One of the many things I like about England, and this part of it in particular, is the way it reminds me of my Island. The tree species, the gardens, all sorts of things are just like home...
...including the incredibly huge wolf spiders.
Herbert lived in my kitchen for quite a while. Behind the fridge where he could be closer to the back door and keep an eye on things. He's got eight, after all.
I was fine with that.
I hadn't seen him for a while, so I thought he'd gone off to find, errr, greener pastures...so to speak.
But the other day as I was dusting the parlour, I saw that he had taken up residence in the parlour window frame.
I'm none too pleased with this development. I don't remember giving planning permission for a new residential unit.
He seems to be a great deal bigger than he was. Maybe he would simply overpower any would-be burglars.
I'm hoping, though, now that he is out from behind the fridge, Winnie will eat him.
3 comments:
My parents' old home (the one I graduated high school from) was renowned for the wolf spiders that accumulated in the vines that crawled up the sides of the house. Big 'uns, too. And in significant numbers.
Poor Heather didn't much care for it, being a confirmed arachnophobe. My family had a nonaggression pact with them--we didn't harass them, they didn't fall on us inadvertently or waltz into the house, and they could eat all the flying bugs they could catch.
My grandparents had a house Up Island on the ocean. A paradise. But in the fall, after spending the summers getting really whopping, the wolf spiders would come inside where it was warm. From earliest childhood, I lived in mortal terror of them. The house had hardwood floors and they were pretty bold, running around in the living room in the evenings as we were watching the news or playing cards. At night you could hear their little claws tick tickety ticking on the floors. I never had nightmares about monsters, just the spiders. So the fact that I'm letting Herbert live in the window frame is a sign of great progress.
I'm not ashamed to admit I smooshed one of these this morning as I left for work, leaving an unsightly mess on the front stoop.
The thought process was something like this:
"Crap. I'm late. Need to get to the car before I miss my train. What's that on the step? Spider? Holy...BIG SPIDER!! That thing's like a mini-tarantula. I didn't know we had spiders like that in Virginia. The landlord said one of his workmen had seen a tarantula in the house, and of course that's crazy, but it must have been one of these. Well, I don't really want to leave it, what with it aimed at the front door and the babies inside and all. (SQUASH) Wow, lots of fluid in that thing. I need to find somewhere to clean my shoe..."
This entire process took about five seconds.
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