KinSource - Tale of the Week - Did It Really Rain Lizards?

KinSource

Minnesota Tales

The Minneapolis Journal, July 26, 1906, p. 6

DID IT REALLY RAIN LIZARDS?

SECTION OF LAKE STREET COVERED WITH REPTILES.

They Came While a Sudden Severe Storm Was on and Residents Were Talking About the Lizard Shower - Swarm of Bees on Downtown Business Building.

Lizards came down with last night's rain, according to popular belief. The scientific theory is that they came up. At any rate the sidewalks along Lake street in the vicinity of Thirty-eighth avenue were covered with the little reptiles, ranging in length from one to two inches.

An instant before the rain began to fall there wasn't a lizard to be seen, but after the first gust of wind and downpour of rain the ground in some places was literally covered with the lively little fellows. Inasmuch as none of the residents in the neighborhood had ever seen more than one lizard at a time, and that most infrequently, the sudden appearance of such great numbers of them is being attributed to the rain.

The effect was uncanny and there was a general gathering up of skirts and many exclamations, both feminine and otherwise. The appearance of angleworms on the sidewalks after a sudden shower is not uncommon, but lizards are something of an innovation.

This phenomenon is variously explained. In many sections of the country the belief that they are rained down is firmly established, and many people in Minneapolis hold to this theory. Another explanation is that the pelting rain disturbs them in retreat just under the surface and they are beaten out.

The most probable explanation is that it is shortly after hatching time and that the young reptiles were forced from their nests by the impact of the heavy drops which characterized last night's rain.

Bees Swarm Downtown.

Another freak of natural history in a big city yesterday was the appearance of a big swarm of bees on the roof at 48 Fourth street S. The insects formed a compact mass clinging to the "horse" erected by a telephone company. An apiarist was notified that the bees were there, but inasmuch as bees are worth nothing this late in the season, the swarm was allowed to remain on the roof till the spirit moved it to seek another location.