242 



AMERICAN SPIDERS AND THEIR SPINNINGWORK. 



Mouse 

 Snared 

 by Spider 



break the web in which it is entangled. This scene, conchides the 

 author, only ends with the serpent's death. ^ 



I had often wished for an opportunity to follow uj) critically one of 

 the recurring reports of the physical powers of spiders. This wish was 

 gratified in the summer of 1882. An article drifted through American 

 newspapers which detailed the ensnaring of a living mouse by a Ken- 

 tucky spider. I was fortunatelj' able to trace the story to its origin in 

 the Lebanon (Ky.) " Standard and Times." Correspondence with its in- 

 telligent editor, Mr. J. W. Hopper, brought me entire confirmation of 

 the report from a number of trustworthy sources. I think the incident 

 of sufficient importance to justify a somewhat detailed presentation. The 

 original account as published by Mr. Hopper is as follows : — 



"A very curious and inter- 

 esting spectacle was to be seen 

 Monday afternoon in 

 the office of Mr. P. C. 

 Cleaver's livery stable 

 in this city. Against 

 the wall of the room stands a 

 tolerably tall desk, and under 

 this a small spider, not larger 

 than a common pea, had con- 

 structed an extensive web reach- 

 ing to the floor. (Fig. 222.) 

 About half past eleven o'clock, 

 Monday forenoon, it was observed 

 that the spider had ensnared a 

 young mouse by passing fila- 

 ments of her web around its tail. 

 When first seen the mouse had 

 its fore feet on the floor and 

 could barely touch the floor with 

 its hind feet. The spider was 

 full of business, running up and 

 down the line and occasionally 

 biting the mouse's tail, making 

 it struggle desperately. 



Its efforts to escape were all 



Fig. 222. Diagram of a mouse hanging in a spider's snare. 



unavailing, as the slender filaments about its tail were too strong for it 

 to break. In a short time it was seen tliat the spider was slowly hoisting 

 its victim into the air. By two o'clock in the afternoon the mouse could 

 barely toucli the floor with its fore feet; by dark the point of its nose 



Pliny, Natural History, Chapter X., page 95. 



