I saw one down by Trinidad that, with the leg spread, was the size of a dinner plate. I didn’t worry about rattle snakes on the trail after that.
Kinda’ reminds you of what’s going on in our White House (Old Age Home).
I despise spiders.
I’d rather eat food at casa bonita than watch that! haha
Long as I don’t have to pet them!
We take an annual pontoon fishing trip to Southern Colorado every time this year. Three years ago, we spotted our first tarantula on our outside cabin wall. My “mighty hunter alpha male” buddy about had a heart attack when he spotted it, jumping a mile out of his deck chair. I freaked out cuz I’m thinking “oh crap!! What just made this trophy hunter crap his pants??!” He pointed to the big, fuzzy spider with a trembling finger. I was a bit freaked, too, but got to know the little tarantula guy over the next hour. Didn’t touch him, but got face to face, very close. I later learned that they like to jump. Could have easily turned into a scene from HOME ALONE.
I always liked the Andrew Dice Clay version -
Little Miss Muffet Sat on a tuffet, Eating her curds and whey;
Along came a spider, Who sat down beside her, and said,
"Yo! What's in the bowl b***h?"
Look, he’s crawling up my wall
Black and hairy, very small
Now he’s up above my head
Hanging by a little thread
Boris the spider
Boris the spider
Now he’s dropped on to the floor
Heading for the bedroom door
Maybe he’s as scared as me
Where’s he gone now, I can’t see
Boris the spider
Boris the spider
Creepy, crawly
Creepy, crawly
Creepy, creepy, crawly, crawly
Creepy, creepy, crawly, crawly
Creepy, creepy, crawly, crawly
Creepy, creepy, crawly, crawly
There he is wrapped in a ball
Doesn’t seem to move at all
Perhaps he’s dead, I’ll just make sure
Pick this book up off the floor
Boris the spider
Boris the spider
Creepy, crawly
Creepy, crawly
Creepy, creepy, crawly, crawly
Creepy, creepy, crawly, crawly
Creepy, creepy, crawly, crawly
Creepy, creepy, crawly, crawly
He’s come to a sticky end
Don’t think he will ever mend
Never more will he crawl ‘round
He’s embedded in the ground
Boris the spider
Boris the spider
-The Who
I grew up in Texas. Tarantulas and scorpions were ubiquitous. One of my favorite memories of my great aunt Grace is her going out in her back yard with a piece of firewood and stalking and killing a tarantula. She was about 70 at the time. Another great memory is watching a battle between a wasp and a tarantula. The wasp won. Finally, our son had one for a pet. I was working full time then and we had to assure the cleaning woman that she did not have to clean that part of the house. He also had pet leaches.
I used to go camping in the Southern California desert a lot and around the end of October we would see a lot of Trantula’s on the move. Now I know the reason.
Ummm....
Colorado ping.
And, erm.....
YAAAAAGGHHH!!!
*Getting my napalm grenades ready*
I’d post the Andrew Dice Clay version, but it’s not family-friendly.
I actually drove thru a migration. It was fall of 2001 and we were driving along some backroad on our way to Grand Junction. It was just a bit before sunset and I saw this huge black swath moving down the hill, over the road, down to a field. I may have yelped when I said what the holy hell is that? My coworker, who was driving, got extremely excited and said oh my God, I’ve always wanted to be here for this. He tells me its thousands of tarantulas and he wants to stop the car and walk amongst them. Hi pitched screaming and physical threats ensued and we did not stop to walk amongst those creepy, furry spiders. Shiver.
I have driven over tarantulas in southern Colorado around this time.
I didn’t mean to hurt them, but they run pretty fast and I couldn’t evade them.