We have houseguests...
well...sort of.
[Be warned...you may want to skip this post if you are squeamish about creepy crawlies.]
Meet Helen...
...and Henry...
...our "pet" spiders.
They are really more like captured invaders with a doomed fate...but I call them pets for the kids sake. Ha!
I found Helen dangling from the ceiling in the stairway as I was descending the stairs into our living room...eeeeeek!!! Mid-air spiders are quite unwelcome around here! Since she had a bulb shape and I was unsure of what type of spider she was, I decided I must capture her and find out. Of course she showed up midday while my husband was away at work - boo - so I grabbed a pair of rubber gloves and the nearest jar and with trembling hands I bravely faced the threatening intruder. [See what a big baby I am?!]
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| Helen |
Helen is a much bigger spider than Henry. I found Henry shortly after Helen had been captured. Henry was playing dead on a plastic storage bin...I almost just brushed him off, sure he was long gone...but my wimpy-ness won over and I shook the bin a bit just to be sure. I'm glad I did, because he was very much alive after all! So I grabbed Helen's jar and with a burst of adrenaline, opened the top and scooped Henry into the jar with her. Then I watched...wondering if they would get along or fight or notice one another.
Helen, who had given up hopes of escaping a few hours earlier, sat docile...entirely unconcerned with the new visitor - even as he scurried around trying to climb the glass, and sliding into her much larger frame. Helen would just shift her legs around and turn her back to him and continue to stare longingly out the glass wall. Henry was far more determined to free himself than she had been. Henry began almost immediately to construct a web...and once Helen noticed, she seemed to become excited by the commotion and began to climb Henry's web too.
Helen was named after the spider in
Margaret Bloy Graham's book, Be Nice to Spiders.
Henry was named to sound nice with Helen.
[Deep...I know....ha!]
After quite some investigation, J. and I determined that our little "friends" appeared to be of the Steatoda triangulosa family.
[like this guy...whose photographer took a much clearer image of him that I was able to with Helen & Henry...]
from eurospiders.com
From what I gathered, they are also called "False Widow Spiders", since their shape is very much like that of the famous Black Widow...or the lesser known Brown Widow spiders.
So...my mind was put to ease a bit...and the kids have had a great time watching their - uh - "pets". They have even "had dinner" with us. [Gross.] Now my big dilemma is how to dispose of them. I'm afraid to even open the jar...
Oh well, maybe we will study them a bit longer.
[Ps - you can click on my images to see a larger view of our spiders...if you are brave enough...bwahahaha!]
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| Henry |
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| Helen |
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| Henry |
[My husband advised that next time we don't name our captives. Good plan.]
