Search for:

Oh My!

I am not squeamish or easily intimidated. I have kept hamsters, iguana, and even a tarantula in my classroom. One of my hamsters, Silk, generally spent most of her time in my shirt pocket or on my shoulders. I preferred the tarantula remain in his terrarium. And, for the safety of my students, the iguana remained in his pen.

Even so, yesterday morning I spent a good half an hour home alone freaking out over a freaking spider.

This creature is huge. It could easily straddle a 50 cent piece without touching the coin.  If I could have stuck a coin to the ceiling beside it, I would prove it to you.

I don’t believe in killing spiders.  They are beneficial to the environment — just not my immediate environment!  I wanted him GONE!

I grabbed a glass and a chair.  Even standing on the chair, I was too short to reach the ceiling.  Besides, if I did get the spider into the glass, I wasn’t covering it up with my bare hand.  That scenario would have likely led to broken glass and dead spider anyway.

Plan two:  I grabbed a spatula.  Even with it I couldn’t reach the ceiling while standing on the chair.  Besides which, if I knocked the spider on to me, we were likely falling off the chair in fright together and killing one or both of us.

Plan three: I grabbed the broom and gently swept the spider onto the bristles.  Happily, it accepted this turn of events without going hyper on me.  I then carried the spider, on the broom, out to the balcony and dropped him over the rail.

I feel somewhat guilty about putting the spider out of this nice warm apartment, but in truth, I much prefer it this way to the other way around.

28 Comments

  2. Oh, and it’s hairy too. Once your biologist gets home (or before if you find out yourself), you’ll have to tell us what kind of spider it was/is. Some can be quite dangerous. The Brown Recluse is one you don’t want to mess with. If killing it is not an option, you might want to get some assistance. I thought that I had one over my front doorway once, but after looking some stuff up tonight, my spider was much too large. (It could have straddled a dollar bill. I’m sorry to say that it didn’t survive the encounter.)

    Anyway, I’m glad to hear that you both lived to tell the tale. 🙂
    .-= Cherie´s last blog ..Sunday Stealing: The Negativity Meme =-.

  4. I used to be not-to-keen to know spiders…until one day I saved one..as it had got wet…I had nothing to grab it…so I used my bare hands…it is amazing…that it readily accepted my help…i don’t think animals are dumb…so i talked to it….hopefully it would understand the vibrations it feels… unlike yours mine was huge… it sat on my palm….and I put it in the woods shavings…in the garden….and i am guessing it was a dangerous kind as there are lot of those in Australia.

    i think that if I respect it..it will respect me…if I get scared, it will too and certainly react to that..
    .-= Joe´s last blog ..Question answer time =-.

  5. .
    Quilly, you’ve got to be careful with one like this. I blogged about one a while back. They carry their babies on their bodies. When you smush them the babies run in all directions! This kind is called Wolf Spider.

    What to do is to have a can of roach and spider spray in the other hand. Spray every one of those buggers.
    http://www.doobybrain.com/2008/07/14/wolf-spiders-carry-baby-spiders-on-their-back/
    http://www.spiderzrule.com/wolf.htm

    Google can find you a lot more, maybe better stuff too.
    ..
    .-= Jim´s last blog ..We all like trains! — Ruby (Red) Tuesday — Big toys here =-.

    1. Jim, if you big, big, big the photo, you will see the spider VERY clearly. There were no babies. And it was very docile so there was no need to kill it.

  10. Sounds like you calmly handled the situation. I wonder what kind of spider he/she was and if it was poisoness. I am usually the one in our household to rid of the spiders. My hubby won’t touch em. lol. But, sometimes, our lab Cooper gets to em first.

  11. Well, considering that he looks VERY similar to a Brown Recluse and how incredibly BAD their bites are, I am glad that he took kindly to your broom and that he is OUT of your house as well! He MAY have been a perfectly innocent spider… but he MAY have been very dangerous! You did well! And I, too, prefer to set them free than to squash — that’s just messy and does nobody any good really….
    .-= Melli´s last blog ..Dancing with My Stars =-.

  13. Thanks. Can’t tell you how happy I am that you grabbed your camera. 😉

    When spiders come into my home, I tell myself that there is such a thing as reincarnation, and I am helping them evolve to a higher state of being. And then I annihilate the ugly little beasts!

  14. Hi Quilly is this you spider? take the link to see the picture this is a west coast spider!
    http://www.termite.com/spider-identification.html

    Huntsman Spiders …low risk – non-aggressive

    Huntsman Spider

    Venom toxicity – the bite of Huntsman Spiders is of low risk (non toxic) to humans. They are a non-aggressive group of spiders. However, a large individual can give a painful bite. Beware in summer when the female Huntsman Spider is guarding her egg sacs or young.
    Spider Identification – an adult varies greatly around 1/2″ in body length – has long legs – the diameter of an adult including legs may reach 2″ – the first 2 pairs of legs are longer than rear two – it is hairy – buff to beige brown in color, with dark patches on the body.

    Habitat – a hunter that prefers to live under the flaking bark of trees, under flat rocks and under eaves or within roof spaces of buildings. The Huntsman Spider often wanders into homes and is found perched on a wall. It is a shy, timid spider that can move sideways at lighting-fast speed when disturbed.
    .-= amanda´s last blog ..Ruby Tuesday:Red Gerber =-.

  17. Oh may, oh may! You did very well in this situation. I don’t think that I could have been as calm as you. I’m glad both of you were not harmed in any way. Reading some of the comments above made me shudder how dangerously it could have been. Have a blessed week.
    .-= Rosidah Abidin´s last blog ..10th Wedding Anniversary =-.

Comments are closed.