Spider defends his territory
Spider Defends his Territory
Not long after I started knocking the plaster off the bathroom wall I was joined by my pall the spider that lives in the crevice just in the corner where the wall joins the ceiling. I thought all my banging and hammering had disturbed him and he was off to find a new place to dwell.
Not so, he seems determined to sit it out even though I’m getting closer and closer. At first I thought he was playing possum, but he frequently turns around to face in the opposite direction.
Bob the builder (yes, really) asked why I assume he’s male and I wasn’t able to answer that question. He suggested it is because he is big and ugly and I thought maybe he was right (though by spider standards he/she may be very lovely and perhaps we should start to think so). However, I also refer in the masculine the pretty little spider that I’ve had to recue from the bath three times this week. Now he really does have a death wish. When I spotted him yesterday I was already showering and looked down to see a black speck. Being sans specs, I thought I should investigate further, switched off the shower and leapt out to find my glasses. Shock horror – a crumpled mess of spider! Drastic action called for – tissue and a thin price tag from one of the garments I had just sent to my granddaughter.
Lay spider on toilet tissue, slight movement in two legs. Turn him over with the price tag then leave him for a bit. Apparently dead, but I can’t be doing with that. Maybe he’s just stuck to the card (it happens – I once had to free up a tree frog that was stuck by his back to a door casing. In a heavy rainstorm he had squeezed through the small gap between the top of the door and when the sun came out, his back had dried onto the casing, so that when I opened the door he was suspended. I had to get a paintbrush and gently paint him with water until I loosened him).
Back to the spider – gently turn him over on the tissue, only then from the tiny tangle of body and legs, could I make out which way up he was meant to be. Then, after a few minutes, transfer him to the windowsill and slowly and surely he began to find his feet and off he went – hopefully a bit wiser!
But what to do with Mister Big? Not a clue, I’ll just have to continue with my work until he makes his move!
