We went for a walk yesterday afternoon here in our little slice of desert. As were were walking down the ATV trail that serves as our driveway, I spotted a tarantula, our first live spotting.
A: Stop
R: What?! What?! What?! begins dancing about, turning this way and that, ready to run but not knowing which direction she should point
A: Stop! Stop! Stop!
She calmed and we admired the spider for a bit then walked on.
A: So, just for future reference, what should I say when I want you to stop?
R: I wanted to obey but my butt got scared.
I know I'll be the one left to fight off the hordes of rattlescorantulas.
Good thing I have mad ninja skills.
37 comments:
My ears heard, but my hooves kept prancing.
I don't think I've ever seen one up that close. However, I'm not "looking" for one either. As long as the "creepy crawlies" stay outside my rig, I'm "good." ;-)
Last night there was a rattlesnake between Steve and the restroom. Now there's not.
Cheryl, I'd definitely prefer they stay outside, too, especially since I catch and release anything that creepy crawls its way inside.
Sue, LOL! Did Steve make an impromptu restroom right where he stood?
Now that your eyes have seen - you'll probably see a lot more. I lived in west Texas for many years and I'm an expert spotter. Fortunately, they are all pretty shy and non-aggressive (especially the snakes).
Scorpions will find a way inside - I've found them inside suitcases! How does that happen - can they do teleportation - maybe. They also like to hide inside clothes and shoes - shake them out or you'll really be prancing about!
So, now Roxie is trying out to be a hoofer! She just can't be stopped once she's going, can she?
AHA! Anne, Annie has been laughing at me because I shake my shoes and clothes EVERY time I put them on, and I check under the covers with a flashlight before I get into bed. Vindicated. BOOM.
I guess people are the main critters who are both venomous and aggressive. :(
Russ, I'm pretty sure I'm good enough for the Roxiettes.
There are many reasons why MG and I will never live in the desert - you have named most of them in this post, but you forget that "dry heat" :-) However, we will still visit YOU in the desert, although we might be a bit nervous with all your venomous wildlife spotting lately!
I am not a gentle soul when it comes to scorpions and tarantulas. Even here inside my house I still shake my shoes out. I suppose I'll always be doomed to live in civilization rather than the desert.
I'm thinking snow doesn't sound nearly as evil today!
When you figure out how to communicate that kind of info without scaring the crap out of someone please share that info. Your scenario sounds like me and Bill ... practically on a daily basis. Usually when I'm driving the car and he points out something. I haven't put him through the windshield (yet) but we never leave home without our seat belts fastened.
They are dangerous critters! One of our doxies got bit by one and came very close to dying way back in Acapulco days.
Contessa, they are all much more dangerous to the small creatures, for sure. Because dogs and cats don't have my dance moves.
Sharon, we're still hammering that out, but I'll be sure to tell the world.
Snow, Karen? Bleargh, that gives me the willies! :D
Maria, the rattlesnakes hibernate when it gets cold. I haven't found out what the other guys do. I figure it's better that we spot them than that we don't.
CJ, I certainly don't want to get that friendly with those guys! Close enough that they could piddle on my hand = too close.
Ha ha, a Roxiette! To help you stop when Annie yells it, remember those critters don't consider you food and are more terrified of you than you are of them. You are a huge looming monster to them. Rattler's are completely silent when hunting - they rattle in terror. A giant dancing monster just terrifies them more!
All of them are cold-blooded, so the insects also don't move much when it's cold. Seems prudent to shake out stuff in that area :-)
You think if I holler "Stop, stop, stop!" that the alligators will stay away from me tomorrow?
Love this post Annie! But I have to say that I'd probably do the Roxie dance if I saw either of those 3 near me. I had so many problems with my eyes this past year in that Arizona sun that I could hardly keep them open and I could easily have stepped on any of them but wasn't smart enough to be worried. NOW however I know MUCH better. thanks a lot :-/
sheesh....."either" of those three - RIGHT.............here come the grammar police.............sorry ma'am we'll have to take your either in. should have been an any.
Nice mad ninja skillz! I'm terribly afraid of tarantulas. I would've ran!
Sherry, Annie is all about the information.
Swankie, if you need to keep alligators away, use every trick available. Do not wear your favorite ham cologne.
Mary, that's a good perspective to keep. The snakes don't know I'm doing my own Dance of Terror. I know scorpions come out at night to stay cool, but do they hibernate altogether in the winter?
A scorpion, mmmmm.
A rattlesnake, humph.
A tarantula, AIEEEEEEEEE!
Adios!
My feet always get scared first, with an impulse to run, no particular direction just run. You know, like from cows and such.
Yes indeed, your mad ninja skills will come in handy. Until the rattlescorantulas show up.
Have you encountered javilinas or cats? Just know they are there...somewhere. Enjoy the fun the two of you have! Carry on!
Neither one yet, Poppy! I would like to see javelinas from inside a moving vehicle. Or on the other side of a sturdy fence. Cats? Mommy!
Hahaha Teresa! Then you know the dance, too! From cows, even! Cows scare me. Sure they're vegetarian...in the daytime.
I know, Intrepid. I know.
LOL Sherry! This made me laugh. They let your either out for good behavior with the only other inmate.
Somer, you understand my feet's impulses. And, shoot. Something at the grocery store made me think of telling you something, and now I've forgotten it.
My sister was living in Pheonix and her son, who was about 12, had found a turantula and was keeping it (somewhat agianst her wishes) in a glass aquarium. I went to her house one day to visit and she was in the swimming pool and wouldn't get out. The T. was on the loose. LOL
And I was camping near Naturita, Colorado (in the SW part of the state), one autumn and witnessed a huge bunch of small T's on the nighway, actually enough that I couldn't help but run over some. An oldtimer said they were migrating. The first and only T's I've ever seen in Colorado, small, about the size of a half-dollar.
I think they're very cool, as long as they stay away from me.
And a turantula is the cousin of a tarantula, in case you're wondering.
And a nighway is similar to a highway, kind of like hither, yon, and nigh.
(Dang keyboard.)
Chinle! Good to see you - hope all is well. Migration! That would be something to see! You're a wordsmith, so I just enjoyed the vocabulary expansion, questioning nothing.
My keyboard is always expanding my vocabulary - sometimes in the direction of nautical terms (i.e., talking like a sailor).
The T. my nephew had was huge! Even gave me the creeps when he'd let it crawl all over him.
Hope none find their way inside the Duck. But if they do, just consider they're pretty harmless. (Easy for me to say.)
They're pretty harmless. They're pretty harmless. They're pretty harmless. There, that should convince us!
Our cats expand my vocabulary in that same nautical direction.
Wait'll you get to Western Oklahoma where they get big as dinner plates and stand 6" tall; when you hit one with a jeep tire you can 'feel' the 'bump'!!!! On a pipeline 'road' we hit at least one each way, A DAY!!!!
NO! TAKE IT BACK!
If'n ya wanna see some javilinas....go hang out with the Bayfield bunch at their Congress home or up near Geogypsy at her winter digs. We go thru that area when headed for the winter camp and always see them. Last spring when headed for home...was close to Geogypsy's place and there were 3 of the javilinas crossing a 4 lane highway!!!!
That would be most excellent, Vicki. They wouldn't tusk our tires, right??
Don't you love the desert or is that dessert? Anyways, thanks for all your support!
May I share with you what's been keeping me from reading and commenting on blogs lately?
"This Restless Life: a study of Central Coast California parks through photography, interpretive collage and stories" is a book project of which I'm in the midst. If you have the time and the inclination, would you take a look at my short video at http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1778487749/this-restless-life?ref=email to learn more about the project? If you like the project, would you share it with your network of friends and family? Thank you sincerely. (I have a link to the video at the top of my blog page too.)
I like your ninja skills...hi-yah! That's a cool lil spider, did you find out what kind of tarantula it was? We saw one too, it was a brown tarantula...boring name but that's what he was! Steer clear of the critters!
Scratch the idea of a look see on those javelina, Duckeys!!!!
Have lived in this area for 35 years...never had one on our property till early morn yesterday!!! Had a very up close n personal encounter with 2 of them and one of my fur babies didn't fair so well!
NO!! Is he okay now??
Kalani, we just call him "The Tarantula." You don't have to tell me twice.
Thanks, Levonne! We'll be following your progress.
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