Being Careful: (Unfortunately, I was unable to locate the picture of me that would have been the perfect match for this story, when oh so many years ago I was holding an Mexican Orange-Kneed tarantula that was almost the same size as my hand.) Growing up, I was more than a little fascinated by bugs and their distant relatives. I read all about ants and probably bored any family member within hearing distance by repeating all that Id learned. I had that cheap plastic ant farm setup as a child, and even read up on how to build my own much bigger habitat later on in life. I loved to watch beetles, grasshoppers, caterpillars, and butterflies move about in the wild. But, there was always something about spiders that especially drew me to learn, observe, and keep for my own. At one point while living in the military dorms, I had 18 different types of tarantulas in separate terrariums in my room. Admittedly, my choice of container pets did cause pause with some of the individuals tapped to inspect my room, but I spent many hours just observing my spiders and noticing how their personalities differed from one to the next. Some thought me strange for my companions, and others, speaking from their own position of fear, mentioned that they could never bolster the courage to step one foot into my room. Admittedly, most peoples first thought is how scary it would be to hold a spider the size of a saucer, but most creatures do not have the evil intent placed upon them by our own fears or creative manipulation of movies and television. Most of my tarantulas were easy to pick up if you knew the right way that wouldnt frighten them or trigger a natural defensive response. A few were so mellow that you could easily cup them in your hand and hold them without worry that they would even react or try to escape. I did have a few tarantulas that were so aggressive that I only placed a Tupperware container over them and then snapped the lid in place, whenever I needed to clean that particular terrarium. These were also the spiders that tended to lung at the glass whenever motion was detected. Just opening the top lid to add water from a distance was enough to trigger an attack pose with fangs arched for the maximum effective attempt should the occasion be presented. Naturally, since I was allowed to have my container pets only by special permission, I could not afford to ever be bit. Also, there was of course, the fact that the really aggressive tarantulas had venom that would have made me really very sick or worse if I didnt get the proper anti-venom. And, then there was the worry that since some of the bad ones were rather obscure, the nearby hospitals might not even have what I would need available. Still, all those worries were a moot point, since I never was bit.
Posted on: Mon, 30 Jun 2014 03:31:38 +0000
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