Yesterday we had a huntsman sitting on the department noticeboard. (Don't click over unless you can handle images of big scary spiders.)
His legs spanned nearly from one side to the other of the A4 notice he was sitting on.
The notice was bright orange, and more than one student thought he was an out-of-season halloween decoration of some sort, before he waved a lazy leg and freaked them out.
I thought it was pretty cool.
Until I arrived this morning to find he had teleported. As huntsmen often do. And before I considered the fact that the noticeboard in question is right next to my office door.
I'm paying a lot of attention to where I sit today.
Tuesday, April 29, 2008
Don't look now, but - eek!
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10 Comments:
I used to have one that lived in my motorbike fairing. He liked to crawl out and obscure the speedometer.
well, I'm glad where I live the spiders don't get quite that big.
Unless he ends up sitting on your fellowship application, he'd be a GREAT reason to apply. We don't have things like that in the northern US...
Someone in my building had a pet that was some variety of Theraphosidae (whatever the "common" pet tarantula type spider happens to be). One day, said spider escaped his terrarium, crawled out the apartment, and somehow into mine. And then, one afternoon, as I went to put my foot into my shoe, I located said spider (which I did not know was missing) and, for the first time in my life, screamed like a girl over a spider.
Holy hell that was terrifying when you are not expecting a giant, hairy spider to be located in your shoe in your apartment in the middle of Washington, DC?
That's a big spider! But also amazingly beautiful in the closeups. I like the spiky leg hairs on them.
It's easiest to like spiders and such when they're on a different continent. /nod
eeegghhehhhggghhhaaa.... I should have heeded your warning and NOT clicked over. The "big" spiders we had in Victoria BC were bad enough for me and they were barely more than a cm (not including legs). I surely would scream and run away and possibly go stand on a desk or something (in classic wimpy-girly style)!
ethidium... my god... finding a tarantula in your shoe!?! ueeeghhhehhuaa... I found a little tiny spider in my mitten thumb once and I still turn them inside out sometimes to make sure nothing's in there!
Okay, physics*chick stole my exact comment, right down to the location. Because Giant House Spiders are nothing compared to that freaky freaky huntsman spider!
Chuck, I always worry about what I would do if a huntsman suddenly appeared close to me in the car while I was driving. I suspect an accident might occur. I'm amazed you can handle it!
Geeka, fortunately we haven't had many in the house. Geekman doesn't mind removing them when we do. Most people I know like having them in the house because of how many other bugs they eat. Also, generally huntsmen like to hang out near the ceiling, and are most active at night. So you don't often find them in your bed or on your chair.
I don't think I could squish one. They would make a nasty crunching sound. And things that big probably have a soul :)
This one used to visit us when we lived in that lovely city of yours -
Talk to me! (You know you want to!)