderful—
and as described also in one of

 

 

An Ancient lnpria-MEXICAN JACAL AT THE LEONA CREEK. (By the Writerin 1886)

man’s cow’—especially a great
favorite of Mexicans to prepare
tamales, or roasted, or barbe-
cued meat, etc.

We camped at this place dur-
ing a cloudy and rainy day, as
stated, and it was surrounded
by large irrigated’ vegetable
and grain fields, and also by
the finest pecan trees met
all along the river bottom,
some of whose outstanding
limbs must have been at least
four feet in diameter, and

: the other sketches on Mexican —

life around the Mitchell’s lake
hunting preserve, how the Mexi-
can laborers adapt their skill in
building their huts and Jacals
in the jungle wilderness where
employed to clear the land of
brush and trees—or any other
manual work at that. During a
late outing near the beautiful
Cassin’s lake, south of San An-
tonio, I happened to come across
what may be called a temporary
Mexican village among the Mes-
274 TEXAS NATURE OBSERVATIONS AND REMINISCENCES.

‘quite jungles close to the Cassin’s
-lake hunting preserve. It was
in October, during the pecan
-harvest season, when also Mexi-
cans are employed to watch the
-owner’s pecan groves from de-
‘predating pecan hunters. The
Mexican laborers under question
however, were employed, I was
‘told, to enlarge the large dam of
the Cassin’s lake, which, at pres-
ent is some eighty feet high, but
is to be enlarged with an addi-

‘tions the writer prepared for
these -sketches.

One of =the
photos, taken on.a Sunday, dur-

_ing cloudy weather, shows some

of the children gathered around

‘in front of the tents and chapar-

ral—a gay lot of little folks, and
future laborers to till the soil.
An interesting scenery of an
olden times Indio-Mexican adobe
hut is also depicted on page 273
—having been encountered by
the writer years ago on the em- |

 

 

Tue Otp Rockguarry Recions Near Lauret HeicHts, WITH THE Eocene
Rotunpa; Cement Factory IN REAR

tional ten foot high wall. The
employed Mexicans had selected
a hilly, well drained area south-
east of the lake to put up their
queer dwellings, consisting of
tin tents, or a frame of
mesquite logs, patched with
tule, sugar cane, swamp grass,
etc., and usually with a high
shed cover in front of each,
and as seen on the _ illusra-

‘of San Antonio.

bankments of the Leona, west
In olden times
such types of Mexican huts ex-
isted numerously around the sub-
urban parts of San Antonio,
and some are there today yet.
As seen on the illustration, these
huts usually were built with a
large, broad chimney in the rear
part (kitchen of the hut)— the
roof of the hut house and the ad-
TEXAS NATURE OBSERVATIONS AND REMINISCENCES, 275

joining shed being covered eith-
er with adobe, tule, or sheets of
corrugated iron—the latter not
much in use in olden days. The

group of Mexicans seen on the

photo had just returned with a
wagon loaded with a large barrel
of water, from the Leona creek.
A large wood pile is seen in the
rear of the hut—one of the main
market products, nearly exclus-
ively mesquite wood. Mexicans
are expert hands in wood chop-

 

thresh the pecan trees and gath-
er the fruit. Mexican pecan-
candy vendors often make a liv-
ing from such occupation, and
San Antonio is famed for these
as well as all other Mexican
market products.

‘For endurance in all sorts of
weather, the Mexican laborer
hardly can be beaten by any oth-
er nationality, especially for rock
and dirt work, and San Antonio
is famed for its many gravel pits

 

 

Some or THE GRAVEL Pits aT THE Rock QuaARRY REGION

ping and large loads of wood in
former years—and now yet can
be seen daily on the market
plazas. They also are expert in
all sorts of manual labor, and for
this reason are often employed
for city work, especially street
work, ditch cleaning, etc. Dur-
ing the cotton and pecan harvest
time also, numbers of them are
employed by farmers and large
pasture pecan owners; they are
good climbers and know how to

in various districts of the old
town, but in particular at the
old rock quarry place, north and
near the Laurel Heights addi-
tion. A photo view herein, pre-
pared by the writer from an
elevated point west of the large
rock excavations shows the sur-
rounding country up to the old
Water Works tank, the old Ce-
ment factory, some Mexican
dwellings, fields, and the ever-
green Laurel brush (with its in-
276 TEXAS NATURE OBSERVATIONS AND REMINISCENCES.

tense blue blossoms and queer
red berrries in summer time).
It is one of the most picturesque
—and to the City of San An-
tonio a most valuable region,
as here it is that the city for
years has gathered its main
building materials: gravel rocks,
and cement from the famous
Alamo Cement Co. which, of late
years has vacated its leased
ground there and now has its
own headquarters a few miles
further northeast, and furnishes
- the best quality of cement
throughout the continent.

_ A second photoview herein,
: taken many years ago at the
’ city’s old gravel pits, shows some
of the piled-up gravel, ready for
disposal for:city work. The old-
en-time Mexican plank house,
surrounded by a high rock fence,
and the cement factory with its
high vent pipes are depicted
therein. Large numbers of Mex-
ican laborers dwell around these
“Head of the River regions,”
and some of these dwellings, in
olden days, were very quaintily

and romantically built directly. _

inside the embankments of earth
: walls—similar to the Indian cliff
dwellers homes of the Pueblo
Indians.

“As “to the Alamo Cement
Company in the mentioned “re-

gions north of San Antonio—
one among the thousand and
more of up-todate industrial
utiliuies of the present metrop-
olia >f Texas, my friend Chas.
Ba, mberger, president of the
local cement company, tells me
that his plant is the oldest Port-
land Cement plant west of the
Mississippi river; and also, as to
its past and present history:
“that it was incorporated in
1880, and that a year later the
name was changed to “Alamo
Cement Co.” with its original
incorporators: Geo. H, Kalteyer,
B. J. Mauermann, F. V. Wise
and E. W. Jones; Mr. Kalteyer |
being president and B. J. Mauer-
mann secretary. ‘The company
started first with interior heat
pot kilns,” said Mr. Baumberger,.
“then changed to continuous
shaft kilns and later on put in
a rotary kiln.

“In 1890 I bought out the in-
terest of Mr. Mauermann in this
company,” further stated _ Mr.
Baumberger, “and became secre-
tary and manager.. Mr. Kaltey-
er died in 1897 and I then be-
came president of the company.

The old plant is located on leased
ground and the raw material
of the company thas been ex-.
hausted, the machinery is out:
of date and the plant unfortu-
nately is off the railroad.

A Few Personal Early Day Reminiscenses
of Old San Antonio

‘About fifty or sixty years ago,
when the photograhic art was in
its infancy, an old friend and pri
vate drawing teacher of the writer
—the late H. Lungkwitz had
drawn a large landscape scenery
of our old San Antonio from the
tower of the old Grenet building,
located where now the fine Croe-
kett Hotel stands—corner of Na-
cogdoches and Crockett streets,

and embracing some old adobe
rock houses, seen today yet along
Crockett street, fronting the Croc-
kett Hotel. The drawing was af-
terwards lithographed by the
Rau lithographing company at
Dresden, Germany, and but a few
copies are ‘today owned by old
San Antonians. One of these cop-
ies, presented by Mr. Lungkwitz
to the writer’s father, is seen
TEXAS NATURE OBSERVATIONS AND REMINISCENCES. 277

herein in the original photograph
of. same, showing San Antonio in
those olden times true to nature as
a mere small but very attractive
vilage, with the eternal blue
Texas skies hovering over the
quaint old ‘‘San Antonio de
Bexar.’’ Some of the then—and
now yet, historic and prominent
sceneries around our present me-
tropolis were included. separately
in the Lungkwitz drawings—such

spanning the then sparkling and
most romantic San Antonio river
with its huge and century old
cypress, pecan, elm, hackberry
and other typical forest trees and
typical bath houses along the resi-
dential districts of the river banks.

Some twenty-five years later.
after Lungkwitz had prepared the
historical landscape, San Antonio
already had made wonderful ad-
vaneement in the upbuilding of

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

San Antonio Firry YEARS Aco
(From an Old Drawing From Nature by H, Lungkwitz)

as the Military and Main Plaza
with its quaint Mexican dishes and
market products and surrounding
adobe houses; the old original
Alamo building; San Pedro
springs and Park; the four Mis-
sions, and the new bridge acrcss
Houston street. In those days
San Antonio had but about three
or four principal bridges over-

the old town; and the City Hall
and other prominent buildings and
city parks, ete., came in front, and
one of the original views herein
shows the eastern town districts
—the photo being taken from the
tower ofthe City Hall many years
ago, showing the rear parts of the
ancient San Fernando church on
Main Plaza; part of Main Plaza

 

 
278 TEXAS NATURE OBSERVATIONS AND REMINISCENCES.

park, and the business districts
further east of the city.

Also, some of the old Mexican
settlements, the Alazan Creek dis-
trict and the ancient Mission ‘‘Es-
pada,’’ with several separate orig-
inal photoviews are depicted in
these sketches. These olden times
Mexican districts with the quaint
old jacals and Mexican life sur-
roundings, have always—and yet
today, been of much local interest
—especially to tourists and sight-

 

mentioned jn various articles here-
in. It was built by the Spaniards
about two hundred years ago, and
this sturdy old structure with its
three large tower bells has with-

stood (though several times re-

paired) the weather elements as
readily as all the other ancient
Missions around San Antonio. A
large high and square solid rock
fence had originally encircled this
mission, in order to protect the
inmates of the many separate an-

 

Eastern Part oF San Antonio as SEEN FROM THE TOWER OF THE City HaLi

seers in general; and our art stu-
dios photographers in general
throughout the city are teeming
with excellent views of Mexican
life and curios.

The few photos reproduced

herein are all original old time

views and they explain themselves
without further detail. One of
them is of particular interest~-the
Mission ‘‘Espada,’’ ten miles be-
low San Antonio, as it has been

~~ “(From an Old Original Photograph) ~

cient rock houses from attacks
of wild jungle animals and the
savage Indians. Two _ separate
photo views( one outlined some-
what herein) show a rounded
tower at the southeast corner of
the now delapidated and erumb-
ling rock houses, with a large
eannon hole and several smaller
holes for rifle use—all drilled”
through heavy and very thick
rock, and leading to the open
TEXAS NATURE OBSERVATIONS AND REMINISCENCES. 279

 

 

 

Ancient San Antonio SCENERY ‘“‘MaIn Praza,’’ SoME Sixty YEars AGo

This interesting and Old Scenery of One of the Lungkwitz's Drawings From Nature, Represents the Ancient
San Fernando Cathedral on Main Plaza (True to Nature, With Its Original High Rock Wall Enclosures Surround-
ing This Old Mission Church,) Also Some of the Old Adobe Houses, With Umbrella China-Trees on North Side, of
the Plaza, Near an Old Auction House (Now Frost's Bank); and Some Such Trees existed also on the South Side
Near the Ancient Court House and Post Office (Now Southern Hotel); and also, the view shows some Mexican Care
retas Loaded With Wood and Hay, and the Ancient United States Flag Poleand Some Adobe Houses Are Seen on
the Adjoining Military Plaza. In the Center of the Picture is_Seen an Ancient Four-Team Stage; Some Cit
Officials and Mexican Caballeros. (Photo Reproduced by the Writer From an Original Drawing of the Late H.
Lungkwitz of San Antonio.)

 

 

 

Outside View of the Century Old Rock Tower, Southeast Corner of the Espada Mission Rockhouses, £
With Cannon and Rifleholes in Solid Rocks, Used in Olden Times to Detend
the Inmates and the Old Misson
 

Ancient Hurts Insipz CHAPARRAL, Across ALAZAN CREEK, With WasHING

 

 

 

Roap aNd West Si1pgz Enclosures oF THE Mission ‘'Esrana’
TEXAS NATURE OBSERVATIONS AND REMINISCENCES. 281

chamber ' of the - tower, from
whence the cannon and rifles were
discharged in case of necessity.

One of the illustrations shows
the outside appearence of this an-
cient tower and some’ of the rock
houses, with several Mexican
Senoritas in front of their dwell-
ing, ready to go to church at the

close by Mission ‘‘Espada,’’ a

toms, rarely seen nowadays in the
huts of the poor.

In olden'-days, as stated, and
yet, in some districts around San
Antonio, Mexicans kept a number
of sheep-and goats around their
corrals, along the hilly regions;
and a photoview herein represents
one such Mexican goat farm cor-
ral with young goats, situated be-
yond Laurel. Heights, and close to

 

A ProvisionaL Mexican ALTAR AT MEXICAN VILLAGE NEAR San ANTONIO

‘separate photo view of which is
hereby presented. Also, I in-
elude herein an old original photo-
view of a Mexican altar, prepared
in one of the ancient Mexican ja-
cals during Christmas time. The
photo was taken during a then
existing small pox epidemic; and
the view is a very interesting and
typical relic of the Mexican cus-

‘

the old Bexar County Poor House ;
and another view shows part of a
Mexican village with a typical
Mexican bread oven, of oval shape
made of white or yellow adobe
earth, with rocks plastered along
‘its irounded ‘wajlls. Such ovens
are used to bake bread and cakes
candy and other Mexican dishes,
and they seem to be very useful

 
282 TEXAS NATURE OBSERVATIONS AND REMINISCENCES.

and practically arranged for such
purposes.

Mexican life and customs
around San Antonio always has
been of great interest, especially
such of olden times; and a few
more illustrations, antidating our
present hustling cosmopolitan life,
may interest the readers, relating
especially to Mexican children,
and dwellings of the poor. The
Alazan Creek settlement of olden

vaccinating the poor, and inspect-
ing the tin can houses and prem-
ises; and a typical conglomora-
tion of Mexican huts inside a very
dense chaparral with clothing sus-
pended on the brush to dry in the
sun; and also a Mexican corral
with tent. wagon, burro and child-
ren—all this across the ancient
trans-San Pedro districts of our
present metropolis. These dis-
tricts, I may state also, are now

\

 

 

 

San Antonio City Haty, SHortiy Arter Its CompLzetion; (CLinton G. Brown, Mayor, 19133)
NorTHEAST VIEW, BY THE WRITER

days is quite well represented in
these several original photoillus-
trations herein, as well as the va-
rious Mexican huts and children;
some views showing the children
lined up in front of a row of Mexi-
can Carretas for vaccination; and
also other Mexican corrals, with
my friend and former Assistant
City Physician, Dr. FitzSimon,

mostly all supplanted with fine
modern dwellings, railroads, and
numerous commercial buildings;
and the beautirul Prospect Hill dis-
trict has been cleared of a large
number of the olden times but pic-
turesque and interesting Mexican
villages and jacals of bygone days
around the Western districts of San
Antonio.
TEXAS NATURE OBSERVATIONS AND REMINISCENCES, 283

 

 

 

Trans-SAN PEDRO SCENERY—MEXICAN CHILDREN Lininc Up ror VACCINATION

 

 

 

Mexican Senorrtas at Missron Espapa Near AnD Ovtstoe THe Ancient Rock Houszs anp Broad Rock TowER
284 TEXAS NATURE OBSERVATIONS AND REMINISCENCES.

 

 

 

 

 

Mexican Goat Farm With Younc SHeep avo Goats In THE Corral. Near THE Rock Quarry Roan,
Laure. Heicuts. (An Old View by the Writer)
TEXAS NATURE OBSERVATIONS AND REMINISCENCES, 285

 

 

Mexicans HavLinc Water aT SALADO CREEK Bottom AND PEcaNn Forest, East or San ANTONIO.
286 TEXAS NATURE OBSERVATIONS AND REMINISCENCES.

 

 

Mexican Corral, Across ALAZAN CREEK WitTH Tin Can Hut, Erc.; HEALTH OFFICER
INSPECTING THE PREMISES
TEXAS NATURE OBSERVATIONS AND REMINISCENCES, 287

 

 

 

a Mexican Corrav With Tent, CHILDREN, Burrow, Erc.; ALazan CREEK SCENERY

 

 

Ay OLp Mexican Anose House Amonc CHINA UMBRELLA AND Pgcan Trezgs, NortHWEsT OF BRACKENRIDGE
Vitta, Rock Quarry Roap
288 TEXAS NATURE OBSERVATIONS AND REMINISCENCES.

 

 

 

Avazan CREEK MEXICAN VILLAGE NEAR THE SAN FERNANDO CEMETERY. (From a Very Old Original Photo)

 

 

 

A Mexican Tent Dwe tune, ALAZAN CreEK—(Boru Otp Time Views By THe Writer, 1886) ,
TEXAS NATURE OBSERVATIONS AND REMINISCENCES. 289

Perished on the Prairie Plains in Deadly Combat

The original illustration herein
of two deer head skeletons is an
interesting one, representing the
remnants of two large bucks that
died in deadly combat with each
other. Years after, these locked
head skeletons were found ac-

by the writer. The fine, large
horns were so intimately clinched
together that it was absolutely
impossible by several hands, to
move either horns a hairbreadth,
as if jammed together with a
sledge hammer! The head parts

 

 

  
  

a

 

Locxep Horns or TEXAS DgerR

eidentally by a Texas farmer while
rounding up some cattle in his
large pasture in a remote thicket
of chaparral and cactus jungle.
Both locked heads were taken to
the farm house where .the view
seen in these sketches was taken

must have laid many years on the
prairie as they were found bare
of all skin coverings and_ thor-
oughly bleached by the sun.
Hunters or farm hands occa-
sionally come across such two
locked combatants when the deer
290 TEXAS NATURE OBSERVATIONS AND REMINISCENCES.

are easily disposed of; in most
instances, however, the combat-
ants perish from exhaustion, and
seldom one manages to free itself
from its exhausted or perhaps
dead antagonist.

In the following pages can be
seen the interesting photographs
(from the Friedrich’s collection)
of a number of such locked deer

 

 

ing the ground the appearance
of having been plowed. They fi-
nally drop from exhaustion. Us-
ually the coyotes are attracted’ by
the noise they make, and no soon-
er do the combatants strike the
ground from exhaustion than the
coyotes begin to feast on their
flesh, as the deer can not defend
themselves in that condition nor

 

A Goop SPECIMEN oF Texas DEER

horns, mostly Texas specimens.
Mr. Friedrich in his souvenir book

explains the fighting capacity of.

locked deer thus: ‘‘These animals
will enter into combat so fierce
that one can hear them strike
their horns in the woods for a mile
and when they do get their horns
locked, they will try to free them-
selves, and by so doing, they will
tear up the ground for two or
three acres with their hoofs, giv-

make their escape.”’
In connection with the above

-memoranda, I also annex the or-

iginal photoview of a Texas deer
head found lately (or rather the
entire remnants of this deer was
found torn up and nearly all flesh
devoured by wolves) by a Mexi-
can ranchero employedatthefarm
of Mr. Fred Biehl at the Culebra
Creek, near Helotes, and about
four miles east of Leon Springs—
TEXAS NATURE OBSERVATIONS AND REMINISCENCES. 291

the latter once a Texas paradise
for deer and deer hunting. This
deer when found, must have been
dead two or three days, a victim
of some hunter’s bullet when
found on the prairie by the Mex-
ican, near a large ravine. The
Mexican told me it must have
been a large fellow, and that near-
ly all flesh had been devoured by
coyotes. He removed the head,

mountainous Helotes regions
northwest of San Antonio where
the described dead deer specimen
had been found.,

For various reasons, deer in
general are becoming scarcer ev-
ery year it seems in some of the
old hunting grounds around the
western hills; whilst in other re-
gions of Texas, especially south-
west of San Antonio, they are re-

 

 

 

 

 

and the original photo herein
shows it must have been a splen-
did specimen of deer once
gracefully roaming with its heard
among the evergreen hills and
vales of the romantic Helotes
country—an original photograph
of which is depicted herein and
prepared by the writer during a
previous outing in these same

Romantic LANpSCAPE SCENERY AROUND THE HELoTES CounTRY, NortHWEsT OF SAN ANTONIO, WHERE THE
Deer Heaps, ILLUsTRATED ABOVE, WERE FounpD

ported very numerous and at
times become quite a depradatory
nuisance, as they harm the crops
and fields at night time, andl
there is no fear of their extinc-
tion in the wide and wild ranges
over the prairie plains and oak
forests, where abundant protec-
tion exists among the remote
evergreen hills and forests and
292 TEXAS NATURE OBSERVATIONS AND REMINISCENCES,

densely overgrown chaparral,
steep ravines and canyons, from
the Helotes range up to leon
Springs, Boerne, Comfort, Ban-
dera, Fredericksburg and all the
other north and southwestern <lis-
tricts, as well as other favored
regions of our great State of Tex-
as.
Finally, with these sketches,
and through courtesy of my
friend and esteemed townsman,
Mr. Albert Friedrich, I take the
liberty to include herein some ele-
gant photographie views of one
of the most remarkable collection
of deer horn trophies found any-
where—the ‘‘Albert’s Buckhorn
Saloon Collection,’’ pronounced
by experts as the greatest collec-
tion of horns in the world, and
containing, to use the words of
the publisher of Mr. Friedrich’s
superbly illustrated catalogue;
‘‘Heads and horns of rare value
from the jungles of Africa, from
the pampas of South America,
from the mountains of Europe and
Asia, and from the wild, woolly
West of our own lands, ete.

** Another element of it is a col-
lection of rattles of Texas rattle-
snakes wrought in various artist-
ie designs, which is the work of
Mrs. Albert Friedrich. This work
is artistically arranged in the
shape of a deer, anchor, eagle,
Indian heads, etc., and any one
will be well repaid for their time
spent in examining this collec-
tion. The rattlers of this most
deadly of all reptiles used, number
over fourteen thousand.”

In his separate and artistically
arranged catalogue, Mr. Friedrich
has this to say personally:

‘‘When visiting my establish-
ment my customers as well as
strangers ask many strange and
varied questions; but with one
accord they never fail to ask how
the idea originated in my mind to
collect such a vast number of
horns.

‘To be brief about the matter,
I will state that the decorations
of a saloon are essential as well
as beneficial; so twenty-nine
years ago the idea of decorating
mv place with mounted horns
forced itself upon me, and during
that period, time, money and en-
ergy have been spent, and I am
proud to state that I now possess
the grandest and largest collection
of horns existing, native as well
as foreign.

‘‘To commence, I will call the
reader’s attention to the deer head
with forty-two prongs, which is a
rare specimen.

‘‘From Africa, one can see the
heads of the Bull and Cow Buf-
falo, the Spring Bok, Lichten-
stein Hartebeest, Bosch Bok, Wa-
ter Buck, Oliby, Clark’s Gazelle,
Gem’s Bok, Koker’s Hartebeast,
Brindle Gnu, ete.

“‘From India, Musk deer, Ax-
is, Deer Goat Antelope, and Moun-
tain Deer.

‘‘From Switzerland is exhibited
the Chamois and Ibex. ;

“The State of Colorado is repre-
sented by a large number of fine
mounted Elk heads.

‘‘Texas has the greatest repre-
sentation with heads and necks in
proper, natural style, of wild Tex-
as Mustangs, fine specimens of
Texas longhorn steers, one pair
of horns measuring from tip to tip,
8 feet 1 3-8 inches, one pair 7 feet
1-2 inch, and another pair of 7
feet 1 inch, mounted on their or-
iginal heads, as well as antelopes,
deer heads, ete.

“The Canadian and Alaskan
Moose have also representation in
this collection, as well as the Cari-
bou.

‘“‘Magnificient heads of Rocky -
Mountain Sheep and Wild Goats
are included.

‘‘Another interesting feature is
a large collection of rattlesnake
rattles, numbering over 14,000 in
all, which form a fine display un-
der glass. Of these 637 have been
TEXAS NATURE OBSERVATIONS AND REMINISCENCES. 293

artistically arranged as a life-
like picture of an antlered deer.
The collection of these rattles
has taken a great deal of time,
as well as trouble and expense.

“The last thing to which I will
eall the reader’s attention is my
seventy-eight pronged Texas
deer head, in which I feel the
greatest pride. It is mounted on
a shield, forming a five-pointed
star, on which is spelled the word
‘‘T-e-x-a-s;’’ protruding  there-
from is a neck and head of sym-
metrical proportions. Growing
from the head is a number of
horns, forming an unique cluster
which wraps the beholder in as-
tonishment and admiration.

The Curator of the Smithsonian
Institute says: *‘The antlers are
the most remarkable I have ever
seen. In the number of points it
far exceeds any specimen of which
I have knowledge.”’

It is not within the scope of
these sketches to dwell in detail
upon this superbly illustrated
‘‘Souvenir Booklet of Mr. Fried-
rich’s collection (each photo-
graph being extra and separately
itemized). but the readers who
are not familiar with this grand
collection of native and some
foreign horns, and who will take
the trouble to visit this, one of
the most refined and elegantly
decorated establishment of its
kind, in Texas, visited even by
ladies—hundreds of them monthly
to inspect that gorgeous display
of deer antlers, etc. will be
amazed at the richness and attrac-
tiveness of this unique buckhorn
collection. However, I wish ‘to
dwell a few moments on the in-
teresting and unique rattle de-
sign work, exhibited exclusively,
I understand, the work of Mrs. A.
Friedrich, in which over fourteen
thousand rattles have been used—
from the largest size rattles down
to the smallest specimens nrocur-
able. Each line, each curvature,
and each dot seen on the various

photo illustrated designs repre-
sent one rattle, or the horny tail
end part rings of the deadlv cro-
talus; and I was not surprised to
hear Mrs. Friedrich, herself, ex-
claim: ‘‘T tell you it certainly was
tedious work:’’ For instance, the
deer design, a miniature pho-
tograph of which jis seen herein,
was made up with six hundred
and thirty-seven rattles :—a ‘‘Rat-
tling fine deer indeed: (this or-
namental design, under glass,
measures 5 feet 4 inches long,
and 4% feet in height.

The three designs repre-
senting an ‘‘Indian and Squaw’”’
‘‘Souvenir Books’’ and *‘‘Texas
Star’’, cost the lives of two thous-
and three hundred and thirtv-five
rattlesnakes. The supposed feath-
ers, seen on the head of the In-
dian and squaw, were made of the
skin of a huge rattlesnake, And
then, the six advertisement de-
signs seen on another page, repre-
sent one thousand seven hundred
and fifty-one rattlesnake rattles,
and the letters of these designs,
as well as those of ‘‘Souvenir
Books’’ appear more like real
printed large letters than the un-
ique designs they are—made of
rattlesnake rattles—1751 of them!
Indeed, a tedious but elegantly
artistic work! Likewise exceed-
ingly attractive are the designs
‘*Albert’s Saloon,’’ ‘‘Texas,’’
“‘American Hagle’’ and *‘Anch-
or.’’ The sign “‘Albert’’s Saloon”’
is made of 485 rattles; ‘‘Texas”’
Mr. Friedrich says, was the first
design composed of rattles made,
a strictly home production, repre-
senting 356 rattles; the American
Eagle is composed of 574 rattles,
a beautiful and tedious design
work of Mrs. A. Friedrich, as well
also the next work, representing
an anchor, which required 121,
mostly extremely large rattles,
and it is an artistic showing not
so easily duplicated.

Mr. Frederich tells me a total
of 14,000 rattles had been used for
294 TEXAS NATURE OBSERVATIONS AND REMINISCENCES.

the above mentioned design work,
and he has received another ship-
ment lately from a ranch near the
Mexican border, numbering 18,460
rattles, which came in two boxes,
and would, Mr. Frederich says,
have filled a small flour barrel.
The rattles are to be used for fur-
ther ornamental purposes, on the
same lines as the others.

These two orders of rattlesnake
rattles from one firm alone, repre-
sents a total of thirty-two thou-
sand four hundred and sixty rat-
tlesnakes annihilated throughout
Texas in the past ten or more
years,—no wonder the reptile
pest is nowadays a matter of his-

tory, in the immense territory of
Texas!

Just think of it: 32460 rattle-
snakes killed—which would figu-
ratively. represent about ninety
thousand pounds of snake—
or three carloads; or, put-
ting each snake at an average of
three feet, this would make a
string of snakes reaching from
San Antonio to the Helotes, or
about eighteen miles long! No
wonder these and other reptiles,
are about ‘‘played out,’’ in Texas,
and such few as are left in the
jungles are quickly annihilated
wherever encountered. That’s a
fact!

 

 

 

 

 

A Rare AND BeautiruL Deer Desicn (ORIGINAL ON STAINED GLass, IN Natural CoLors, ON
A Larce Winnow-Panz,) PHoto REPRODUCED BY THE WRITER WITH TRANSMITTED SUNLIGHT
TEXAS NATURE OBSERVATIONS AND REMINISCENCES. 295

 

 

 

Deer Hunter With Tropuy—A TypicaL Tixas HUNIING SCENE
296 TEXAS NATURE OBSERVATIONS AND REMINISCENCES,

 

Tue Deatu-Lock or Ten Deer
TEXAS NATURE OBSERVATIONS AND REMINISCENCES, 297

ONE er so

 

 

"Rattuinc" Fing Dezgr (44x53 Fer) Six Hundred and Thirty-Seven of the Deadly Reptiles are Represented in Above Design
298 TEXAS NATURE OBSERVATIONS AND REMINISCENCES.

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These three above designs cost the lives of two thousand three hundred and thirty-five rattlesnakes.
The supposed feathers on the head of the squaw are made of the skin of a large rattler.

 
NATURE OBSERVATIONS AND REMINISCENCES. 299

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The above six designs consist of One Thousand Seven Hundred and Fifty-one rattlesnake rattles

 
300 TEXAS NATURE OBSERVATIONS AND REMINISCENCES.

 

 

Interior View—East Wall, of the Albert Fried$fich Buckho-n Saloon, San Antonio, Texas
TEXAS NATURE OBSERVATIONS AND REMINISCENCES. 301

 

55

The Woild's Champion—78 prongs. (A white-Tail Deer, Killed in McCullough/County Northwest Texas, in 1899
CES.

302 TEXAS NATURE OBSERVATIONS AND REMINISCEN

 

 

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MISSION ESPADA
S SURAT PR ees"

 

 
TEXAS NATURE OBSERVATIONS AND REMINISCENCES. 303

 

 

 

 

 

THe Heap SPRINGS OF THE SAN Anronro Rrver, NortHwest oF BRACKENRIDG

£ ViLva, San Anronio
(Old-Time Photo View by the Writer)
304 TEXA3 NATURE OBSERVATIONS AND REMINISCENCES.

 

 

 

 

THe SMALL SWISSHOUSE AT THE OLMos CREEK, HEAD or THE RIVER ReEGIons; A CHARMING AN
TypicaL Forest Scenery, NortH oF San Antonio. (Photo by the Writer, 1886.)

 

 

 

One oF THE ANCIENT SPRINGS AT OUR Famous SAN PEDRO SPRINGS PARK.
(An Old-time Photovi = 3
TEXAS NATURE OBSERVATIONS AND REMINISCENCES. 305

 

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306 TEXAS NATURE OBSERVATIONS AND REMINISCENCES.

 

 

26 27
THE ABOVE FRAMED DesiIGNs ARE COMPOSED OF ONE THOUSAND Five HuNpRED AND THIRTY-SIX RATTLESNAKE RATTLES
. - a
307

TEXAS NATURE OBSERVATIONS AND REMINISCENCES.

 

    
 

127 , iD 128

Four BeatTiruLt Larce ELKHEADS, q117, 118, 119. 120.) (On tHe Tips or zAcH Prone aN ELectTrRICcC GLOBE HAS BEEN PLACED LATELY WHICH MAKES
48 Licuts anpD BravutTiruL Tro BEHOLD WHEN Lit.)

  
308 TEXAS NATURE OBSERVATIONS AND REMINISCENCES.

 
309

TEXAS NATURE OBSERVATIONS AND REMINISCENCES.

  

A Few Sampces Or Tue Supers Aubert FRIEDRICH Buckuworn CoLrection, SAN ANTONIO, TEXAS

 
310 TEXAS NATURE OBSERVATIONS AND REMINISCENCES

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TEXAS NATURE OBSERVATIONS AND REMINISCENCES. 311

 
NS AND REMINISCENCES.

312 TEXAS NATURE OBSERVATIO

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TEXAS NATURE OBSERVATIONS AND. REMINISCENCES

 

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Oxp-Time Texas Lonc-Horns (MEasuRING SEVEN FeEr From Tip To Tip)
: 1
314 TEXAS NATURE OBSERVATIONS AND REMINISCENCES.

 

 

, -
Tue Ancient Maparasz BRACKENRIDGE PARK BripGe; Once a GREAT BEAauTY SPOT AMONG SAN ANTONIO’S
RIVER SCENERIES ALONG BRACKENRIDGE Park. (AN OLD-TIME PHoTovVIEW By THE WRITER)
TEXAS NATURE OBSERVATIONS AND REMINISCENCES. 315

 

 

 

 

 

HavuLinc WaTER, SaALaDO CFEEK CROSSING, SOUTHEAST OF SAN ANTONIO.
(An OLp Time View By THE WRITER)

 
316 TEXAS NATURE OBSERVATIONS AND REMINISCENCES,

Texas Cactus Wren and Its Nest

It affords me much pleasure to
submit to my readers a nice origi-
nal photo view of our prairie cac-
tus wren on its abandoned nest,
encountered lately along the ‘‘can-
vas back’’ lake, south of San An-
tonio and nearly opposite the old

In the cactus juugles around the
stated lakes, and especially also
at the cactus jungles of the Leona
hills these merry little wrens

abound numerously, and their
large funnel-shaped weed nests

 

 

 

 

 

 

Younc But FULLGROWN:+Cactus WRENs. One On Nest.
3 + if

Mitchell’s lake hunting preserve,

These interesting and exceed-
ingly lively and attractive little
weaver-birds enliven the hunting
erounds with their merry chatter-
ing ways; and they are found
very numerously whereever the
broad leafed opuntia cactus ex-
ist, especially along hilly regions
with plenty of dense brush thickets.

are nearly exclusively found
built between two or more cactus
leaves. They are an exceedingly
restless lot and are often seen
among the cactus jungles running
swiftly along the ground, or, in
search of their insect food, inside
the cactus spaces. In general ap-
pearance they resemble somewhat
the beautiful canyon wren, but the
TEXAS NATURE OBSERVATIONS AND REMINISCENCES. 317

cactus wren, as its name implies,
is a typical cactus jungle bird,
and its body feathers and its tail
in particular, is very beautifully

marked with snow-white dots and
stripes, and the beautiful spotted
tailfeathers are spread out like a
fan in their movements from
one cactus bush to another,
or in flying and running along the
ground. Usually these birds built a
very large nest between some cac-
tus leaves, and occassionally two
or three can be found in ine cac-
tus bunch, and I have met some
during hunting trips fully two
and one-half feet long; and all
such nests are usually built of dry
limbs of the yellow blooming broom
weed. The nest seen on this photo
was over a foot long and consisted
entirely of broom weeds—with
some of its small yellow. flowers
still quite green; and its inside,
funnel-shaped cavity was snugly
out-lined with tiny feathers. Once
year ago, at the Leona, hills I met
numbers of such cactus nests, and
one in particular was of much in-
terest as its inside mold was out-
lined with fine soft feathers and a
large quantity of rabbit-fur, and
near its entrance a piece of dry
skin of a rattlesnake was inter-
woven in the nest body. W. C.
Schulze and some others were
present when I called their atten;
tion also to this unusual wrens
nest.

Such freaks in nature are oc-

casionally met with during hunt-
ing trips and I recollect how, only
a few weeks ago, I found this
nest. of some other weaver-bird in
which a fieldmouse with five
young ones (about one inch long
and yet blind) were found. It hap-
pend near the Mission ‘‘Espada’’
and I showed the nest to my com-

panions and-necighbors, Max Men--~

Haubold. It was a
oval-shaped nest of

ger and A.
beautiful,

some weaver-bird, inside a dense
conglommorated mass of vines;
and, though the breeding season
of birds was about over, mere cu-
riosity tempted me to investigate
this nest, and on closer inspection
the long tail of a field mouse was
seen protruding inside the nest en-

trance, and on still closer inspec--
tion, the five young blind mice.

were seen. The nest was situated

about five feet above the ground,

and nearly in the center of a large
broad bush close to an overhang-
ing tree covered with the foliage
of mustang grape vines.

* * *
_In his works on birds of North

America, the great German or--
nithologist, H. Nehrling, mentions.

that the ornithologists of Europe,
judging only from stuffed speci-
mens and unfamiliar with the life-
habits of our cactus wren, origin-
ally supposed these birds were a

sort of tree-climber or woodpeck-.

er,-and that even Cassin. in his

magnificent work: ‘‘Illustrations-

of the Birds of Texas, California,
ete., (1853-1856), illustrated this
wren in a climbing, wood-pecker-
like posture; but later Dr. Herman
reported having first encountered
this bird in Southern California, and
he was oe of the first to report in
detail of the doings and life-ha-
bits of this wren: that, like others

of its kind, it penetrated the cac--

tus-thickets close to the ground;
where it also finds its food, con-
sisting of all sorts of insects,
which it gathers principally from
the ground.

“As a genuine wren, this bird
lives close to the ground in vari-
ous types of the cactus-plant,
which it penetrates in inimitable
mastership, in spite of their fear-
ful sharp thorns. They build a
large, comfortable nest, similar to

-some other types of wren, in form

of a pouch or pocket, resembling
somewhat the shape of a flat bot-
318 TEXAS NATURE OBSERVATIONS AND REMINISCENCES.

tle, or rather, it resembles a baby
nursing bottle. The nest is built
in its flat side between the cactus
leaves, ete., about ten or twelve
inches in size, and about half as

broad. The eggs, numbering four
to six, are of white color, but dot-
ted throuchout with salmonoid
specks.’’ * * 3
‘‘Sennett found the cactus wren
first in Hidalgo, Texas, about one

hundred miles’ beyond the outlet
of the Rio Grande, into the Gulf of
Mexico, where the hilly regiona
are thickly ‘studded with cacti.
The nests always were very large,
generally built inside the fig cac-

tus leaves, where they were easy
to find. It’s song is very loud and
shrill’’ and Sennett noticed how
they gathered the seed kernels of
the globular ground cacti, and,

 

 

Tue WRITER AND A FRIEND IN Mipst Cactus JuNGLES INSPECTING a Cactus WREN NEsrt.
(A SELF-MabeE Puoto, Novemser, 1913.)
TEXAS NATURE OBSERVATIONS AND REMINISCENCES. 319

worms and larvae from the
ground; the bills of many being
covered with earth, ete.’”’ * * *
These observations tally with
those stated above, and our lively
Texas cactus wren has_ been
known to me ever since boyhood
some fifty years ago, when then,
‘living on a farm, near Boerne.
The principle home of this wren
‘specie however, is the immense
‘cactus plains and brush thickets
of Southwestern Texas. Ocea-
sionally, but rarely, these lively
cactus birds also build their large
nest In some thorny bush or on a
mesquite tree; and I here met one
of them, years ago, in the thorny
agarita bushes, close to Mitchell’s
lake, and also twice located in a
large Spanish dagger plant.

When close to dwellings, they
are quite tame, and, if not molest-
ed during nestling time the young
brood will return annually and en-
liven the surrounding territory.
Several such breeding nests can
be found in the cactus thickets

south of San Antonio, close to
Mexican dwellings, and some of
them directly on the road, inside
an artificial cactus fence, leading
to the Espada Mission. In front of
AMexican dwelling, several very
large cactus wren nests could be
seen, nearly as large as a bucket,
built between the thorny leaves,
and the inside broad-rotund cavi-
ty is snuggly outlined with soft
feathers and wool and parcels of
cotton. I once, at the romantic
Cassin’s lake, met a beautyful
wren nest, entirely outlined with
the snow-white cotton fibre; and
the outside entrance as well as the
thorny surroundings were covered
with remnants of the white cot-
ton-bolls of an adjoining , cotton
field.

A secend illustration seen here-
in (a ‘‘self-made’’ photo) shows
one of the cactus thickets with
wren nests, located close to the
‘“‘eanvas-back lake,’’ nine miles

below San Antonio, and near the
jungles of cacti the previous view

was taken.

ye
. 320TEXAS NATURE OBSERVATIONS AND REMINISCENCES.

 

 

 

; i
Typical SCENERY San Geronimo Recions; WATERFALL NortH oF THE ‘‘BLUE-HoLE”’? NaTATORIUM
DescripeD ELsEwHERE HEREIN Near BANDERA RoaD, AND THE OLD GALLAGHER RANCH
Post OrrFice; 29 Mites Nortuwest oF San ANTONIO.

 
TEXAS NATURE OBSERVATIONS AND REMINISCENCES. 322

 

 

 

' PRAIRIE SCENES NEAR SAN ANTONIO |

Cactus Wren and Nests. (Delayed engravings for Wren article, page 316.)
The lower picture showing another typical and large wren nest between
cactus leaves suspended over a Spanish dagger plant.

 

 

 

 

 
323 TEXAS NATURE OBSERVATIONS AND REMINISCENCES.

Errata |

Page 24—Footnotes to illustration should read: (Fig. 1.) Nest intact.
(Fig. 2.) Nest cut in two, showing, ete.

Page 51—(First column, 19th line), should read: ‘‘I am sure the disease
ig not so rare, and if proper inquiry. were made it could be proven
to be so.”’

Page 58—(First column, last line) should read: ‘‘The three Texas spider
specimens on next page are very beautifully marked, when seen, ete.

Page 50— (Second column, 37th line) should read: ‘‘The rabbit of course
will not cause taenia in man,—much less echinoccus, etc.

Page 59—Footnotes to illustration should read: ‘‘The cocoon of the
. larger speciment, (not ‘‘lower’’ specimen, ete.)

On Page 157—The Gila Monster Article, second paraghaph should read:
“‘However, this time it is the Gila reptile to which particular atten-
tion is called. In the March 1912 issue of the Texas Field and
National Guardsman, the following data appeared by a friend of
the Field anent the Gila Monster, under the caption: ‘A query
for Dr. Menger,’’ in which the contributor had said: ‘‘I have
been reading with considerable interest Dr. Menger’s articles on
‘*Nature observations’’ for the past year or so. ete.

 
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