166 TEXAS NATUEE OBSERVATIONS ANB REMlNISCENCfES. 



"Prom 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 

 country in Egypt. The nlonitor, 

 ■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 

 I am 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 desert 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. 



Face View of Texas Prairie Rat Showing the Long, Chissel-Like Teeth - 



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- 



