Thursday, September 2, 2010

My 8-legged guest

There is a huge wolf spider living outside my back door, between the cracks in the wall. He looks like this.















I tried to gently relocate him to another spot in the yard, but he saw me coming with my broom and fled into a crack.

I know I'm very much in the minority, but I like spiders. I'm not going to invite them into my house or let them crawl on me, but I usually don't try to kill them either. (Exceptions being Brown Recluses and Black Widows. Sorry, but anything that can put me in the hospital needs to be squashed.) Perhaps this came of living in Hawaii for ten years, as the bugs there never die and grow to gigantic proportions. The Hawaiian cane spider makes these little wolf spiders look like wimps. Take your hand, put it flat on the wall, and try to imagine a spider that big crawling along the ceiling. Yeah, I thought so.

But, anyway, let's hear it. Tell me I'm crazy and insane; I won't mind. ;-) What are your thoughts on spiders and creepy crawlies? Me, I think they make awesome creepy atmosphere devices. Need your readers to get goosebumps or the skin crawlies? Just throw in a spider or two. Works every time.

And for the VERY brave of heart, below is a YouTube video of a Hawaiian Cane Spider. BEWARE, this thing is huge and scary, and if spiders freak you out, this will probably give you nightmares--you have been warned.















15 comments:

  1. Yeah, you're a weird spider-grrl alright. As long as that wolf spider isn't poisonous and isn't a biter... it's all good. :)

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  2. I don't mind spiders... In NZ our only poisonous kind is the White Tail, and yeah it's tiny, but it CHASES after you. I try not to kill anything bug - they're fine if they can be relocated where they belong outside!

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  3. I am so not a fan of spiders!! I lived in Australia for a bit and the spiders down there are A) everywhere and B) the biggest frickin' things I have ever seen. Oh and did I mention deadly? SO that alone put me off spiders. But to each her own and wolf spiders aren't that bad. LOL

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  4. Let me be the first to say ewwwwww! I like the creep out factor in books, but that's where it ends! poisonous or not if a spider is in my house it's a goner:)

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  5. I'll take ginormous radioactive spiders over snakes any day; even if they're babies or garden snakes. I hate, hate, hate snakes. Spiders & other insects though - they're fine by me.

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  6. Aghhh not a fan of spiders. I don't hate them with a burning passion, but if I saw a Hawaiian Cane Spider like that, I would run out the house far far away. It's bigger than the lizards I see in the woods *shudders* And what is it trying to eat? That's a huge fly!!

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  7. You just removed all desire I had to ever live in Hawaii. Somehow I have never encountered one of THOSE in all my visits there... GAH! We get huge wolf spiders here in AZ... those suckers freak me out!

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  8. I've never seen any big spiders, but I have pulled Daddly-Long-Legs off of people. I've only dealt with little spiders, maybe a tarantula or two. They give me shudders for a moment, but I'm fine. I don't LIKE them, and I definitely MIND them, I just don't get fully freaked out.

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  9. The very thought of spiders that big is making my skin crawl. If I ever saw one of those things, I would legitimately pass out. I applaud your bravery (or insanity...semantics) though ;-) This definitely gives me flashbacks to your books. I remember going "WHAT IS IT WITH FANTASY WRITERS AND GIANT SPIDERS???" and having people look at me funny lol.

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  10. Spiders = skin crawls. I'm sorry spider, but if I see you a shoe is definitely coming your way.

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  11. I generally dislike creepy crawlies. When I see a cockroach or a centipede, I set the dog or the cat after it.

    They give me heebies-jeebies, although they're nothing next to clowns.

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  12. I am pretty sure I have arachnophobia, to the point that I am so scared I can't even kill a spider when I see one. I have almost crashed my car a few times because they have ended up inside, crawling along my windshield. I have left my house a few times because of large spiders and no one being home to kill them for me. Doesnt matter the size, from dime to hand they are all still horrifying... I dont have any issues watching them on video though. I don't wish they would all die or anything, just wish they would leave me alone lol

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  13. I nearly had an heart attack!! I despise spiders, I hate them! Actually they scare me to death, and my reaction to them is pretty extreme. But hey good for you that they don't scare you.

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  14. I have a phobia of spiders, I've recently seen a few wolf spiders in my area of CA, and I'm never happy when they show up in my house!

    I actually almost ran into a huge gold and black spider yesterday as I was walking around a plaza, he was building a web between two shrubs that was part of a walk way. Good thing my husband saved me! Even though I have a phobia of them, I always get the urge to take photos of them, esp if they're different colors!

    I suddenly have no desire to move to Hawaii either lol. I couldn't imagine a spider that huge on my wall or ceiling! I can't even come up with a way to kill something that huge!

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  15. I have major arachnophobia. I can't even kill a spider, I can't be within a couple feet of a spider. I always have my parents or sister kill them. They spend the whole time laughing at me and telling me to just kill it, I'm practically crying my eyes out. They always joke about what I'm going to do when I move out of the house and there isn't anyone around to kill a spider. I'll either find someone to kill it for me (hopefully a cute neighbor boy), or I'll just leave for a few hours and hope for the best. Even thinking about spiders makes my skin crawl and makes me sick. EWWWWW!

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