This morning at 6.00am I evicted last night's leggy visitor with the aid of my trusty long-handled dust buster.
I opened the window first and lofted him into the morning air to enjoy his first flying lesson.
Felt quite pleased with myself, not even a shiver, despite only about three hours sleep.
Oh how stupid to think the largish, thin-legged chap was a one off. I should have known better.
Just having a pre-bed wash and there in the corner of the bathroom was a huge - and I mean huge - black, thick-bodied beast about 3 inches across.
I beat a hasty, dripping retreat and tried to work on a strategy.
The dust-buster in hand I crept across the floor and attempted to edge it on to the nylon bushy end, but it scuttled away behind the wash-basin and vanished.
Yes I know they can't really vanish. I know they pop their bodies into any available crevice and drag their ghastly legs in after them, but there was no sign of it anywhere.
So far I've made three 'surprise' visits in the hope of catching it unawares, but spider don't do 'unawares'.
My father used to joke about my terror of spiders and quote "The coward dies a thousand deaths, the hero only one". To which I would reply "He who fights and runs away, lives to fight another day".
The only thing is, flight is not an option, and if I have to get out in the night (as it were) 'it' will be waiting for me. So now what do I do, hang from the ceiling like a bat for fear it will run over my feet? Or just sit up all night AGAIN?
Something similar happened to me once, when a Wolf Spider I discovered amidst the laundry I was folding, jumped (no kiddin') off my bed, never to be seen again. That was some 15 years ago, and I still don't sleep well knowing he's OUT THERE somewhere :(
ReplyDeleteMaybe the solution is to purchase & employ a "watch cat"?
You and my daughter would be good friends. How she's managed travels in places like Cambodia and Vietnam goodness only knows! A "watch-cat" is a brilliant idea. Our moth and spider count has gone down no end since we adopted our latest model.
ReplyDeleteOh how not nice! Chances are though, she won't be seeking you out. Whenever we open up our summer house we find them all over the place. Takes ages to get them all cleared away -- and then there is always one or two that appear as if by magic in the bathtub!
ReplyDeleteKathleen, I am truly amazed you saw a wolf spider jump and are still breathing..Congratulations. I'm sure I wouldn't be!
ReplyDeleteGreenpatches, what on earth is a "watch cat". If it is just another title for felix domesticus I have made my views on being owned by another one only too clear.
ReplyDeletePlease believe me when I say that much as I hate and fear spiders, I do not willingly kill them or indeed anything.
Hi Broad, I wish I could believe that was true. They do seek me out quite deliberately, knowing that to see my hair stand on end is proof of their power over me.
ReplyDeleteJust because I'm paranoid, doesn't mean it isn't true.
perhaps you're need of some carnivorous plants...my late husband was arachnophobic. I felt so bad for him during his later years when he was confined to his bed. If he saw any insect crossing the ceiling above him he wanted it gone. He never bought my logic that spiders eat other insects...I did my best though to keep his space free of creepy crawlies!
ReplyDeletehope you think of something to rid yourself of these legged creatures...so you can rest at night!
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ReplyDeleteFrankly Theanne I think I'd be more horrified by carnivorous plants than the spiders, and, I wouldn't want to kill the beasts.
ReplyDeleteI just wish the'd drop me from their visiting list.