I wouldn't say I have arachnophobia, but I AM extremely scared of spiders. Especially when they are not where they are supposed to be, which is Timbuktu! The photos below are of a spider that we found on the wall near the ceiling above the window.
I typically take photos of objects along with some size reference, like putting my hand next to it. But there was NO WAY I was going to hold my hand next to him for this picture. I mean... What if he MOVED?
As a reference for the size, the white band at the top is about 5-inches high. So this
guy is about 2 to 3-inches with his legs spread. The first photo was a little blurry, so I got a second one.
Sadly, since he was not in Timbuktu, where he belonged, he had to be eliminated. I used my sandal, and after swatting him he fell down... towards me.
That much I anticipated. What I didn't anticipate was that my legs would automatically switch into "emergency-reverse-leap-survival mode" thrusting me backwards across the room thus leaving me and an ironing board sprawling on the floor. After we made sure he was dead (or, more precisely, 'after my wife made sure he was dead') we threw his body outside. I'm sure the birds got to eat him, so he got a proper burial. You know... the circle of life!
I'm really glad that I hadn't looked carefully at the photos before trying to kill him. Had I done so, I would have seen that the flash had bounced off of one of his eight beady little eyes. He was STARING at me.
Eeeehhhhwwww... It gives me chills even now!
If you know what kind of spider this is, please comment below. We always appreciate help learning about the flora and fauna of Bolivia.
First and hopefully the last!
ReplyDeleteWell, sadly no. There's more coming up...
ReplyDeleteI don't think I want to see a closeup!!!! If the spiders are that big, I'm sorry but I will not be coming to Tarija any time soon.
ReplyDeleteFortunately spiders like this aren't everyday sightings. So far we've only seen one more inside a house. Plus several sightings outside, after over a year of living in Bolivia.
DeleteI think that's a wolf spider. Harmless, but I know the feeling hahaha. I saw four of them in my room in a span of 3-5 days once. And the 4th one got away. Shivers!
ReplyDeleteYou know... I think you're right! I've seen wolf spiders in the US before (Kentucky), but this one is definitely bigger than those (like the difference between an golf ball and a tennis ball). However when I researched wolf spiders I found there are over 2,000 species of them! So it is very likely this is one of them. Thank you for your help! I've now removed this from the "Help Wanted" category.
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