loose ends...

So, I did this post last week about some things that I didn't have time to expand on at that time. One of those things was finding a tarantula on our back porch. Here is, as Paul Harvey says, the rest of the story...

Talk about weird coincidences...Michelle called me the other day, and among various topics of important conversation, she asked me if I had seen any Tarantula's lately.

Um, no, and I don't care to, was my reply.

I hadn't seen a tarantula "in the wild" since I was a very young child. She mentioned that she'd heard something about Missouri being unique in it's geographical nature, and that Tarantula's are native here.

Great.

Now, I didn't doubt my dear sister-in-law, but again, I hadn't seen one for over 20 years. She said she'd seen a couple in the few years they've lived here, but I think she said she's just seen them on the road.

Fast Forward to later that afternoon. Jason steps out the back door onto our deck, to go get his four-wheeler and take the girls for a spin around the yard. A moment later, he's back inside motioning to me furiously to come and look at something. I go to the back door, and lo and behold, there is a Tarantula on the deck.

And our dog is trying to play with it.

Oh, we have some seriously smart animals.

Now, I am not a fan of spiders. But for some reason, I wanted the girl's to see this thing. It was HUGE, and HAIRY, and totally freaky, and I knew they would love it. I also knew that they're not poisonous, although they can bite. So, we cornered it behind the BBQ grill, and then placed a large glass bowl over it. Then we called the girls outside. They were satisfactorily impressed. They ooo'd and ahhh'd, and then ran off to play. Jason slipped a Frisbee under the bowl, and took our visitor waaaay down past our house and let him go. Yes, we let it go and did not kill it. After all, they are a beneficial spider, they kill a lot of other creepy crawly things, including mice.

Although I think that I'm good with not seeing one again for another 20+ years!
Here are some pictures for your viewing pleasure!