Texas: Hey you know how you and Gordon sometimes wax poetic about moving to Australia, with beautiful beaches and nice hot weather, and random wildlife that tries to murder you?
Me, rubbing my eyes first thing in the morning: Mhm.
Texas: Don’t go. I love you. Look, I’m really trying. I made this just for you. Look how furry it is.
As I was getting out of bed this morning, Gordon opened the door from the bedroom to let the dogs out and was like, “Bring the phone!” That’s the view.
It’s not even the mating season. That’s in august. I just checked and our visitor is still there crawling on the wall. That’s Aphonopelma Hentzi, otherwise known as Texas brown tarantula. A good size, too.
And how is your morning going?
Nope! Nope, nope, nope. Absolutely not! Move immediately.
Holy cow! I was first comment on a post.
LOL! Burn it all down and start over. No house. No spider. Right?
Heartwarming to see how many people are concerned for the spider’s temperature ????.
Ok, mostly heartwarming for the spider as he perishes in the suggested home incineration, but still…
Poor guy just came to say hello. Kinda cute looking
Australia? Where the place actively tries to kill you? Texas is fine. East Tennessee is better, but that’s just me.
me too!
Australians are too laid back for that, even our animals. Honestly, only the crocodiles will try to kill you, and the drop bears. 😉
Uh yeah, accurate except for the sharks ????
so swim between the flags
The sharks aren’t really trying to kill you, they just mistake you for a seal and you die.
The crocs though, they are trying to kill you.
Also don’t get too close to a Kangaroo. They will also try to kill you. Lean in to give you a hug and then kick you in the chest! HAHA
Some sort of cultural weirdness in the US about our wildlife…the only people I’ve known to keep spider charts on the fridge and freak out more than necessary over a Huntsman are American. Not even poms routinely raise it, and they have NOTHING there that will kill you in your own backyard…
ummm..yikes!
I’ll take my trip to the dentist over that.
I feel the same about scorpions in AZ. Lived here 17 years and I still scream when I see one.
Awww! But he is so cute!
I admit that is a bit shocking first thing but I’ll take a tarantula over a black widow any day.
My day is awesome! I am cataloging a physical copy of Sweep of the Heart at the moment!
Lots of holds today — people love books!
Black widow spiders hide from people. Brown recluse spiders are more likely to bite you.
Blow Recluse bites are horrible. A good friend’s hubby was bitten by a brown recluse, and it damn near rotted his arm off.
Blergh
Reminds me of when I got the massive urge to clean out the garage one day. Found so many Black Widows and their egg sacs. My husband came home and practically screamed at me “where are your gloves”? He was so mad!! So I dutifully wear gloves whenever I move stuff around in the garage!!
Are those things dangerous? They look dangerous.
Nahh. They are venomous but only mildly and are pretty docile. They eat roaches, which is helpful.
I find it hilarious that about every time one of my brothers encourages me to move to Texas, you post something like this and I tell them “but what about…?” and they say “never saw them”. One of them even lives not all that far from where you are, I think (he’s in Leander).
It’s like with cars and computers where the mechanic/technician says they can’t recreate the problem.
I’m from San Antonio TX. I didn’t know Texas has tarantulas…”never saw them”.
They eat roaches? Starting to look a little cuter.
Just a little.
I have the same problem with scorpions, lots of scorpions, all different kinds of scorpions, here in Arizona. I have a pest guy comes every two months treats all around my house and pretty much keeps the creepy, crawly, crunchy things out until the day I’m brushing my teeth, look down, and there’s a bark scorpion in the sink. I just keep telling myself, “but they eat cockroaches, that’s their primary food is cockroaches. Cockroaches bad = scorpions good, right? ” as I run for a kettle of boiling water followed by a quarter cup of Clorox poured down the drain.
Arizona has tarantulas too. had one about that size in the barn last year
I read that as “had one the size of a barn last year”. If that’s AZ, I figure TX is doing spiders the size of airports.
???? me too! I admit I was torn between amusement at how people exaggerate about local crawlers, and being impressed at the prospect of a barn sized spider!
Now the Sydney Funnel Web Spider, that one has venom thst really will kill you. Stay in the Northern Hemifphere, please
Huh I live not far from Sydney as didn’t even know there was a funnel web spider named after it.
So i googled it,
Sydney Funnel-webs have one of the most toxic venoms (to humans) of any spider. However, it is not true that all funnel-web bites are life-threatening. The venom of juvenile and female Sydney Funnel-web Spiders is much less toxic. Nor do they jump onto, or chase people, or live in houses – these are all urban myths.
please come live in Australia, the animals are cute (even the scary ones :))
Really? Will you box him and send him to me? Florida here. I will pay shipping if they eat palmetto bugs (giant roaches that fly/glide.
Scorpions would be worse I suspect.
No, just no. And so sorry, but better you than me!
Omg move here!!!! Yaaassss!!! I live in the southern part of Australia and there aren’t as many crazy animals maybe in the outer suburbs or the bush. There you’ll get the odd brown snake( which can kill you) You have to go looking for them unlike Queensland which is just a filled with wild fauna and flora. We do get the occasional Hunstman spider though they don’t look as scary as tarantulas. Poisonous but they don’t kill you, they kill all the yukky bugs which is handy. Mine lives under the fridge, I’ve named him Eugene.
Don’t be knocking Queensland. It’s a wonderful state. I too have a live in huntsman that my son picks up and has named Frank. He’s wider than my 3yr old son’s hand. I’m not keen on how far they can jump though.
Burn it! Burn it all down with a flamethrower!
J/K spiders do the greatest at eating the unwanted bugs.
But tarantulas and scorpions…. You have definitely convinced me never to move to Texas.
ummmm nz has nothing deadly and has beautiful beaches too, just saying. that spider is a no for me.
I think I read somewhere that New Zealand is just like Australia, but without the deadly wildlife. Would that ever be an option?
I can’t even look at that tarantula pic without getting the heebie jeebies.
Sigh, hang in there. Have a good rest of your day.
I’ve visited New Zealand twice (went from furthest south to the furthest north in a campervan), and I thing it is the most fantastic place in the world – I love it!
I will vouch for this. Loved traveling around both islands. Such friendly, self-reliant people, too! Good food, gorgeous beaches, all the weather.
I have heard many good things about Australia, but good lord, Google “Australia spiders”. And there are more deadly creatures on that continent too. Might make a good vacation / source material for more post-shift stories?
So I grew up in Oklahoma and still live there. At Girl Scout camp we would catch tarantulas in jars pretty frequently. A friend at work was telling me that her sister had moved to Oklahoma from South Dakota and bought a home across the road from an open field. First tarantula she saw, she was on the plane back to the Dakotas. I laughed and laughed.
It’s so cute and fuzzy! I grew up with my parents’ pet tarantula named Charlotte. my brother and I would catch and carry grasshoppers half a mile from the abandoned railroad tracks to our home in our bare hands to feed her. I don’t want a tarantula of my own, but it always makes me smile to see them.
I agree – tarantulas deserve more love! They’re such cool spiders. I once found a tarantula graveyard when I was hiking in Death Valley – it was a cold winter and all the tarantulas had gone into this one canyon but they died of the cold. It so sad seeing the 20+ dead tarantula bodies.
Here’s how you know that you have grown up in Texas. As kids, we constantly visited the older couple who lived next door. To get there, we had to walk past a large tarantula hole. It was explained to us by the adults, including parents, that we needed to give the tarantulas several feet of space because they could jump if scared. Other than that, leave them in peace and there would be no problems. Never once did anyone suggest the tarantulas be killed. To this day, while I give tarantulas plenty of respect and a wide berth, I view them as part of the landscape. It’s a Texas thing!
????
Nope. Just nope.
Texas has tarantulas but it also has fields of blue bonnets like the first picture.
When I lived there, the highway department would plant wildflowers in the medians and along the sides of the roads. It was beautiful when they bloomed.
They don’t bother me when they’re standing still. I have to admit that when they move fast, it does freak me out a little. I would definitely rather encounter the tarantula than the wasp that hunts them however.
I would prefer a live hairy tarantula to dead mice in a vent where nothing can spare us from the stink. Yuck.
(It happens every Spring.)
Oh, geez.I’m heading to Texas in April, on a camping trip to Big Bend. Note to self: keep the tent screens on at all times!
Also, check your shoes before you put them on (mainly for scorpions).
I’d take a tarantula any day over a black widow. I’m not a big fan of spiders but I had this small chubby spider build a small nest in the back of my mail box last spring. It was kind of cute. It never bothered me and just hung out at the back in it’s web so I let it alone figuring it would eat other bugs. It was there a couple of weeks when one day I went to get the mail about 30 minutes after it had been delivered and when I opened the box the entire space was filled with a web and there was a big fat black widow hanging right in the opening. I slammed to box closed and freaked out for a second. I then got a long stick and used it to chase out the black widow and scraped out all of it’s web. The cute little spider was gone too so I assume the black widow ate it. Ever since then, I won’t get my mail after dark and always check out the interior of the mail box before I put my hand in it. Got to love living in Texas!
At least it is outside and a generally docile tarantula (as long as you don’t scare it and cause it to fling its irritating abdomen hairs at you.)
I had no idea they flung hairs! ????
Mod R,
Only “New World” tarantulas have evolved urticating hairs.
One is *strongly* urged to wash hands after playing with a New World tarantula for that very reason.
In east Texas, we have Wolf Spiders instead of Tarantulas. Though, my Mom always said our wolf spiders were puny in comparison to the monsters they grew in Colorado when she was a kid.
I guess we can’t claim EVERYTHING is bigger in Texas (except our tall tales).
One hundred huge spiders on a wall vs. answering questions asked by husband doing taxes
Classic Hobson’s Choice.
i will take the husband doing taxes any day of the week!!!
That could be on a door handle and you wouldn’t know until you were both like “ACK! CONSENT BEFORE TOUCHING!”
Ooh, that would be a good joke. Two doorbells side-by-side. One a nice normal doorbell with a sign that says “friends and family”. Another one that looks like a tarantula that says “everyone else”. Or maybe, “everyone else, move tarantula to ring doorbell”. And then not have a doorbell behind it.
I live in Arizona. We spray bug poison around our house and our backyard fence every other month. We kill any survivors we find. This is because locally we have scorpions, black widows and brown recluse spiders; all are varying degrees of venomous.
After your explanation of your Texas tarantulas, I might let them live outdoors but definitely not inside my home. I am not sure my husband would agree to a cease fire for any arachnid, be they environmentally helpful or otherwise. He does not cherish spiders or scorpions of any size.
well i found a hornet’s nest in my garage 🙂
Yikes! Hope the removal gets there quickly!
At least there are sprays that you can shoot at hornets nests from several feet away so you can get a running start if you miss or some make it out alive and come after you.
I once watched a group of semiferal barn cats play what appeared to be hockey with a tarantula on a polished concrete floor of a Texas aircraft hanger. It was fast & furious and I’m not sure who won before the “puck” escaped.
Aaarrgh! I’d have to burn the house. Nothing else would do. Of course, I might have done that back when you were dealing with the scorpions.
I’ll stay here in Florida and ride out the occasional hurricane, thank you very much.
Many people keep tarantulas as pets. My dad had one named Theodore
What a great name for a tarantula! ???? made me smile! (And btw, I’m really scared of spiders)
I know why I won`t move away from germany. No big or venomous creppy crawlys here *shudder*
Pretty good compared to yours. And before Australia calls you to move there— remember that the saying about Australia is be careful it will try to kill you. Google actress Melissa McCarthy and the illness she got whole in Australia. Keep thinking about other places to move to.
I am fine with spiders. But hard pass on the scorpions, roaches, centipedes, worms, lizards, snakes etc.. inside the house.
I have a suicidal cottontail that had babies somewhere in my backyard. Suicidal because if my 18lb dog catches it, she’s a goner, but she still insists on hiding under the bushes in my backyard!! Every now and then, my boy chases her around the yard until she hides again (giving me a heart attack every time) .
Yesterday I saw a baby bunny (about the size of my hand) right near my backdoor. Thankfully the puppers didn’t see it and we didn’t let him out until baby bunny went and hid somewhere again (his first hiding place behind the pots was giving me palpitations).
🙂
Aaarrrggghhh! * hyperventilating*
NO.
Arachnophobe, here. Its one of the reasons why, though born in a Caribbean island (Trinidad. Carried to the UK aged 3 by parents) I rarely visit.
I can take snakes, lizards, scorpions, even. All of which I’ve seen.
But spiders……
I’d have been carted off in an ambulance after keeling over in a dead faint.
You guys are BRAVE.
Marsha,
I suppose every creepy crawly has its supporter, so I stand up for the spiders of the world and say, “Spiders are so cool!”
The way they have evolved to hunt in and make use of so many terrains: web weavers, trapdoor spiders, jumping spiders, crab spiders, so many kinds!
I love looking at spider photos, such variety in color, shape, and eye number ????.
Some spiders are downright beautiful: the garden/orchard orb weavers, peacock jumping spiders, the carved block abdomen of trapdoor spiders (what art).
Once you learn how awesome they are, fear gives way.
If you dig around on YouTube, there’s a video montage of peacock jumping spiders dancing to “Stayin’ Alive.” Once you’ve seen that, it’s hard to be scared of them.
And now I see there’s a “YMCA” version, which is at least as good.
New Zealand would be good and beautiful and full of hobbits. But still last month NZ had massive storm that knocked out roads. Small communities still isolated because roads still out.
It’s *lurking* by the opening door! Right. There. Lying in wait!
I’m team fire+move.
My husband used to run in the mornings in Little Rock and he never got used to seeing tarantulas running around before full light.
Well, now I’m never moving to Texas.
The other year my wife looked through a front window of our house here in south Florida and called me over thinking we had a bat clinging to a wall. As a science/nature person it was up to be me to figure out what it was.
“Ascalapha odorata” known at the “black witch” moth. I’d never seen one before. Very cool though.
What a good morning you have.
Come up to the cold north. We got auroras, no tarantulas
That’s a fabulous tourism jingle! ????
I finished doing my taxes today (oh, joy!), but even that is better than a tarantula… I’m not ashamed of saying I’m mortally afraid of arachnids…Thankfully there’s nothing like that in Rio de Janeiro…
In SLC right now we’re all complaining that we’re going to get more snow on Thursday, even though it’s almost APRIL, but… I’ve never woken up to a giant tarantula on my door, so yeah. I’m good. Yay for snow!!! ❄️❄️❄️
Oh, Jeez!!!! I can’t believe the size of that creature!! Holy Cow!! Yeah, I’m NOT even visiting Texas. The flower picture is pretty, the tarantula, not in my life. I have little bitty ones, I don’t mind them, those big guys? No, No, NO.
Well it is raining again here in the Bay Area, which unfortunately mean’s probably more damage as we have had so much water in such a short time. Other then that all my kids are home plus one of our nieces s that is great!
I don’t mind the spiders here in San Antonio but the wind and pollen are kicking my butt today.
The bluebell field is wonderful, the tarantulas, not so much. Why do they want to come into the house? Why?
This reminds of when hubby and I were stationed in Okinawa, Japan (also humid sub-tropical like your region of Texas), and we had snails….lots and lots of snails. As small as a 5 year’s thumb nail, and as large as a Stanley lunchbox. In the yard grass, on the walkways, and all.over.the.house.outside walls.
shudder.
Thank goodness for hungry geckos…..
We decorate our houses so nicely and fill them with snacks, no wonder all these guests want to come in ????
Wow!
hahaha – what a morning surprise…gotta love those guys (nope). We’re in Tennessee, the land of the Brown Recluses and we live in the woods so we are in their territory. We understand spider land. I’ll take snakes over spiders any day!!!
That’s right! I would rather no legs, then eight!
Wait till one chases you, that’s always a fun time
Nope. I would have to set the house on fire, leave the country and never return. Picture me crossing Texas off the list of places to visit…
Thank you for making me feel better that I still have feet of snow on the ground here in Vermont. All furry nightmares remain frozen.
Aw, he looks so sweet! Hee! And they jump.
I did not want to learn about the jumping and the throwing of hairs! ????
Oh my gosh…..kill it then move no way wd I sleep s as t all ever…..btw just listening to GA One Fell Sweep…at the fart gun scene
Australia is a beautiful place to live. Most of the time the wildlife are unsuccessful at killing the population. The climate is lovely and the beaches are fantastic. Filled with epic readers and fans of your work.
I am not spider friendly! The best I can do is hold in the scream, close the door and use a different door until it is gone.
I’m guessing folks don’t want to know about the texas tarantula migration from may to october in central texas. Yours is probably just getting a head start on finding a mate.
1. Close my mouth before screaming starts.
2. Pinch myself to restart my heart.
3. Reach for the baseball bat. You have one close, right?
4. Call the exterminator you have on speed dial.
5. Slam the door until the Calvary arrives. ????
When we were stationed in Texas, I remember driving over roads completely covered with tarantulas during mating season. Seriously, country two-lane highways filled with spiders, no pavement to be seen. it was so creepy. However, no one was scared of them. Brown recluse spiders were the real threat, and everyone had a nasty story about a recluse bite. Here in Arizona, we had a baby scorpion manage to squeeze into the house so we always were slippers, but they aren’t life threatening poisonous luckily.
See? The Mohawk Valley, Central Region of New York, between 2 mountain ranges. Lots of lakes, and very little closes as we know how to handle snow.
You can go outside all year long, even in the summer!
The worst was that my cat brought me a mouse from the dungeon of the limestone block basement of my 200 year old house.
No tarantulas.
Just moved back to San Antonio after over 30 years in Southern California. I rarely saw a roach out there but we lived in an old, old house with a basement. We had black widow spiders, and since we never went in the basement, I kind of had a live and let live attitude about them. Once we had a very young plumber who had to go down in the basement, and he flew out of the basement, white-faced, and said, “there’s black widows”! He refused to go back until we bombed the basement and when he did come back, he wore a white coverall and carried a broom and a can of bug spray. Oh, well,
I live in Texas too.
Me, sitting at friends kitchen table: What was that? I think I just saw a mouse.
Friend: Kicks at shoe on floor.
Me and friend: * Screaming* . *flailing arms* OMG OMG SCORPION!
Aww, I was thinking you were going to say Texas made you a lovely field of flowers. At least that spider is easy to find…? (Although I’m glad I don’t live in Texas!)
Anthropomorphism of Texas in conjunction with talk of Australian wildlife of course made me think of this Scandinavia and the World:
https://satwcomic.com/i-swear-australia-is-just-filled-with-real-life-pokemon
It’s beautiful in a photo. But up close and personal, I’m pretty sure I would have needed paramedics.
I have never been so glad to live in the Great White North. It snowed yesterday and hopefully that will keep the furry spiders away!
And, this is why I live in New England. Snow is better than this ;-).
Well, there are the bluebonnets!
Ha! Our town has a Fall Tarantula Fest! We also have artwork!
The Artwork
That is so cool!
So yeah New Zealand would be better than Aus gor moving countries, for one the wildlife doesn’t try or even want to try killing you ????. Much safer. but I’m biases, I’m a Kiwi and would love for you guys to move here, I can’t justify a trip to USA to meet you at a signing but my partner would be okay with me travelling a few hours within country for that ????????
That is a big fuzzy ball of Nope, not no way, not no how! I would have to move, because there’s fire involved in getting rid of those.
*shudder* Phew, I’d pack up and move if I’d seen that.
i don’t remember spiders when i lived in texas. At that time it was Fire Ants, which i found out can swim and bite you in the pool. and cockroaches, where you had to knock on the cupboards before you opened them if you didn’t want to see them. A good thing too, i wouldn’t have been able to handle spiders that big.
Arghhhhhhhhh move here to Scotland! It rains a lot but it’s beautiful, has fantastic people and doesn’t have frickin’ TARANTULAS!!!!!!
They are pretty balletic though. From a safe distance, in case they want to jump on your face.
i am SO GLAD to be living in northern Colorado. We get grass spiders, mosquitoes, and ants. That’s about it. Way less flies, ticks, and scary critters than other places I have lived. it’s nice to be able to go camping and not worry about zipping the tent shut. Or opening the door without using a screen.
And suddenly Northen Colorado looks like a viable location for my next move.
laser rifle?
Get the blow torch!
Suddenly I feel better about my -26 C weather this morning! Nothing at all was crawling on my house!!!
That photo makes me happy to live somewhere where it’s still snowing and the first of the ‘bears and cougars are about’ warnings have gone out for the year. No tarantulas, scorpions or rattlers anywhere close by.
OMG anything but spiders!
How cool ! I’ve only seen one in the 17 years we’ve lived in TX.
But what if we threw in some paintbrushes?
just to gross everyone out…somewhere in the garage is a photo of me, well, actually my arm, with a tarantula hanging out on top. it was at a zoo event celebrating their new insect house. so yeah, I’m cool with them, but NOT first thing in the morning!
Well, that will certainly wake you up fast! I always wonder if spiders tell their friends later about the horrible surprise they got when the big human creature shrieked at the sight of them. Or maybe spiders do their own version of a shriek. Hmmm.
Nope! No way …na uh!!!! Come to “
PA… no bad bugs… except ticks!!!!
A special furry nope! ????️a large furry hell no. Lol. Mine is much less arachnid-y.
When I was still living in Los Angeles up in the foothills, I would see fuzzy tarantulas walking along the dirt road I did my walks on. Eeeep.
My aunt had a pet tarantula when I was a teenager. I talked to her, I made kissy faces through the glass but I never held her. And I will hold most things (if I see a fallen bee I have no qualms picking him up in my hands, beetles are my buddies even though they often poop on me (but NOT cockroaches) yet I’m a little bit arachnophobic.
I do my best to catch spiders and relocate them from the house and can actively admire them outside of my home as they are oddly cute but if it’s uncatchable and I don’t think I can get it before it hides under something waiting to come and crawl on me in my sleep and lay a million babies in my crevices then I will very apologetically murder them. Which then adds fuel to the fire of my thoughts that they want vengeance and will kill me in my sleep if left in the house alive.
Those is just scary and gross. I hate spiders.
The flowers are pretty.
I’m fine with tarantulas. It’s the tarantula hawk that frightens me more. We saw one one time at the park following a tarantulas scent trail and very quickly vacated.
Seconded!
????
That’s just a baby. Just kidding, it’s the same size as our friendly Huntsman we have out in our veranda.
If you are gentle most will walk right into your hand.
In Australia our spiders try to eat our snakes, would still take them over the tarantula ????
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2023-03-05/brown-snake-stuck-in-redback-spiders-web-in-two-wells-shed/102055504
My friend lives in Canberra. She has a “pet” huntsman that lives in her pottery shed and eats other bugs. once in a while it’ll come down and rest on the warm pots. yikes.
I live in Maryland and the cherry blossoms are in full bloom! My neighborhood is full of them. However my allergies are so bad right now.
We don’t have tarantulas thank goodness but plenty of other creatures. I have to take my husband to the emergency room at least once a summer from wasp/ yellow jacket stings. He’s highly allergic.
Ewwwwwwww! I’m sorry – spiders are my Achilles heel. Aaahhhhhhhh!
I know they’re not deadly but I just can’t…anything with spiders.
I guess if I had to choose between tornadoes/hurricanes and tarantulas, I’d pick the spider. But they like to hide….
No thanks, I’ll take Oregon (banana belt/Willamette valley) and the wonderful rain.
A friend of mine just moved to Helotes just outside of San Antonio. It sounds lovely, perhaps check it out?
BUt But DI texas gets tornadoes, hurricanes, and has tarantulas.!!!
What a cute spider
Gulp. They give me the willies. They mate practically in my backyard which conects to open space all the way to the Santa Monica foothills, where the tarantula get-it-on party is.
Worse than tarantulas (in my opinion) is the calisoga spider or “false tarantula”. They are huge and fast. A monster crawled across my kitchen floor and before I could do anything about it, it disappeared behind the stuff in my pantry. Horrifying.
Ooo I’ll have to go look that one up. Never heard of it.
I’m seeing this in the afternoon, so I’ll just say “Stop effing snowing!!!”
that is all
When I was in the fourth grade, I rolled over in bed and opened my eyes one morning to find a pregnant tarantula on the wall next to my bed, not 12 inches in front of my face.
My dad was happy and excited because they eat mice in the fields. He took her out of the house and found a nice spot in the lower field for her.
His reaction helped my reaction a lot. I wasn’t completely freaked out. But I can still pull the memory up in full color with all the accompanying sounds and scents very vividly, well over forty years later.
Nice example!! And at least it doesn’t try to murder you hehe, no venom. . Plus they are really not aggressive. I had a friend in college who kept one as a pet.
I just scoop them into any handy jar or plastic bin and relocate them to the nearest green belt. (Of course I realize that’s your back yard heh.) Did you know the females can live 30-40 years? There ya go, trivia for today.
I’m so glad I moved back to Missouri. I lived in Central Texas in the 90’s. No thank you!!
Between scorpions, tarantulas and other fun stuff like watermelon stealing raccoons, I can’t see why you would ever want to move. ????????♀️
I live in Michigan. We have wolf spiders. Not as big as the tarantulas. But pretty smart. My cats like to chase and eat them. so they stay hidden in the basement and eat cellar spiders. mostly.
and then there are the cellar spiders. My basement looks like it’s been decorated by a set designer for a 1950s horror movie. spider webs everywhere. I go thru with with a 20 gallon shop vac and clean out the egg sacks and then make sure to take the bags to the dump otherwise they take over the shopvac. which is creepy as hell. ask me how I know.
I’m arrived sunny so the sheets are getting washed and out and it’s change of season. so flannelette sheets old and feather Dona old and aired. plus my order on feijoas arrived yummy ????????????????????????????????????????????
For gawd’s sake, MOVE!
What she said.
Hahahaha from ‘Straya (Brisbane) with love ????
I love Tarantualas! Grew up in Nevada in the middle of a migration path. They would climb up one side of my parents house and down the other as it was in the way. My godbrother freaked out when he left the windows open one night and woke up to 5 in the room with him. He was screaming and my tiny mother (5 feet) literally jumped on top of this 6 foot tall teenager in order to keep him from smashing the poor spiders with his shoe. Funniest thing I have ever seen. My mom, the great short one to the rescue of all things great and small 🙂
LOVE your mom. ❤
+1
Yikes!!!!
We have tarantulas in August (So Calif). We just move them to the wood pile. When we first came to CA, we would catch them and swap to the pet store for feed for our guinea pigs. It is almost baby rattlesnake season. Not so good. A neighbor catches them and relocates them far up the hill.
No tarantulas to report. Since I moved to Texas I have been in an ice storm during which a tree slowly split and laid half of itself on my roof. Insurance didn’t cover it, btw, no damage to roof. Also, I have seen the bottom of a funnel cloud (tornado when it’s on the ground). My house has been pelted with softball sized hail. I’m a science teacher and I would have said that was improbable but it happened. I call this “false advertising” weather. Texas is like “move here, it’s beautiful!” and then bam! The weather will kick you in the teeth. Also weird bugs live here, yeah. The tarantula is pretty low-key as these things go. I’ll trade 91 spring-fevered 6th graders..
Gorgeous! Must be doing some good hunting around your place. What a treat.
I am just soooo happy, that I live in Switzerland!!!
The most threatening wildlife in my life is the cute bat, that hangs under the roof above my balcony (I have to clean the digested insect-poop…)!!!
We have foxes and kites and deer, and the little furry ones – but thats it!! Nothing livethreatening whatsoever!!!
Boring? NO! ????????????????
Stay save and don‘t let anything bite you!
Scorpions, tarantulas and ?? Oh my.
Whoa! Hard no on that ????
No tarantulas today! The occasional lizard, and I do thing to keep the scorpions FAR away. Like, an all gravel yard.
I have a real fear of spiders but nonetheless will take your tarantula and raise it with fifteen or twenty red back spiders living in every nook and cranny they can find and a baby dugite snake. It’s hatching season and the little darlings who have no venom control, keep on popping in to visit. Let’s not mention the brown snakes down by the creek. Welcome to Perth Western Australia we can’t wait to welcome you when you move here. 😉
Burn it down.
My sister lives in Hemet, California.
She was trying to relax and read a book quietly not too long ago after a 14 hour shift as an Emergency room Nursing supervisor in a large hospital in Pomona.
All relaxed, into the book, and feels something on her shoulder.
Turns slowly, to see an 8” tarantula riding shotgun.
Jump up, shake frantically. A bit of screeching. So much for relaxation before bed!
They regularly deal with rattlesnakes, a large population of coyotes trying to eat any cat which escapes the house, and random critters getting dumped on their property. Last dumper was a swaybacked, elderly horse.
Been there done that. There was one year, back in the 80’s, where the brown tarantula was EVERYWHERE in the Tx. panhandle. Like in Palo Duro canyon, they were marching down the roads. So one Saturday morning, (when me, being a teenager at the time, was still sleeping), my mother woke me up screaming like a banshee for me to come kill the tarantula in the pantry. By the time I stumbled in there, of course the poor confused thing had fled the high decibel screeching, never to return. I had to lie to my mother and say I found and exterminated it though, or she would have never let me go back to bed!
Lolz! Awww, poor Texas…. cute spider though, from a distance. A long, long distance
The scorpions probably told it that yours was a good house to hang out at.
I used to love driving the highways of Texas Hill Country when I was stationed in Austin.
okay have to say Alaskan spiders aren’t that big. lol and we still have 3to4 feet os snow ❄ on the ground yet, don’t see many spiders until May.
Well, we’ll be boarding over THAT door this morning. Not using it, nope, not giving the Big Brown Thing with Too Many Legs ANY access to our home. No, no, no, hellllll no.
Aw HELL NO! Another reason to avoid Texas.
yeah, I lived in California when is was little …. had something like that jump on me when I was about 3 yrs old…. I absolutely loathe anything with more than six legs to this day….. just no.
It’s like playing Animal crossing New_Horizons in real life ????
Meanwhile in Australia…..
https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/video/2022/nov/17/mosquito-population-explosion-plagues-flood-ravaged-nsw-video
I think i’ll take the tarantula ????
we have spiders here in Australia too.
Big Sur has a migration of Tarantulas in early fall and they are everywhere. Our dirt road was covered with them for about 2 weeks and I couldn’t believe what I was seeing. Then after they left, the Monarch butterflies came and it was amazing and so beautiful to see them fluttering around, just everywhere! It was in the nineties that I spent an incredible year living in Big Sur. It is a very magical place with the freshest air you’ll ever breathe. Thanks for the memory jog.
???????? Eewwwww
The biggest spider we have in Poland is Dolomedes plantarius and is 7cm max, is start thinking Europe is not so bad place to live….
Come to Australia – Gold Coast – some spiders mostly sunshine and beaches
I invite you to move to Spain, we don’t have that kind of critters running arround ????, we have good weather, nice beaches and all the seasons!
Australian there ????
So, NOW you are prepared for the life down under ????
On serious note: we have free healthcare and affordable education, but cost of living and traveling is ridiculously high
I’m learned way too much about spiders in this thread.
Lol
It’s terribly confused with this crazy weather! Mother Nature is just throwing out numbers like it’s Powerball!
That’s so cute. Are you going to name it and start feeding it crickets? I’m sure you could photo shop it into pet pictures because they are one of the pet spiders recommend for beginners.
Sorry but that’s just another reason not to move to Texas besides the heat and scorpions.
nope no absolutely not. I don’t usually mind spiders but that is way too much.
Australia just teaches us Aussies to be aware like Kate and Curran. After 57 years I’ve never been bitten by anything bigger than a bullant which made 2 fingers swell and itch a bit lol. Come on down under it’s great mate! ????
any news about the innkeeper series?
Hey Leslie,
What type of news are you interested in? ????
I am a little jealous, I grew up in Texas and only got to see one of these in the wild (of a backyard) twice. They are really neat.
That’s one pretty tarantula, although if it was where I was just about to step, I would probably scream, and then shush myself because they’re harmless. LOL
Fixed ????
Arrg. They’re not their. Sorry.
He’s there for the bugs. No interest in people, dogs, or cats. I know you’re not interested, but they do make interesting and easy to care for pets.
On the contrary, House Andrews already have a tarantula pet ????
Everything is bigger in Texas, or so they say ?
I like most spiders. I don’t want them to take me by surprise, bite me or eat my house, however. Luckily, we have very few poisonous spiders here in Oregon. Australia, on the other hand, has a bunch.
Time to move! Maryland is particularly nice this time of year! Lmao
Wow, I love the Lupin Field and weirdly, the tarantula too! I’m looking forward to downloading the new version of Magic Bites. Should be fun.
Get Sarrat ????????????️???? and: guts of my enemies it is! ????????????
No THANK YOU! Jumpin Josephat, I freakin HATE creepy crawlies. I will admit that I could not handle scorpions, tarantulas or anything like it. Ugh.
Well…..at least it’s not a scorpion.
Fire torch is your only option. But you’ll burn the house down? Yes, but the spider will be dead. Problem solved.
Omg omg omg ????
I hate spiders but out of respect for nature I decided on a strict territorial policy….out if my territory I respect your right to exist….in my territory….you are DEAD..
I’m sure you’ve already had bazillions of posts about this, but just in case… these sweeties look scary, and much like humans when facing a bear, they stand up tall to try and intimidate whatever is scaring them. However, while they might trigger an allergic reaction on susceptible humans, they aren’t deadly and most likely are afraid of you, if they can be scared? Odd that s/he is out in the daytime, though — I thought they were night hunters? Anyway, good morning!
House Andrews are tarantula pet owners and yes, they know of the “Not dangerous” status. It was just funny that he came to say hi ????️
Even though they can get much larger, the Giant Huntsman spider (in Australia of course) isn’t as ???????????????? as this furry tarantula. Go figure ????????♀️
Eh, Texas obviously isn’t even trying. The tarantula can’t even put you in the hospital, much less kill you.
Also, eeeeeeeek! Not a fan of anything spider-ish. Tarantulas look like they might move slowly, and often do, but they can sure put on the speed when they want to. I haven’t seen any tarantulas or scorpions north of Dallas and I hope I don’t. (I am still hoping to see bobcats; at my previous domicile, apparently folks saw two bobcat kittens on the roof once.)
Also, at least it isn’t a dinner-plate sized huntsman spider. Reason 1 why I cannot move to Australia.
Oh. My.Gosh. Heat, humidity, huge tarantulas = No thank you.
Note to self: visit Texas for the bluebonnets. DO NOT move to Texas because of the big-ass tarantulas!!!! (I have a thing about spiders.) Uhn-uhn. Nope. NO WAY!! Weren’t the scorpions bad enough?
is it poisonous?
No :), they are only mildly venomous and pretty docile.
nope!
BTW we do NOT have those in Massachusetts
after spending the last month playing Hogwarts legacy, little spiders do not bother me. Especially ones that will leave you alone if you leave them alone.
I’m reminded of Dessandra when she said “Y’all have the freakiest shit in Atlanta!” Except it’s Texas, evidently. Y’all have the freakiest shit in Texas!
Rattle snakes under the suburban houses, scorpions in the ventilation and early tarantulas on the walls. Texas, you really know how to treat a girl. The spider looks nice and big and should probably find a place with actual vacancy. My mom would love the spider. She did her thesis on those.
Moving further north would solve the creepy crawlies, but you would have done so by now if that was an option.
At least Texas is pretty, despite the big teeth.
Tarantulas and Whip Tail Scorpions live in most of Texas. The ugliest and scariest is the Whip Tail, with huge pincers in the front, large abdomen in the middle, and a long thin tail in the back. If you have a garden, both of them are good bug eaters. Oh, people in Texas call the Whip Tail a Vinegeron, because of its odor, and it’s completely harmless.
Try New Zealand instead of Australia 🙂 No snakes and beautiful scenery
I’ve lived in Texas and have never seen one that close-yikes. However, after having a teen who likes weird pets, I can tell you —that will sell! Grab your net and list him! ????????????
No tarantulas, a fairly nice day today. And another inch of so of snow Friday night into Saturday.
OMG!!!
JFYI I’m Australian, and have a lifelong familiarity with and aversion to giant Huntsman spiders. They are big and furry and they drop and scuttle!
I spray them with about half a can of anti spider spray, and run away until someone else confirms their demise.
I do not rehabilitate them to the yard as they take that as an invitation to return and bring their friends and children and party on over every door and architrave and and ceiling. And car interior. Usually behind the drivers sunblind.
That spider on your wall is bigger that your doorlock! It is whole hand sized at least!
And why is trying for home invasion?
It looks ready to pounce!
I sincerely hope that if you rehabilitated it, then it was taken a long way away by intrepid animal rescue or zoo workers.
It is much too large to wrangle by amateurs.
Noooo put them outside.. they are harmless… LOVE HuNTSIES!!!! Isn’t it funny though how everyone thinks Australia is the only country with snakes and spiders, when we aren’t…
We know you’re not the only one. We just think you’re the worst one :-p
For us arachnophobia’s (is that a word) please warn us giant arachnids ahead. I’ve still got the Hebbie jebbies. Otherwise. Love to read your posts.
There’s also the Chihuahuan Tarantula. I’ve had them as peeping Tom’s, and stalkers when out shooting.
But Texas also has views like this… this is an stack with about an hour long exposure over some bluebonnets.
Whoops, forgot to attach. 🙂
If it’s any consolation, any spider that size in Australia just wants to be roommates and eat your stray flies. It’s only the smaller ones that are venomous…
Nice. Tarantulas keep the scorpions away.
Enjoy.
As someone from Australia.. it amuses me NO END, that people think our country is “dangerous” as opposed to America (guns, mountain lions, bears, humans)…. in my 48 years I’ve seen 3 snakes, numerous spiders (harmless) and that’s about it… the most dangerous thing is people on mobile phones… they are a menace on footpaths and the roads…
Spider and I would have a long talk about how important it is to stay on the outside of the house. Nothing to see inside spider — move along.
Damn a lot to be said for cool climate of my northern Canada. no spiders 4 one
Nope nope nope!!!
The feeling I have upon looking at that creature will be repeated in one of your masterpieces. This is how y’all use everything at your disposal. I thought, “Yes that, that is the terror I sometimes feel when Roland gets going. Thanks.
LOL!!!
I was in Arizona doing the tourist thing with my Dad. We did the Grand Canyon, and while hiking the rim trail (this was fall) I saw a smaller tarantula skittering along from the rim, to?– trying I guess to find a nice warm bolt hole for winter. Alone in the middle of the trail I screamed. Then I looked around for people feeling foolish. I stopped and stared at it. Then I hopped over it gingerly and continued eyes peeled much sharper so that I wouldn’t step on one. The ranger said they crawl out of the canyon in the fall for mating and because it gets too cold down there in the winter. They migrate up from the canyon floor?!! That put paid to any camping I might have considered. I am mildly phobic of snakes and any arachnids. On the other hand, I despise the flying palmettos of Florida (flying cockroaches). Lucky for me I’ve only seen one in my mailbox. The brown anole and green anole lizards seem to be doing a good patrol job of my yard for bugs, and I understand we’ve got a bat colony nearby that snags the flying roaches right out of the air. And iIve only had 1 black snake in the house thanks to the cats. I consider that a success. Long may it stay that way!
Pretty sure even my grown hens wouldn’t be able to handle that.
Today it is very windy, with rain expected. Scratch that, it’s snowing. The hens are gonna be mad. But inside it is quiet and warm.
The new chicklets are peeping away, and eating well, so that’s good.
At least they’re not terribly poisonous. And you can see them coming. It’s the SMALL ones that really scare me.
I’m caught between “Wow! That’s so cool!” and “That’s a big ole spider”. I think seeing that in the a.m. is equivalent to a cup of coffee.
I’ve only ever seen those once in my 52 yrs, after a cycling accident at age 5.
Yes, but did it chase you? Our Aussie Huntsman, gets the blood and the legs pumping. Oh they are harmless enough, but they come with a sense of humour. Like a bunch of yobbos who have tied one on (drunkish) and are out on a dare to make the shielas (women) shreak. It seem to be optimal is done whilst they are on the dunny! (toilet)
It’s mouth is in a place that is inconvenient to bite humans. People who keep them as pets will hold them on their hands. ????????
However , THEY CAN JUMP and scare you to death!
SSSHHHRRIIIEEEKKKK!!!!!!
Are there spiders in Antarctica? Time to move.
Not QUITE what you want to see with your morning coffee but ………. Texas must really love you! After actually choosing to retire in central Texas after The Hubster’s 25-year military career, we have grown to love these guys. They eat things we REALLY don’t want hanging around even though they are truly ugly.
There are worst things in Australia, trust me. You can come visit us in Spain. We have nice beaches, great food. Great weather with 4 beautiful seasons. We are the best option.
Texas bluebonnets are worth the tarantulas! Especially since the tarantulas eat mosquitoes. We have them in Frisco (Dallas suburb) and you can see them come out of their holes in the lawn at dusk. I am a Texan through and through and am proud that y’all chose to live here. I grew up in west Houston near where the Galleria is now, so I really love reading about the Baylor’s activities. It’s like a visit home. Thank you for so many hours of wonderful stories.
I don’t really miss living in the Austin area, lol. When driving through a more desert area of the state, or country, though, it is fun to see a spider crossing the road.
I live in Texas, for a long time right next to the theater where Arabella first publicly changed. I am enormously pleased that you are Texas Authors, I love and have bought all of your works. I just want to remind you that strange wildlife is everywhere, and however greener the grass looks in other places, Texas grass is green too, if you water it enough, we have wonderful flowers, and folks here by and large are very friendly. The BDH is strong in Texas.
Having lived in Australia for three years, I would go back in a heartbeat. I miss it so much. Wonderful people, loved the dramatic weather, loved waking up to kookaburras laughing in the morning… And the screeching cockatoos. LOL. That does take some getting used to.
….. I’m too accident prone to live In Australia. It would be like me double dog daring Death to his face. Lol
Ooh, tarantula! ????. So furry!
Are you sure about Australia? I heard they have a phenomenon called raining spiders or spiders in the sky.
But in all seriousness, I live in Texas – you can keep your tarantula.
That’s a male for me.
Spider of enormous sizes also visit us. I was able to catch & release unharmed Wolf Spider. Big as your face! Hairy legs! Lucky for me, it was not the same morning as yours. I am thankful y’all survived. Texas-what did we do wrong?
Australia is the best. It’s the land of “she’ll be alright mate” and indeed, she’ll be alright, because that’s what Aussies are like. You should go.
I’ve heard they have a spider in Australia that can bite thru a 1 inch rubber shoe sole and kill you, stay in Texas nicer wildlife.
Thought you might like this tic toc thingy re Australia based on this post…
https://vt.tiktok.com/ZS8WXAA3o/
And that right there is why I could never follow through with moving South. I will gladly take any day of West Michigan’s weather over one of those amazing creatures. And my husband and children would be severely maimed if they ever woke me up with spiders.
Enjoy this shot of Wilderness State Park/Sturgeon Bay taken during Labor Day Weekend 2022. It’s also dog friendly.