torquill: Art-deco cougar face (bean)
[personal profile] torquill
I expect to come across spiders when I'm moving even small rocks in the garden. Sometimes they're harmless ones, sometimes they're the false black widows like the one that bit me last December, sometimes they're the real thing. The real black widows don't worry me too much, usually -- I just place my hands carefully when working, and crush any I come across. (They huddle into small balls when disturbed, rather than trying to run.) The other spiders get transferred, unharmed, to somewhere out of the way.


So I kind of expected there might be a widow in one of the short pieces of PVC pipe mixed in with the small rocks I was moving. When I picked up the first one, I looked into it to make sure it was unoccupied. If there was someone in it, I'd poke it out with a stick and make sure it was dead before continuing. No biggie.

When I saw a shiny, round thing taking up more than half the 1" pipe diameter, my heart started to pound, and I put the pipe down slowly.

Ten minutes later, armed with a plastic bag, gloves (which I had twisted thoroughly to guarantee there were no occupants) and a long bamboo skewer, I coaxed the baddie out of the pipe and into the bag. All I can say is Iesu Christo, that is the largest fucking widow I have ever seen. It's almost the largest non-tarantula I've ever seen, rivaling some of the wolf spiders we have. I estimate the leg span at over an inch and a half. It has a beautiful red hourglass, too...

It's in the freezer now; I figure it would need to be killed anyway, so I might as well mount it properly to show it off. But boy, I lost any desire to work out there afterward -- not because I'm afraid of being bitten, but just because I'm so rattled by the sheer size of the thing.

Update: I transferred it from the baggie to a jar, where it runs less chance of being damaged in the freezer. It hit the bottom of the jar with a "clink". Frozen solid, and it will stay that way for at least 24 hours more if I have my way. No coming back from the dead for the venomous thing.

Time for some hot tea, I think.

Date: 2006-02-15 16:57 (UTC)
From: [identity profile] pusifoot.livejournal.com
I am horribly arachnaphobic but I clicked the link anyway. I am now officially creeped out and thanking the goddess that I didn't have to see it in person.

You, however, get massive points for dealing with that critter - I would have fainted at best. (Why doesn't Impact teach you how to beat up spiders?)

Date: 2006-02-16 04:48 (UTC)
From: [identity profile] luna-torquill.livejournal.com
I gathered up my courage, told myself I was stronger and smarter than it was, and met it on my own terms. It's now frozen solid. I win!

How does Impact not teach you how to beat up spiders? :)

Date: 2006-02-16 10:49 (UTC)
From: [identity profile] kitabare.livejournal.com
Estimated leg span of over an inch and a half... please tell me that's front to back and not from side to side.

Date: 2006-02-16 18:16 (UTC)
From: [identity profile] rumaki75.livejournal.com
Man, I'm a little arachnophobic myself, but that just makes it more interesting for me. I'd love to see that thing!

(wandering in randomly)

Date: 2006-02-22 07:38 (UTC)
azurelunatic: Vivid pink Alaskan wild rose. (Default)
From: [personal profile] azurelunatic
That's impressive. Got photos?

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torquill: Art-deco cougar face (Default)
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