168 



THE DESERT 



Poison of 

 reptiles. 



Thefang 

 and sting. 



would seem as though Nature had brought 

 them into the desert only half made-up — a prey 

 to every beast and bird. But no ; they are 

 given the most deadly weapon of defence of all 

 — ^poison. Almost all of the reptiles have poison 

 about them in fang or sting. We are accus- 

 tomed to label them " poisonous " or "not poi- 

 sonous," as they kill or do not kill a human 

 being ; but that is not the proper criterion by 

 which to judge. The bite of the trap-door 

 spider will not seriously affect a man, but it 

 will kill a lizard in a few minutes. In propor- 

 tion to his size the common red ant of the 

 desert is more poisonous than the rattlesnake. 

 It is reiterated with much positiveness that a 

 swarm of these ants have been known to kill 

 men. There is, however, only one reptile on the 

 desert that humanity need greatly fear on ac- 

 count of his poison and that is the rattlesnake. 

 There are several varieties called in local par- 

 lance "side-winders," "ground rattlers," and 

 the like ; but the ordinary spotted, brown, or 

 yellow rattlesnake is the type. He is not a 

 pleasant creature, but then he is not often met 

 with. In travelling many hundreds of miles on 

 the desert I never encountered more than half a 

 dozen. 



