54 Aquatic Lite 
year. Of course they really go to the 
sunny side of a lake in early morning if 
one portion is in the sun and the other 
shaded. 
In Colorado, Wyoming and New 
Mexico the spawning season depends 
more upon the altitude than upon the 
month. Western Kansas and Eastern 
Colorado have a summer climate similar 
to that of Pennsylvania, and the spawn 
may be found as early as the middle of 
April. In the mining district of Cripple 
Creek, which is two miles above sea 
level, with cool or cold nights all sum- 
mer, the eggs are not laid until late July 
or early August. The spawn appears in 
bunches as large as that of the frogs, 
the individual eggs being larger, but the 
mass is more drawn out and may extend 
nearly three feet from end to end. Kggs 
hatched in one of our aquaria in April 
developed to adult specimens before 
Christmas, while those emerging in Au- 
gust may remain in the larval state all 
winter, whether in a warm room or in 
their natural haunts. 
~ One writer declares that the change 
from the larval to adult form will not 
take place if the animals are kept in 
water with no opportunity to walk upon 
land, but there is little or no truth in 
this statement. Normally they change to 
the adult form during the first or second 
season; some never change and others 
are slow in making the metamorphosis. 
One in the larval or tadpole form lived 
in one of my receptacles for four years, 
and there was no way of telling its age 
when it came into my possession. Dur- 
ing the change from gill to lung breath- 
ers the gills shrink, the body which has 
been olive or blackish in color, com- 
mences to get spotted and blotched from 
the belly toward the back. The tail, 
which has been quite flat now becomes 
rounded. ‘The animals become restless, 
and instead of remaining in the water 
seek land, especially after a rain and 
when darkness affords a certain amount 
of security from enemies. 
Mortality during the metamorphosis is 
rather large. It is safe to say that in 
captivity fully one-fourth die while un- 
dergoing the change. If nothing hap- 
pens to interfere with their normal 
length of life it will, more than likely, 
reach ten years. One that has been in 
my possession for ten years and one 
month is as lively as any. Three others 
are past tour years, and a number are 
just a year old at this writing. 
The author has never seen a hijalote 
more than a foot in length, but some 
fairly reliable observers in Colorado 
have reported specimens measuring fif- 
teen inches. Those in my possession av- 
erage ten and one-half inches, and in 
every instance they had attained their 
maximum length and weight within a 
year, whether hatched in the spring or 
toward the approach of cold weather. 
This applies not only to those indigenous 
to Colorado, but also those from South 
Dakota, Nebraska, Kansas, Northern 
Texas and New and Old Mexico. 
When inhabiting lakes and ponds the 
food is principally insect life that falls 
on the surface of the water, but they 
also devour worms, diseased minnows 
that are not able to elude them, dead 
minnows, and at times we have known 
them to practice cannibalism in the ab- 
sence of more suitable foods. In cap- 
tivity it grows rapidly 1f fed every other 
day. Raw meat, liver and kidney, cut 
in thin strips, seems to satisfy every 
want. lheneds all they eanmeat thineeon, 
four times a week, an individual hatched 
early in the season will reach a length of 
ten inches before Christmas. 
Some years in Colorado the water dog 
is not at all plentiful, while at other 
times it may be so numerous in certain 
sections as to be regarded as a pest. Ten 
