a huntsman spider had been living in our house for a couple of days, i was aware of it, as i had spotted it as i climbed the stairs one night last week, they are brown and quite gurthy, and i don't like spiders at the best of times, let alone ones that jump. my spider antenna was on at all times then, just knowing it was in the house, had me checking the ceilings when i went in any of the rooms, once they get in you see, they appear not to be able to get out, as billy says, they will die if you leave them inside as their is no food for them. so taking that into account, I've got navigation ally challenged huntsman living in my house.
After the incident on the stairs, i didn't see it for a day or two, and then i spotted it in the corner of the bathroom, above the door frame, trying to make itself look small! i knew this as instead of having his legs splayed,like a hand shape, he had them his legs lined up straight, 4 behind and 4 in front, so he was kind of a rectangle shape...sort of, anyway he as trying to look flat against the wall.
I mentioned it to billy later that day, and thats when he told me about them not able to find food indoors.
The next night, I've gone for a midnight wee ( i always wake up desperate for the loo, in the wee hours) I have no idea how i spotted it this time, it was dark, but sat on the toilet with the door open ( for some reason, i get paranoid that creep crawlies will be behind the door if you close it, and in such a small cubicle, you dont want to get stuck in there with anything) anyway so im sat on the loo with the door open in the dark, and i see this spider, hiding at the side of the smoke alarm, on the ceiling that i just walked under, and have to walk under again to get to my bed... i made it, but i can not forget that he is around.
so then
the other day i went to take a bath and there was this huntsman spider, now the thing was, the moment i spotted the spider, the bath was already almost full, i had gone to put some more cold water in, and then as i reached away from the tap, i spotted the aforementioned 8 legged friend peeping over my loafer!
anyway after i recoiled back in horror, i was stood by the door,(these things can and do jump), so i stand there staring wondering what it was going to do next, and thinking at the same time, what am i going to do?
then all of a sudden, its starts moving toward, you know that part of the bath that i think is to home the soap, you know the small sunken portion, that has a little spout for the water to run from? anyway hes making his way ( i dont know how i know its a boy, but it looked manly)anyway hes making his way toward the edge of the bath, and im thinking, hes going to fall in, if he goes any further.
He edges his way down and then starts to move down the bath, then im thinking, no no dont do that, your going to fall in, i say i thought it, but i may have shrieked it,anyway the spider decided to go back the way it came, but it cant, and i can see a few of its legs going wobbly, and scrambling for something to grip on, which it wont, as the sides of a bath are especially grip free, and especially one that has recently been sprayed with raspberry bubble bath.
Anyway, so i turn away thinking, ' i cant watch him scald himself to death
but i have to look just to see if he will make it, my mind at this point is frantically thinking of what i can use to save this little arachnoid from perishing.
I go into my bedroom, and i look for something, i find one of those plastic display booklets, the ones that have those nyrex folders we used to use for english assignments, and i head back to the bathroom, now its time or death at this point, as little mate is panicking, he reaches tentatively out every now and again with one foot, ( i know they dont have feet, but the last little portion of leg, he sticks out, trying to find his way out of the situation. nervously he seems to feel around gently one foot, then bringing that one in,and trying another.
I edge as close to the bath as i can get, with my arm fully extended out towards the spider, with the nyrex folder display booklet in my out reached fingers,
i have to reach into the bath with my other hand to pull out the plug (bearing in mind the water is pretty hot) ( also i should mention that this is the deepest bath ive ever had, and if you lay in it, while you empty out the water, its like it feels like gravity is pressing down on you, and you almost feel pressed on) anyway so the pull of gravity is felt greater in this bath ( dont know if thats anything to do with being down under, or the fact that the water goes down the opposite way) anyway going off the subject, i lean in, keeping my face as near to the door as possible, and i hold the booklet underneath the spider, so that if it falls, ( which i hope it doesnt as they jump sometimes, and i didnt want it to jump on my arm) (ps you may be thinking why didnt the spider just jump to saftey, well i think it was as you need grip and some oopmh behind you to get a good jump up, dont you, so maybe thats why)
and so im holding the booklet under him, sort of, and the water is quickly being pulled away down the plug hole, (also i should tell you that it makes the worst noisiest gurgling sound when it empties, i mean really loud, even for me who is half deaf.
i see the spider cowering with the noise and the pull of the water as it gets dragged away, the spider surely thinking, 'this is what it sounds like when your dying'
and then the last bit of water was gone, and the spider hot footed it onto the safe part of the bath, and i ran away back into my room.
I sat on my bed, and thought, why didnt i just will it to fall in, and then this whole saga would have come to an end.
I hesitantly go back to the bathroom to see if hes gone back into hiding, and yeah hes gone, but i do not run another bath. just incase he came back out.
so you see i might be taking the animal lover thing a bit too far.
Maybe i should have just waited 10 minutes till the spider got tired of trying to save it self, and succumbed to his damp fate.
but as it was i stepped in and he gets to scare the living daylights out of me once again.........
