The Life of the Spider 



the brushwood, we might expect to find a 

 secret cabin, a wadded cell where the Spider 

 would take refuge in her hours of leisure. 

 The reality is something entirely different. 

 The long funnel-neck gapes at its lower end, 

 where a private door stands always ajar, 

 allowing the animal, when hard-pushed, to 

 escape through the grass and gain the open. 



It is well to know this arrangement of the 

 home, if you wish to capture the Spider with- 

 out hurting her. When attacked from the 

 front, the fugitive runs down and slips 

 through the postern-gate at the bottom. To 

 look for her by rummaging in the brushwood 

 often leads to nothing, so swift is her flight; 

 besides, a blind search entails a great risk of 

 maiming her. Let us eschew violence, 

 which is but seldom successful, and resort to 

 craft. 



We catch sight of the Spider at the entrance 

 to her tube. If practicable, squeeze the 

 bottom of the tuft, containing the neck of the 

 funnel, with both hands. That is enough; 

 the animal is caught. Feeling its retreat cut 

 off, it readily darts into the paper screw held 

 out to it; if necessary, it can be stimulated 

 with a bit of straw. In this way, I fill my 



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