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 undergrqund 

 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 exter- 

 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- 



