The Saint Paul Daily Globe

September 30, 1890

“Bitten By A Vinegar Rone.”

Deadly Effect of a Sting of an Almost Unknown Creature.

Tombstone (A.T.) Special to Pittsburgh Dispatch.

An aged Mexican named Miguel Delgado, living near here, was bitten yesterday by what is locally known as a vinegar rone, and died in a few hours in great agony. These terrible creatures, which seem never to have come under the notice of naturalists, or at any rate, have never been given a name by them, and which are only to be found in this region, are small black creatures resembling very closely a crawfish or small fresh-water crab. They are found in low, damp places, under rocks and stumps of trees, and usually lie close to the ground as if asleep or stupid.

They are, however, very aggressive, inflicting a bite for which no antidote has ever been found, and which produces death in from three to twelve hours. A violent fever sets in almost immediately, the tongue swells, becoming intensely dry and parched; the lips turn black, and a rash resembling roseola breaks out all over the body. The patient grows delirious toward the end, and becomes very violent and possessed of extraordinary strength.

The wound inflicted by the vinegar rone is made by a sting located under the tail, and is a small one, like the puncture of a coarse needle, but which leaves the flesh seared and blistered as if the needle had been red hot. This wound turns perfectly white after the death of the person bitten, and gives out a smell so offensive as to be almost unbearable. The vinegar rone is, fortunately, gradually becoming exterminated, as in the spring the people search out the eggs and young and destroy them.

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-The Pine Barrens Institute