13.12.09

Sunday Morning Visitor and Scaredy Cats

Before I get to my actual post I must first say this:  I have been very "absent" lately and when I opened my dashboard this morning there was a number of comments.  Thank you all for making my day!  Now to my visitor and the scaredy cats.

Living in the Bushveldt is not for scaredy cats.  You never know who will come knocking on your door.  This lady came knocking on my door this morning and as we had never formally been introduced I decided not to invite her in.



She is a Rain Spider and quite common in my part of the world.  She is harmless to humans and pets (or so they tell me) and is usually found inthe garden but just sometimes she will come indoors to hunt insects.  She is not yet fully grown (huh!) but to give you an idea here is a photo of her compared to Hubby's cellphone. (For those who have noticed and are interested, one pair of forelegs are smaller than the othr pair, which means that she must have lost them and they are newly grown back.)


Her visit reminded me of an incident many years ago just after we moved to Naboomspruit and when Liz and Joe were only 12 and 10 years old respectively.

One night while they were bathing, some really anxious cries summoned me to the bathroom, only to find one of these fellows sitting on the wall watching them bath.  I must mention that at the time I knew nothing about Rain Spiders and I was also petrified  quite weary of this viscious monster strange visitor sitting there eyeing my two naked daughters in the bath.  However, their mother is not a scaredy cat and I decided that this is the perfect time to teach them that girls can take care of themselves without Dad having to be involved and also to teach them that spiders should be respected but not feared.  Calmly I told them to relax and just get out of the bath and get dressed without disturbing the monster visitor.

I fetched a little plastic bucket and a piece of cardboard.  Placing the bucket over Ms Spider, I slid the cardboard in under the bucket and spider. Turning it around I, very bravely because I knew there was no way she could get out and at me, encouraged them to take a good look at her and also gave them a little sermon about her being part of God's creation and that as such, we must appreciate her for her beauty as a spider (Yea, right!).

We then took her, still in the bucket, outside onto the lawn to set her free.  We put the bucket down and we stood around it.  One of my brave girls then overturned the bucket so Ms Spider could go free... and then it hit like a tsunami:

WE ARE BAREFOOT
IT IS DARK
SPIDER IS FREE
AND
WE DO NOT KNOW WHERE SHE IS GOING NEXT!

Needless to say that with olympic standard high jumps and speed we found outselves with Dad in the house.  We collapsed with laughter afterwards of course, but the initial shock was quite something else.  Well so much for this brave mother and her brave daughters who could handle a simple little thing like a spider without Dad's involvement.  As they say:  When the going gets tough, the tough runs to... DAD!

11 comments:

Argent said...

I actually love spiders and would have a tarantula if my hubs would let me. Ms Spider looks very attractive to me and I'd let her in anyday. I'm glad you at least tried to teach your little ones not to automatically fear spiders - so many people just pass down their fears of things like that. The ending of your post did make me laugh though.

Cheers!

English Rider said...

Shiver

Scoobyloves2004 said...

Good Lord that thing is huge. I'm sure glad we don't have spiders like that here. Love the story, by the way!!

JD said...

If I ever, ever need to get my husband back for something nasty (not that I'm a revengeful person by nature), I may call on you to ship me one of those... He has arachnophobia, p-r-e-t-t-y bad...

What an interesting creature!!

Leilani Tresise said...

LOL! Been missing ur blog! good to see you!

karen said...

Those rain spiders! I don't like it when they run over you in the dark, but other than that I've convinced myself they are okay!! Great story :)

RNSANE said...

I do not like spiders or other creepy crawly things. You were most contained in dealing with the creature!

Terry said...

you are such a good girl in more ways than one.
most people would have squashed that spider without a pang of conscience and here you not only spared its life, you used it to teach your two children a lesson.
i must admit that when we do get a medium size spider coming in with the grocery bags and i spot it, well i must admit, although i am not afraid of snakes, i am afraid of spiders and my screams go to my husband and would you believe it? that is exactly what he uses... a cup and a piece of cardboard to catch the intruder. he uses the same thing to catch a stray hornet or bee too.
hey though, why not let them live instead of killing them, eh?
you know the visitor that you just had?.. can you just imagine the sheer agony of it, if after it had lost those two legs and had to grow them back again that somebody would just squash the life out of the poor fellow? oh the sadness of it!
you are a good girl.....love terry

ps.. i am afraid of mice too but don't tell nobody!

A human kind of human said...

Hi guys, your comments were really amusing and it makes me think that I should do a blog about the Python eggs we are currently incubating, but I will wait until they hatch - lol.

Argent, I would not quite go as far as having a spider for a pet, but I do not scream and run for the insecticide either when I see one. I just have immense respect for nature (excluding flies and mosquitoes).

Hi Rider, That is my exact reaction to FROGS - Brrrr!

Arley, nice having you back regularly. I was getting quite worried about you.

Just speak the word JD. Did you know that many more men suffer from a fear of spiders (to a serious degree) than women? Wonder about mice though.

Leilani, thanks for your visit, I am about four posts behind on your blog - saving them up for a lo-o-ng visit.

Oh Karen, you really made me laugh. How do you know it is a Rain Spider and not a Violin Spider in the dark?

RNSANE - Coming from a forensic nurse, I take the "most contained" as a compliment. I am sure this spider is nothing compared to what you sometimes had to deal with.

Terry, I am not sure that I am such a "good girl" - I cannot say that I actually like spiders, but living in the Bushveldt you do learn to respect all creatures of nature. Mice and FROGS - oh my soul!

Jo said...

Omigoodness, that is one serious looking spider. *shudder*

My mother used to tell me about trapdoor spiders in South Africa. Have you ever seen one?

I give spiders a very wide berth. I don't like to kill any of God's creatures, but if I found a spider sitting on me *poof* he would be history.

janis said...

I must admit at first I let out a shriek! But~ I loved your story. Reminded me so much of me & my girls! A spider killed our cat in Texas once. My Grandma felt this was a good lesson for me not to be quite so curious about handling some of the species I was not use to in Texas (We don't grow them quite so big or deadly in Indiana). I am always the rescuer in our home when it comes to critters that manage in the home. Otherwise they become a plaything for a cat or dog that lives with us!
Great post! Can't wait to hear about the python egg! Do tell! I suggest you start it now to get us interested and anxious for the hatching!