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I place a certain number, one by one, in bottles small in capacity, but having a wide neck capable of surrounding the entrance to the burrow. As the prey which I am about to offer is capable of overawing the huntress, I select from among the Tarantulae the lustiest, the boldest, those most stimulated by hunger. The spikeleted stalk is pushed into the burrow.
Her prey was some hideous Scorpion, that first-born of the Arachnida. How did the Hymenopteron master the terrible prey? Analogy tells us, by the methods of the present slayer of Tarantulae. It disarmed the adversary; it paralysed the venomous sting by a stroke administered at a point which we could determine for certain by the animal's anatomy.
On the 21st, I was fifty miles from Valencia and, as I intended to remain there, I sent a servant to fetch him. I was sorry to learn that he was not found in the jar, and I never heard what became of him. 'I will end my observations on the Tarantulae with a short description of a curious fight between those animals.
Whether from fatigue or from convention, the combat was suspended; there was a few seconds' truce; and each athlete moved away and resumed his threatening posture. This circumstance reminded me that, in the strange fights between cats, there are also suspensions of hostilities. But the contest was soon renewed between my two Tarantulae with increased fierceness.
Serious Insect-stings. Although in this country the stings of insects are seldom productive of serious consequences, in the tropic climates death not unfrequently results from them. Wounds inflicted by large spiders, centipedes, tarantulae, and scorpions have proved fatal.
Let us rely on the uncertainties of chance. Shall I get her or shall I not? I've got her. I catch her unexpectedly on the flowers. Next day I supply myself with half a dozen Tarantulae. Perhaps I shall be able to employ them one after the other in repeated duels. As I return from my Lycosa-hunt, luck smiles upon me again and crowns my desires.
This is the moment: the house is closed with the finger, or a pebble and, as Baglivi says, 'captatur tamen ista a rustico insidiatore, to which I will add, 'adjuvante Bombo. The object of these hunting methods was not exactly to obtain Tarantulae; I had not the least wish to rear the Spider in a bottle. I was interested in a different matter.
By employing this hunting-method, I sometimes caught as many as fifteen Tarantulae within the space of an hour.
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