570 ANIMALS THAT HUNT. 



dragging it into a corner. There exists in Madagascar a spider 

 which, for a long time, puzzled the naturalists. Its web is rather like 

 that of our Epelra dmdemls, but it is noticeable that at the center 

 therc^ is a great thread of silver white, a \ eritable cable, bent in zig- 

 zag. What could possibly be the use of this? One could watch 

 the web for a long time without seeing the creature make use of it; 

 when a victim is taken, the spider is content to wind him about with 

 small threads. Yet the cable is undoubtedly of use to the spider, 

 for if it is removed he hastens to make another. M. Vinson at last, 

 after long observation, succeeded in solving the question. One day 

 when he was examining for the hundredth time the tricks and the 

 manners of the spider, he saw a great grasshopper jump into the 

 midst of the web. At the same instant the spider, darting upon the 

 cable, l)egan with the greatest swiftness to wrap it about the insect. 

 The victim was too large to be held by the simple threads; the cable 

 was there to bind him securely. 



The ant-eater depends less on the power of skill, and, like a child, 

 limes his game. He puts out his long sticky tongue and flattens it 

 on the ground; all the insects that pass stick to it, vying with each 

 other, and when the heap is sufficiently thick, the ant-eater draws his 

 long tongue in and swallows them all. At other times he plunges his 

 lingual appendix into ant-hills and draws it back laden with ants. 



Coursing is ver}" frequent among mammals, notably among Avild 

 dogs, wolves, and foxes. According to F. Houssay, wild dogs follow 

 their prey in immense packs. Thev excite one another by their hay- 

 ings at the same time that the}^ frighten the game and half paralyze its 

 power. Ko animal is agile nor strong enough to be sure of escaping 

 them. They surround him and cut off his retreat in a most skillful 

 manner; gazelles, antelopes, despite an extreme lightness and swift- 

 ness, are overtaken at last; wild boars are quickh^ run down; their 

 rough defense costs some of the assailants their life, but these also 

 become the prey of the pack that falls upon the quarry. In Asia these 

 wild dogs are not afraid to attack even the tiger. Man^^ without doubt, 

 have their backs broken by a blow from his paw, or are strangled by 

 being seized by his jaws, but the death of comrades does not diminish 

 either the courage or the hunger of the surviving assailants. Their 

 number is such, moreover, that the great beast, overrun, covered hy 

 agile enimies who cling to him and cover him with wounds, finally 

 succumbs. 



Wolves likewise hunt in large packs. Their boldness, when hunger 

 presses them in the bad season, is well known. In time of war they 

 follow ami}' corps to attack stragglers and devour the dead. In 

 SiV)eria they follow sledges on the snow with a redoubtable persever- 

 ance and the pack is not restrained l)y the corpses of their comrades 

 who are shot down. Aside from these fatal battles, wolves seem to 



