Leslie was finishing up a bath when she asked for my assistance. I was at my desk when she called me over, asking if I'd escort a spider outside. We're both very spider friendly, so this surprised me. I came over to the bathroom and there, on the floor, was an inverted dixie cup. Now, Leslie is very cool with insects, so I was really puzzled. Why not leave the spider inside, I inquired. She said, almost mimicking Woody Allen's scene from Annie Hall, "Um, this is not just any spider, it's really big." To this, I almost scoffed. But then, as I slid an index card under the cup, I felt the spider move, and sure as she said, it felt really big. "Also," she said, "I think it's a wolf spider, so we need to get it outside so none of us get bitten." Now that put the hook in me.
I carefully picked up the dixie cup cage and walked it outside, to our front driveway, making sure to take my camera along. We let it out in the gutter, and I started snapping away. Realizing that no one would believe my description of the size, I grabbed a quarter from my pocket and the above picture took form. Seriously, the thing was damned impressive. Later I discovered that bites from the Lycosa helluo don't create any serious ill effects, but at the time, I was very careful.
The Gift
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[Christmas, 1965 or thereabout]
The boy was very young; perhaps 7 or 8 years old. He loved everything about
Christmas - the lights, the music, Santa ...
10 months ago
5 Comments:
I actually laughed out loud at this. I never even considered the feelings of the spider. And besides, I've always thought that spiders were those people who shed all their posessions and require nothing. (What are those people called? It sounds like "aesthetics", but that's not it.
I hope that wasn't a wolf spider - we have them all over by us - but not quite that big, thank goodness. Let me know if it is a wolf, because then I've got some cleaning to do. Ick.
Go to Google and do a search for "wolf spider". Then change from Web to Images and you'll get a bunch of pics. See if you're spider looks like these.
Regardless, bigger spiders can pack an irritating bite, even if it's non-poisonous.
Indoor spiders are not a completely bad idea, especially the smaller ones who take care of more dangerous pests, especially the ones that carry malaria and such.
I believe we host a large number of funnel web spiders, and that's just fine with me. I actually kind of like them. :) Thanks for the google tip!
Yeah, we have funnel spiders in our front yard. They are fine, as they patrol and deal harshly with plant-eating buggers.
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