Look at what’s walking on my hand!
On the night before Halloween at Wissahickon Nature Club Sarah Lyle taught us about Pennsylvania spiders and showed us her pet tarantulas. Three of them were very tiny but two were … huge!
I am not a spider lover but Sarah’s enthusiasm for them is infectious. When I first saw her tarantulas I thought, “No way will I handle one of those!” but by the end of the evening I did.
Dianne Machesney, who took this photo, called it “the fearless spider whisperer.”
Not!
My look of concentration is not spider whispering. It’s intent focus on one thought: “Do not do anything to upset this spider!”
Two of the hands in the photo are Sarah’s, gently corralling the tarantula so it doesn’t walk up my arm.
Whew!
(photo by Dianne Machesney)
I see tarantulas all the time in Arizona, but never had the nerve to catch a “wild” one.
Donna, Sarah said the different tarantula species have different “personalities.”. Some are more aggressive than others. This one is from South America and very calm.
BRAVO!!
I don’t have arachnophobia, but I’m not sure if I would have done this! You one brave lady!
Kate, that’s good to know. The ones I’ve encountered haven’t been overly aggressive, and they respond well to “broom-shooing” 🙂