by Sharon Archer
Warning to arachnophobia sufferers!
Spider pictures to follow!
Cat Stats
Watching: Just finished Season Two of Spooks! Those writers sure know how to leave a hook to make you come back for next season!
Reading: The Dip, Seth Godin.
Making me smile: Finished weeding the herb garden!
I’ve got an interloper in my study at the moment and I have to say he’s been v
ery distracting! He’s a huntsman and he’s living behind the pin board above my desk. These spiders have very flat bodies and their unusual leg joints allow them to scuttle sideways like a crab – which helps them slip into cracks and crevices. Ideal for setting up home behind picture frames... and pin boards!What's up
for the ne
xt blog topic.BlueTac for supper?
Actually, I think he’s got a bit of a cheek moving in behind my pin board. I read up on them and these timid spiders like nice quiet places that are infrequently disturbed. In my defense, I’d like to say that, just because I’m sitting quietly, it doesn’t mean that nothing is going on!
They’re not aggressive but they are a largish spider and when they get excited, they run around in a flurry of long hairy legs. We had a moment during this photo shoot where we both got a bit hysterical - there
was a lot of leg waving (his) and hand trembling (mine) but then he settled down again. They can bite but only when disturbed and they aren’t toxic to humans.Huntsmans don’t like to get their feet wet and in South Africa they’re called “rain spiders” because their appearance indoors means rain is on the way. So I hope my spider is right – later today is looking promising with the remnants of a tropical cyclone drifting down from Queensland.
Australia has nearly one hundred and fifty huntsman species and Wikipaedia says that there are more than 1000 worldwide. That’s a very big family!
Anyway, it's been a tiring session for my model so he's retiring from the limelight for now!
So how many legs have your office trespassers got?
Yipes, Sharon! Those hairy huntsmen often visit my bathroom. I don't want to hurt them, but I also don't want them to jump on me.
ReplyDeleteMy office trespassers are also hairy but they have four legs and they're a lot cuddlier than spiders. My two cats like to drape themselves over me and my desk when Iwrite.
OMG Sharon - how can you cope!!!!!??? I'm HUGELY arachnaphobic!
ReplyDeleteMy posts are still not appearing :( Will try again.
ReplyDeleteI love huntsmen. When we were kids we called a large huntsmen in residence 'Rupert'. The name stuck and now all huntsmen are Rupert.
Unfortunately our cat also loves huntsmen, so we usually only find legs now :(
eek, Vanessa! The last time I had a huntsman in the bathroom, he tried to run across the steam-moist ceiling after I'd had a shower. The next thing I hear this little plop on the ground - the silly thing had fallen off the slippery surface. He leapt straight up and raced for the bathroom cabinet, thank goodness. If he'd taken a run for me, I was ready to do a runner of my own!
ReplyDeleteYour cats sound like much more fun as company!
:)
Sharon
((hugs)) on the arachnophobia, Rachael! I do confess that my huntsman's sudden appearances do make me gulp and get the heart racing a bit! And when it's very warm, he does tend to get a bit more active than is entirely helpful! He's actually interesting to watch and, ahem, a great source of procrastination!
ReplyDelete;)
Sharon
Anita, you came through this time and your comment has stayed! I was so pleased to read about your Rupert... now I can confess that we call all our huntsman visitors Hermann. In fact, it's gone from a "proper name" to a synonym of huntsman and we tend to just say "there's a Hermann in the lounge". Which gets some very strange looks from people who don't call their spiders by name!
ReplyDeleteShame about the cat-snacks - I'm sure your Ruperts are horrified!
;)
Sharon
We've always had huntsmen in every house I've ever lived with. In fact, my mother got on quite friendly terms with one in her bedroom on our farm and called him Philip! Actually speaking of huntsmen in the bathroom, the only time I've ever been bitten by one, he was in my towel when I pulled it off the rail to use. Gave me a h*ll of a fright as you can imagine and while the bite isn't poisonous, it certainly stings!
ReplyDeleteThey bite, Anna?!! I'm not feeling quite so benevolent towards my bathroom tenant now!
ReplyDeleteSharon,
ReplyDeleteMost of my office intruders have two legs. They loom behind me as if their silent presence will make me finish my work sooner!
Love the pic of your corkboard - especially the tropical Annie West post card!
As for huntsmen, we have them. Don't mind them though I prefer not to come across them suddenly. Given we have funnelwebs and redbacks in our yard (both poisonous) these babies are quite pleasant.
So, tell us, why are you blogging about spiders rather than writing your next book? hint...
Anita, I love that your Huntsmen are called Rupert, and Anna that your mother had one called Phillip. In our house (which is jam packed with Huntsmen and other spider varieties!) all Huntsmen are called Cyrilla. There's always a large one in our bedroom, but she stays high on the walls and hides if she can when we're there. I think it has something to do with the 4 dogs in the bedroom...
ReplyDeleteEek! Anna, how scary to have a huntsman hiding in your towel and then biting you when you tried to use it! That would definitely freak me out! I don't think I'd feel very benevolent towards them after an experience like that.
ReplyDeleteHe was obviously not a friendly soul like your mum's Philip!
:)
Sharon
Me either, Vanessa! In fact, I'll be shaking out my towel vigorously for a while in case my office dweller fancies a shift in residence. The bathroom's a bit too close to my study!
ReplyDelete:)
Sharon
I can imagine your looming two-legged intruders, Annie. Not an awfully big help I expect!
ReplyDeleteYes! My "hermann" is a spider of very good taste relaxing with an Annie West and an Anna Campbell (postcard)!
Oooo, nice slipping in of a hint about writing there, too! (picture me pursing lips and whistling while looking anywhere but at my WIP!)
;)
Sharon
Cyrilla! Very classy spider name, Rachel! Staying high and hidden sounds very smart - she obviously doesn't fancy being a dog-snack!
ReplyDeleteI wonder what it is about huntsmans that make us want to give them a name!
:)
Sharon
Sharon, I don't like them in the house. I, too, had a huntsman-in-the-towel scenario--I washed my hair, wrapped it in the towel and SCREECH!
ReplyDeleteWorse story: got nearest male to put a huntsman outside from where it was lurking on my curtain rail. Only it was a huntslady. Next day hundreds--literally hundreds--of huntsbabies on my ceiling and spreading through the house. It was like a horror movie.
MY office is in the basement so I get all kinds of leggy thing coming through. A spider that big would be too much for me.
ReplyDeleteEeeeek - squealing like a little girl. OK now that's out of the way.
ReplyDeleteI don't like creepy crawlies in my study. Right now it's so messy, I don't know if any are around. *shudder*
I'd be screeching with you, kandy! And as for Mrs Huntsman's hundreds of huntsbabies -- ARGH!!!! LOL Very "Arachnophobia"! In fact, apparently it was a huntsman species that took a starring role in that horror movie! "Delena" - roles off the tongue rather nicely, don't you think?
ReplyDelete:)
Sharon
Hey, Susan, thank you for stopping in to say hello! Your basement office sounds like a big temptation to the multi-legged brigade!
ReplyDeleteActually, I'm pleased to be able to report that my spider was spot on with his weather forecast - we got 8mm overnight. A bit of a top-up for the tanks!
:)
Sharon
LOL on your eeeeek, Eleni! I can picture you at your office door, looking around with trepidation and the theme from Jaws building to a crescendo in the background!
ReplyDeleteMmmm, looking around my office... it should be playing in the background here too! I hope Hermann/Rupert/Philip is behind the pin board this morning and not... somewhere else!
(gulp)
Sharon
Sharon you're braver than me!
ReplyDeleteWith our house close to the ground, many huntsman spiders and garden spiders race indoors - and back out on the end of my broom! I had one come in the other night bigger than my hand - not a huntsman! (gulp!)
Four legged furry creatures invade my office as well as the eightlegged variety. Huntsman are good to have in the house - because they do exactly that - they hunt. They keep down flies and they also hunt other spiders - like white tale spiders whose bite can be quite nasty.
ReplyDelete*Shudder* that's all I can say :)
ReplyDeleteHmm don't want to think about any huge spiders here in Houston! LOL
I don't mind my four legged friends invading my office space - sitting on my printers and generally being themselves, even the noisy gekko is welcome....but spiders, especially huntsman, they get taken outside by me and relocated into the garden. Viva a Tupperware crip-it container and a piece of card to keep it on once trapped...
ReplyDeleteI don't mind them, just don't want them in my house, even if they are good weather forecasters...
Gee, Mel, I'm not at all sure I like the sound of your large non-huntsman spider! Not a funnelweb, was it?
ReplyDeleteI can imagine your spiders getting bristly encouragement to depart on the end of your broom!
;)
Sharon
Oooo, four-legged furries in the office are a treat, aren't they, Tracey!
ReplyDelete:)
Sharon
You're not a spider-phile, then , Nicki! LOL I guess you'd have some huntsman species there in Houston.
ReplyDelete:)
Sharon
Tina, Tupperware is excellent Spider-relocation equipment! We've used it often! The spiders will just have to exercise their meteorological talents form outside at your place!
ReplyDelete;)
Sharon