Ember's Tale 33: Spiders

But if you snatch a spider hanging from a thread in front of your nose, it might go up or down and then it'll run very fast and then you won't know where it is...

I think generally speaking, if you grab the thread above it and put one hand under it in case it decides to drop, you've pretty much got it covered.

But don't you understand that you'll get the spider on your hand then!!!

Spiders should be stationary at all times they're near me.

I love to watch jumping spiders move, especially when they are reacting to a "threat" like a finger that moves around them. They can move so fast you can barely follow it, and basically move in any direction and rotate on the spot, and generally give the impression that each of their legs knows exactly where it and the others needs to be positioned each moment. It's beautiful. And, of course, they jump, with equal ease. It makes Spider-Man look really lame in comparison.

As long as they don't jump in my direction

Mind you, chances are you have bigger and more poisonous spiders wherever you are. Still, I'm not sure I'm not just envious about that.

Nah, nothing more poisonous than a wasp around here; the ones that like to come inside are black, hairy, ugly things about an inch large when they're sitting around with their legs splayed normally. However, we lived in Australia till I was five, and my mother was once bitten by one of the nastier ones they have there.

But don't you understand that you'll get the spider on your hand then!!!

Why, I sometimes end up with spider silk all over my hands when I've had a zebra spider or something run and jump all over them. (Many spiders are careful to spin threads all the time in case they fall off.) A big spider might be a bit more problematic, since it could probably move faster.

Nah, nothing more poisonous than a wasp around here; the ones that like to come inside are black, hairy, ugly things about an inch large when they're sitting around with their legs splayed normally.

An inch, that sounds huge, the biggest ones I have seen in nature can't have been much bigger. Most spiders here are really tiny or like the one that has been sitting at the edge of my ceiling all day, which has a body smaller than most houseflies.

An inch, that sounds huge, the biggest ones I have seen in nature can't have been much bigger. Most spiders here are really tiny or like the one that has been sitting at the edge of my ceiling all day, which has a body smaller than most houseflies.

Well, their bodies are never larger than half an inch in length.