Thomas County cat. [volume] (Colby, Kan.) 1885-1891, 1886-07-15
AsP,NwALL SPIDERS.


me nlg Iassets which sonstlnss Cons
to the Unltsd States.
's.ook out for tho tramps!' said Cor
put. the fruit dealer.
The Telegraph man was admiring the
bright buff color of bunch of bananas
yesterday, when a big ugly spider
crawled out and ambled along on the
counter. He was bundle of dark
brownfuzz about the size of your thumb,
into which were stuck several long,
black legs.
He was tramp all the way from As
pinwall.
And, like tramp who had stolen a
ride under freight car on the break
beam. his legs seemed cramped from the
long journey in the crevices of bunch
OF bananas. The poor fellow was at
loss where to 90. He was thousands
OF miles from home and friendless. for
people do not take kindly to big, ugly
spiders. He was tramp and in q
strange country.
I'VE killed one here the other night
with body as big as biscuit. His body
popped like torpedo. They come often
in bananas, but we generally manage
to kill them. Up at the old store one
made his escape and made his home
under the counter. Then another es-
capped, and for long time we lost
sight of them. One day we found q
web under the counter, and on looking
closer we found the home of the two
tramps. They had raised large fam
lily of spiders, and they were the cutest
little things you would care to see.
They ran nimbly into the web if
You made a motion to strike them,
and many days we have watched
them simply for the amusement.
They caught every fly that came
within range. and now and then bug
happened within their reach and varied
their bill of fare. Although we knew
they were dangerous pets we did not
disturb them for the reason that they
seemed to be industrious fly-catchers,
and were never inclined to sting. One
afternoon a new clerk saw one big fell
low run around a corner of the counter,
anu dS uO Adu ACVCI SCCII SRluCA Va
such enormous size he imagined that
to allow it to go at large was equiva-
lent to turning a tiger loose, and he
killed the pet. The others ran out, and
for about an hour the new clerk had
about as much as he could stand up to
killing spiders"
''DO they ever bite?"
''Yes, but it is rare occurrence.
They fight like wild cats, and they are
high-tempered, but they never trouble
anybody unless aroused and leased.
Althoug Oh there are millions of punches
of bananas brought to this country
every season, and many thousand
spider steals his way across with them,
you never hear of any one being stung.
They are very peculiar things. and diff
fer widely in their habits from the COM
mon spider of this country, which makes
a web like the center-piece of rising
sun crazy-quilt. They make kind of
nest and then spread out lines of web
in every direction. On this angle-line,
which is as small as silken thread,
they run with ease, hanging to it by
their long. flexible legs. When danger
threatens they have way of drawing
in the lines. and, budding together,
await the attack of the foe. When thus
disturbed they make prodigious leaps
and arrange in circle around the nest,
which they seem to guard with jealous
care. Then, when provoked. they run
all over the attacking party. They are
game, and put up an ugly fight -
Macon Telegraph.