The Black-Bellied Tarantula 



pelled her to enter a paper bag, which I 

 closed without delay. 



'Sometimes, suspecting the trap, or per- 

 haps less pressed by hunger, she would remain 

 coy and motionless, at a slight distance from 

 the threshold, which she did not think it oppor- 

 tune to cross. Her patience outlasted mine. 

 In that case, I employed the following tac- 

 tics: after making sure of the Lycosa's posi- 

 tion and the direction of the tunnel, I drove 

 a knife into it on the slant, so as to take the 

 animal in the rear and cut off its retreat by 

 stopping up the burrow. I seldom failed in 

 my attempt, especially in soil that was not 

 stony. In these critical circumstances, either 

 the Tarantula took fright and deserted her 

 lair for the open, or else she stubbornly re- 

 mained with her back to the blade. I would 

 then give a sudden jerk to the knife, which 

 flung both the earth and the Lycosa to a 

 distance, enabling me to capture her. By 

 employing this hunting-method, I sometimes 

 caught as many as fifteen Tarantulas within 

 the space of an hour. 



'In a few cases, in which the Tarantula 

 was under no misapprehension as to the trap 

 which I was setting for her, I was not a lit- 



47 



