Kenosha tribune & telegraph. [volume] (Kenosha, Wis.) 1856-1859, 1857-08-06
A Snake Hung by a Spider.

| A story is going the rounds OF the press of a won
derful fest of small spider the material portion Of
which we give below:
BY what artifce the spider was able in the first OF
its attack to accomplish what it did, can only
conjecture its work was not discovered until the
most difficult aud daring part of its feat had been
performed. When first seen, ii had places loop
around the neck Of the serpent from the top of which
single thread was carried upward and attached to
the under side of the Shelf whereby the head of the
serpent was drawn up two inches from the floor. The
snake was moving around and around. necessarily,
IN circle large the length of its tether would
allow-wholly unable to gets its head down 10 the
foor, or withdraw IL from the moose; while the hero
&c little spider, exultng doubt in the success of
ITS exploit, which WAS now sure beyond peradycn-
t1re, was ever and anon passing down the loep and
up to the shell, adding thereby additional strand
TO the thread each of the strands being tightly
drawn, elevated the head of the snake gradually
more and more.
But of the curious and skilful parts of it's
performance is yet untold When it was in the act
OF running down the thread to the loop the reader
will perceive it possible for the snake by turn
ING Its head vertically upward to snap at and seize
the spider in his mouth. This had no doubt been
peatedy attempted in the earlier part eli the conflict
but instead Of catching the spider, his snakeship
thereby had only caught himself in an additional
trap The spider probably by watching each oppoi-
tunity when the mouth of the snake Ind thus been
turned toward her, adroitly, with her hind legs,
when throwing thread around fly, hadthrown one
thread after another the mouth of the snake
that he was now perfectly muzzled by series of
threads placed over it vertically, and these were
held from being pushed asunder by another series of
threads placed horizontally, my informant states
he particularly observed No muzzle of wire or
wicker-work for the mouth of an animal could be
woven with more artistic regularity and perfection;
and the snake occasionally making desperate at
tempt to open his mouth could merely put these
threads upon a stretch.
The snake codtinued his gyrations, his gait be-
coming more slow, however from weakness and
fatigue; and the spider continued to move down
and up ON the cord gradually shortning it, until at
last, when drawn upward so far that only two or
three inches of the end of his tail touched the floor
the snake expired about six days after he was first
discovered
more heroic feat than that which this little spider
performed is probably nowhere upon record-a aake
foot in length, hung by spider not larger than
common house fly Truly, "the race is not to the
swift, nor is the battle to the strong, And this
phenomenon may to indicate to us that the in
telligence with which the Creator has endowed the
humblsst eebest ofhis creatures, is ample for ena
bling them to triumph in any emergency in which
he places them if they but exercise the faculties he
has given them 1t is only the slothful, cowardly
and tmorous that fall and they fall not so much be-
fore their enemies as before their own supineness