The Devil’s Claw—Ill 
Having completely shed its gourd-like covering, and with 
its jaws set for a passing animal, it will be seen that the pod 
itself is covered with prickly spines. When the fish-hook points of 
the prongs bite into the leg of an animal, the whole contrivance becomes 
balanced from that point, and at each jolt and jounce the heavier body 
of the pod pounds down upon the leg, its spines causing great 
pain. There is an opening between the two prongs at the 
upper end of the pod itself from which the seeds 
come out at every bounce. When these are 
scattered over a mile or two of new 
environment, the pod falls apart. 
