Sacramento daily record-union. [volume] (Sacramento [Calif.]) 1875-1891, 1888-02-11
TARANTULAS.
THE KING OF SPIDERS AND THEIR
HABITS.
A Hairy Monster that Attacks Birds
Snakes. Men and Horses, Fights
and is Cannibalistic.


and is Cannibalistic.
A San Diego correspondent of an East
en journal says: In wandering through
the Southern California country one occa-
siOnally comes across a tarantula, one of
the huge, clumsy spiders, with body the
size of small mouse, so common through
out the Southwest. | have always found
them crossing roads, their big black bodies
making 4 strong contrast against the soil
but when tarantula hunt is organized the
insects are sought for under ground. They
can generally be traced by their web,
which is spun over holes of various kinds,
and half an hours digging will, as a rule.
result in Ousting the dweller from its sub
terranean retreat. The spiders do not dig
themselves, but seem to select the burrows
of various animals, as the gopher and
ground-squirrels, after filling them up or
adapting them to their wants and spinning
a delicate web over the entrance which, as
| have suggested, serves as a tell-tale as
Some little care is necessary in dislodging
the monsters from their holes, as, while |
have never witnessed it myself, reliable
observers have informed me that great
spiders can leap distance of foot, and
If their powerful fangs become fixed in the
flesh painful if not dangerous wound is
the result. The tarantula is a veritable
scourge to other Insects, not Directing to
its own kind, various bits of legs and other
parts in the nests telling of its cannibalistic
nature.
1t has been my good fortune to see the
tarantula engage in battles Of various
kinds, but the most remarkable of all was
a contest between the king of spiders and Il
ringed snake. For some minues this
strange battle was kept up, the snake LASH
ing the ground with its tail, and writhing
in every direction in its endeavors to es
| cape from its enemy, but without avail. as
in ten minutes from the time the BULLDOG
like hold was taken the spider was the
conquerer. Both were then photographed,
after which they were dropped in alcohol,
the spider still clinging to the reptile. so
powerful was its grip.
On another occasion | saw a scorpion
and tarantula engaged in a deadly bat
| tie. The former would raise its tail and
bring II down upon the other in a vicious
manner; but the spider warded off some of
the blows with Its claws, while its thick
hair constituted a still further protection.
Finally 1t seized the scorpion by the body.
and l could distinctly hear the crushing of
the parts as the terrible weapons entered
the flesh, and in a very few moments the
scorpion was lifeless. The poison of the
tarantula is fatal to many insects almost
| instantly, and more or less so to others.
| The tarantula of South America is so large
| and powerful that it attacks birds. Bell.
the naturalist, found web stretched across
a tree in which were entangled two birds,
one in the clutch of the spider. In some
places they often bite the feet of horses
and cause their DEATH 4 naturalist in
the Amazon country reports seeing the
native children leading about the huge
spiders by threads of fiber wound about
their bodies, as boys do dogs in our own
country.
The name tarantula is given to num-
Der of spiders which in the Eastern
countries have many curious superstitions
attached to them. Thus in the warmer
parts of Italy it is firmly believed that the
bite Of the spider produces certain symp-
toms akin to insanity. When full grown
this spider, the Lycaso tarantuld, is, accord
ing to Cabbold, as large as a chestnut 1t
is Of a brown color, with the back of the
abdomen marked with a row of trigonal
black spots with whitish edges, and the
legs marked beneath with black and white
bars. AT the present day it is not believed
that the bite Of the spider actually results
in any such symptoms, the latter being
considered traace-like condition into
which the victim falls, and in which
Imagination plays or seems to play
| prominent part. According to an old
writer, the bite of the insect occasions
| pain which resembles the sting of a bee.
In few hours the patient feels numb
ness, and the part affected is marked with
a small livid circle, which soon after rises
into a very painful swelling Shortly
after this he falls into profound sadness.
breathes with much difficulty, his pulse
| grows feeble and his senses fail. At length
he loses all sense and motion, and, accord
ing to some naturalists, expires if not soon
relieved. But these symptoms come on
somewhat difierently-according to the
nature of the tarantula and the disposition
of the patient. An aversion for black and
! blue, and on the contrary prediction
| Tor white or red, are among the unacc0unt-
| able symptoms of this disease
All medical assistance hitherto discov-
cred consists in some chirurgical applica-
lions on the wound, and in cordials and SUI
! doritics, which are of little service; but
music, which reason perhaps could never
| have pointed out, is said to be infinitely
more etlicacious. No sooner has the per-
| son affected lost his sense and motion than
a musician tries several tunes on an instru-
ment, and, when he has hit upon one
whose tones and undulations suit the pa
| tient, he is Immediately observed to make
4 faint motion; his fingers begin to move
in cadence; then his arms, next his legs,
and by degrees his whole body; then he
rises on his feet and begins to dance, his
strength and activity still increasing.
! Some will continue to dance for six hours
without intermission After this the pa
! tient is put to bed, and when he is suffici-
emily recovered from his first dance he is
| allured out of bed by the first tune to in
dulge in a second dance. This exercise is
! kept up for several days in succession.
seven or eight, at least, and is known as
! the tarantula dance and when the victim
Is so fatigued that he can dance no longer
he is supposed to be cured When he can
stand it no longer and falls from fatigue,
he generally passes into a deep sleep, and
upon awakening remembers nothing about
| it.
The taaantula dances have been famous
from very olden times, and the victims are
undoubtedly acting under a hallucination
of some kind, not well understood. Be
this as it may, the tarantula is much
dreaded by the simple peasants of today,
who implicitly believe that music and the
dance are infallible cures for the bite of the
dreaded insect
nnDc