Tarantula going for a swim
Walking past the pool yesterday, I caught sight of an unexpected swimmer dipping its toes from its perch on one of the pool vacuum’s floats.
Who knew tarantulas could swim?
I got a rake and poked the tines under its front legs, whereupon the tarantula reared up like Shelob and scuttled backward. I worried it would fall off the float and require a more elaborate rescue, but I finally got the rake under all those hairy legs and lifted it out of the pool. As if sensing rescue, the tarantula sat perfectly still while I carried it to the lower garden and heaved it up and over the fence. It landed in the cushy leaves on the other side with an audible thud. *shudder*
That’s my good deed for the week. Here’s hoping it doesn’t give me nightmares. And thank you, by the way, to my friend Ann, who regaled me last evening with a story about going camping and waking in the morning to find several tarantulas lounging atop her sleeping bag. That definitely beats my other tarantula story.
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Digging Deeper
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OMG nope. Me being the evil person I am would have sunk that hairylegged creature. I don’t like spiders. Nightmares wouldn’t even be half the problem living there I guess. LOL
I consider myself an arachnophobe, but I’m also a softie. It’s harmless and has its place in the ecosystem eating pesky bugs. So there was no question about whether to rescue it. We’ve also pulled a coral snake out of our pool. But I would draw the line at rescuing a rattlesnake. Here’s hoping that opportunity never presents itself!
Shutter indeed. Good rescue. Ack! Your friend’s story! Nothing like camping on a tarantula nest.
She said her companions had tarantulas crawling on them as well. I would have died.
Almost too much Texas truth for tell-the-truth Tuesday!
Hah!
Have you read “Never Home Alone” by Rob Dunn? Great book about the critters in our homes. I am scared of spiders but I appreciate them more since reading the book. Still wouldn’t want any tarantulas in my shoes or sleeping bag. https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07B8DCG1J/ref=dp-kindle-redirect?_encoding=UTF8&btkr=1
Thanks for the book recommendation. I’ll check it out sometime.
Someone did a film shoot with our rain spiders (tarantula relatives).
The owner of the spiders was very careful to prevent them falling – apparently they get badly injured. Hope your rescue is OK.
Well now I feel terrible. And I never thought I’d feel that way about a spider. Still, I’m hopeful he/she is OK. There are decades of leaves under the trees just behind the fence.
I’m not particularly afraid of spiders but I don’t think I’d be happy to find a tarantula hanging out in my garden either.
It made for an interesting day!
I’ll forever remember Austin as the place where I saw my first tarantula “out and about”. What surprised me the most was that instead of being terrified, I was more fascinating than anything else. Now, if it was anywhere near me or I had to actually move it somewhere, that would be another story altogether 🙂
My first sighting was in Oklahoma. Since then I’ve seen quite a few. They are always an attention-getter.
You got me on the “Thud”! Great post!
Thanks, Kate. 😉