ANIMAL STOWAWAYS.

Ashburton Guardian, Volume 56, Issue 103, 12 February 1936, Page 8

ANIMAL STOWAWAYS.

A VARIED ASSORTMENT. That the human being who slows himself away among a ship’s cargo lias his counterpart in the animal and insect world is evident from the numbei _ ot creatures which turn up eveiy yea* * the London and other docks, Crave nHill, Fellow of the Zoological Society, in the Christian Science Monitor. These “stowaways” are mostly insects, or small mammals or reptiles which have concealed themselves among a consignment of fruit or gram dispatched from one of the tropical coun--1 It has been my privilege to examine many of these creatures, and one is struck by their “infinite variety. What happens to them when found depends very much on circumstances. Most of these stowaways have some commercial value, of course, but the figure is usually trifling, in which case they are given a home in one quarter or another. Occasionally, however, a really valuable and scientifically important specimenh conies to light, and when this is the case it is sold either to a museum or a menagerie. Bv far the most frequent “passenger’’’ is the bird-eating spider of South America, which usually chooses to travel among the fruit, but I have known of lizards, beetles, mice, frogs, and even quite large snakes arriving in a similar manner. Some of the stowaways prove to be remarkably hardy.. I remember, for instance, one. lizard which came o\ei from Africa hidden away among some bales of esparto grass, the grass being usedfi. a good deal in the manufacture of paper. On arrival in England, the grass was sent to a paper-makers’ mills, where it remained untouched for about three months. Wlieii, at length, the bales were opened, out ran a little African lizard, in as good a condition, apparently, as he must have been when he began his journey several months previously! Snakes, too, are hardy creatures, and do not seem to suffer any discomfort during their long voyage, twined, as they usually are, round the stems of bunches of bananas. Most of these reptiles only 7 come to light when the fruit is being divided up in the dock’s warehouse before being sent oiut to tbe retailer’s, as was the case not long ago when a boa-constrictor turned up in a Glasgow warehouse and astonished the banana-cutters by wriggling vigorously across the floor.

One stowaway from the West Indies, however, a tree viper—not the sort of snake one would wish to keep as a pet by any means—had a much longer run for its money. So successfully did it conceal itself that it was not discovered until the fruit hi which it lay was placed in a cellar beneath a greengrocer’s shop in one of the provincial towns. Perhaps the most valuable creature to reach this country recently was a beautiful little insect called an opal tortoise beetle. He , too, came over in a consignment of bananas from the West Indies. Shaped somewhat like a tortoise, he was no bigger than a halfpenny, and looked like a, living gem, for hie colour was dazzling. Since, however, no home could he found for the little chap—after all, not everyone wants a beetle as a pet, however beautiful —he was sent to the insect house at the London 00, where for a time he was displayed in an illuminated glass cylinder which showed off his beauty to perfection. Another interesting little stowaway turned up not long ago at Southampton Docks. Tt was a tiny piebald mouse, called a Sumichrast’s nightmouse. He, too, scuttled out of a crate of bananas. Soon alter his arrival another fruit vessel berthed, and from this one emerged a tropical spider who was found to be carrying a bundle of tiny eggs between her front legs. Almost as soon as she came off the boat tbe eggs hatched, and the mother could be seen surrounded by hundreds of baby spiders, none of them any larger than tin’s little “o.” 1 saw this interesting family, and noticed that the baby spiders loved their mother so devotedly that they swarmed it’ll over her body, head, and legs. Now and again a baby would boscome detached from Ill’s parent, whereupon lie would scuttle back on o her hairy body as fast as his little legs would carry him! While in most cases these curious stowaways survive their lengthy trip to this country and are found until they have reached land, there are exceptions. One of these is a small opossum, known in the lruif trade as a “banana rat.” This animal apparently lias not the patience of his brother stowaways, and often emerges from his hiding place while still on board. Usually he comes out by night to explore his surroundings, only to be discovered by the ship’s rate, who promptly set upon him. For this reason very 'few “banana rate” reach the ship's destination.