In Australia, the 'incy wincy' spider does not crawl up the water spout. When I think of our Australian spiders, 'incy wincy' just doesn't come to mind. I also think it will take a heck of a lot more than some rain to 'wash the spider out.' Nothing about these spiders are small. They are often big, hairy and sometimes jumpy and the end all for me (as if hairy wasn't enough!) are the eyes. I do not like to see eyes on spiders, or their mouths for that matter. If you can see eyes and mouths on a spider then it definitely should be banned from the 'incy wincy' category. In fact, they just need their own song all together. I'm sure somewhere Don Spencer ( a famous children's song writer) has written one; along with his Aussie Mossies and Lizards of Oz songs.And if the spiders are none of the things I just mentioned then they are scary because they are poisonous. Face it, Australia is just known for its wildlife; with the eight most deadliest snakes and spiders living here, how could it not be?
I grew up a tomboy. I loved creepy, crawly things; kept some as pets in fact. However, this love comes with certain limitations. I'm not fond of them catching me off guard; especially in my own home. I have a certain perimeter in which I'd like to keep unexpected guests that have more than four legs away. Where we live seems to attract such critters and they find our home an interesting haven. It is great living close to a nature reserve, but sometimes nature just likes to find its way into your suburban home. For instance, we have a skink that lives in our garage, a blue tongue in our veggie patch and too many lizards to count that take refuge in our laundry room on hot summer days. They startle me when I pick up a shoe and see one in there but they don't frighten me. Lachlan thinks it is fun and loves to try to chase the lizards. Spiders, however do frighten me. I don't know why but they give me the wee-be-gee-bes! I'm okay with small ones or even large ones I see in the garden on their webs. In fact I love them in the garden as they catch fruit flies and mossies. In the house, though I freak out. One too many times have I been sitting on my couch minding my own business and have seen a huge, hairy huntsman in the corner of my eye lurking on the wall. It sends me in a panic. I scream, run out of the room begging my husband to save me. The worst is when my husband responds only to find nothing, as I have scared the spider into hiding. I am sleepless those nights and have even gone as far as stuffing a towel under the door hoping to barricade it from my room, knowing of course that a huntsman has no intention of crawling on my floor under the door; I do it anyway though. I spend the night half awake or dreaming of spiders.
All that is nothing compared to what Lachlan and I saw the other month while taking our morning walk. It was a pleasant, sunny day and we were coming home from the dog park with our pooch, Maxwell. Lachlan was pointing to things and I would talk about what they were:
"There is a tree; its branches are waving in the breeze." I went on..."That is a letterbox, where the postman puts mail." Then suddenly..."that is a huge spider web and...wait, couldn't be....oh...my....gosh!!! That is a bird!" There's a bird in the web!"
I then began to get goosebumps and shivers and looked away but so astounded had to look again to make sure what I was seeing was true. Yes, between two trees a spider built the largest web I'd ever seen and there was a small bird, now dead captured inside. It was enough to make me want to march my arachnophobic feet home, pack up my suitcase and move out of Australia! I don't know what kind of spider it was as I didn't see it. My best guess is that it was a golden orb or some sort of other orb weaver. Whatever it was it freaked me out and at the same time amazed me. I've found small lizards stuck in webs at the house but never a bird!
Well, yesterday I had another surprise. One in which Lachlan found amusing. Generally when I am startled I scare him (like when I found a praying mantis sitting on my shoulder staring at me, which lead me to strip off my clothes in the kitchen and run out of the room screaming. A bonus to organic gardening, little guests hitch a riding hoping to join us for dinner I suppose). That time he began to cry as he was younger and unsure of what happened. I must have looked like a lunatic as well! This time his reaction was much different. I was out in the garden, trying to pull up some patio blinds. I couldn't reach the string and had to climb on the balcony railing. While doing so I was greeted in the face by a huge gray spider with yellow eyes. I screeched, fell backwards and ran across the yard shaking off my goosebumps. Lachlan ran to look down at me from the top of the porch, with a 'what was that?' look on his face. " I found a spider! It scared me!" He started laughing hysterically. I still had shivers down my spine. "Are you laughing at mommy? It's not funny. I don't like spiders scaring me," I said with laughter in my own voice. "He chuckled more and more." I went to see if I could still get the blinds raised up but first inspected the area for the attacker. The spider wasn't insight. I crept closer and closer to the blind. Lachlan began to laugh again. He could sense the hesitancy in my movements and he thought it was funny. I began to reach for the blind and as I did I saw the spider on the handle of the rope. "Yikes!" I yelped and jumped back. Lachlan was in stitched now. It was more than he could take. His eyes were watering with laughter. I picked him up, twirled him around and began to tease him for finding humor in my fear. We both began to giggle and I knew I must have looked so ridiculous to him. After all, his mommy was scared of the 'incy, wincy spider!'...what's that all about!?
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