legs 12 April 2010
I am not great with the bigger spider. I don’t mind the cute tiny ‘money’ ones that fly out of trees and leave gossamer threads. They seem to invest anything I leave out for that ‘line dried freshness’ when the weather is good – my friend Fiona Looney, playwright and all round domestic goddess insists this is the ONLY proper way to dry clothes. I have no GREAT problem with small to medium ones that dart away when they see me and I them (I too tend to dart off on these occasions, much to their relief I am sure). BUT I am in mortal dread of the bigger lads with the hairy legs and (often) eyes out on stalks. I will scream BUT I would never kill one (I have a notion they’d make a mess anyhow and I’d be as horrified by that as any other aspect of the encounter). However, from time to time, the larger version of the arachnid turns up in the house and saunters about or, rather, moves TOO QUICKLY from one side of the room to the other and in an erratic fashion (from my point of view). I read somewhere that this is the larger male in search of a female so lucky spidey gal wherever she is as I am sure my guys are the Bodies Beautiful of the spider world. Recently, a fine specimen jogged by and I was in time to open the back door for him and off he went into the garden. All well and good EXCEPT I am now actually a bit worried about him and here’s why – are spiders territorial? Is he going to have to fight every other male out there’? AND if he was/is an indoors spider, will he be able to hack it in the Great Outdoors?