A good blogging friend was taking about finding a big spider in her garden. That friend is on a different continent. A place where you get spiders that are big, scary, poisonous and they even jump at you.

Did I ever tell you that I am not great with spiders.

So the prospect of scary spiders brings shivers down my spine. A movie comes to mind – Arachnophobia. Give me Jaws and Sharks anytime. Sharks need our love especially as Trump has decided to bully them as well now.

Scary spiders. No, no, no.

Hawklad loves to go to the zoo and handle spiders. The bigger and more deadly the better. The last trip I just about heard him say as he handled a Tarantula- ‘Isn’t she lovely….’. It was difficult to hear him as I was stood 30 yards back, hiding behind a wall. That’s great parenting……

Fortunately for me I live in Yorkshire. The land that time forgot. We don’t really do scary animals. Those cows can look at you in a funny way. Ferrets can nip a bit (especially if they are in your trouser pockets). Don’t get in the way of a squirrel and his nuts. Those Scarborough Seagulls are hooligans when you have a bag of chips. Get on the wrong side of stick of rhubarb and it can very awkward.

But we don’t really do scary spiders or insects. A few small and timid spiders. This is as big as it gets. A Daddy-Long-Legs. The most delicate creatures going. We end up desperately trying not to hurt or damage them. Even I can get up close to them. That’s the kind of spider and insect I like. Friendly and most definitely not one that is going to eat me.

132 thoughts on “Scary creatures”

      7. Come on, folks,we are all grown-ups here. I understand people have phobias, but if you are a God-fearing person,bugs are God’s creatures and deserving of your love. If you are an atheist, then bugs are living creatures, and to hate or kill them is to play God, whom you do not even believe in!
        In my opinion,
        I was not a good person, as a child. I had no spiritual sense of life and not-life. I intentionally killed tiny things on purpose. But as I grew up I learned the difference. I still have to kill things that I eat, that is part of life, life lives on life. But I only willingly kill annuals, and I allow others to kill protein providers on my behalf. I best love to eat nuts and fruits, for while the flesh is being eaten I am not killing the major plant itself, and I am spreading their seeds in many directions and to many locales.

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      9. Coward-to-the-Core are you, Gary? Spoken like a true Yorkshire gentleperson. The problem is, of course, there are few places to be a true Yorkshire gentleman anymore.

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      1. Nope, not a mosquito. The correct name is “Crane Fly”. Other nicknames are “mosquito hawk” and “michigan* mosquito” (*location changes based on folklore). Most people believe they eat mosquitos but they don’t.

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      2. There is controversy between male mosquitoes and crane flies. Whar we mostly see in northern Canada. The wing placement seems a touch different. Bats, birds, and spiders are the main eaters of mosquitoes, but our housecats love them if they get into our house.
        Not trying to argue. Must trying to clarify.

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      14. I appreciate the clarification. I’ll look into that more! I heard that male mosquitos don’t bite people so at least I don’t need to worry about one of those monsters taking a quart whole I sleep!!

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      5. I have to keep differences in mind when I watch Escape To The Country. Here, ground & 1st floor are the same. Your 1st floor is our second floor.

        I also laugh about the “empty nest” parents who insist on homes with zillion bedrooms, as if all their kids and grandkids will visit at once and need their own rooms, even though they’re usually moving to be within 30min of them. Sooooo much wasted, and costly, space!!!

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  3. That looks like what we call a “galleynapper” We have black widow with its web too close to the mailbox. Gonna have to relocate it. Then there are the shower spiders. Why the shower? 🤷🏼‍♀️ I don’t mind spiders, if they leave me alone. Daughter is terrified and if I can’t guarantee relocation, I must squish with shoe.
    I’ve heard they have some Cuh-razy spiders in Australia. Even scares me. Tarantulas make good pets, I hear. Don’t have to worry about that, living with Older Daughter😉💌💌

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  7. I think that is a relative of the dragonfly – something that breeds in or around water (which you have a lot of). We have them near the river near us kind of skittering around the water. But I don’t have a name for it – except “the thing that makes me move anywhere but where it is.”
    We are not even in our prime spider season which happens in October. The spiders that celebrate Halloween are true for us. I can handle some….even in the house. But not like the one I posted about – Eeeekk! That thing is still just eating flies and getting bigger. I like to know where he is. The second he disappears I am going to be one nervous nelly.
    Declan had mentioned visiting Australia and I said the same thing as Angie – they have CRAZY spiders there. Ones I am sure will crawl into our bed while we are sleeping and send us for urgent care. I. CAN’T. EVEN. (I also find it amazing that I think about our travels in relation to spiders (and other animal oddities)). I used to follow a blogger in South Africa (who stopped blogging) but the spider she had living on her porch made ME throw up in my mouth. I can’t imagine how you would have handled such a sight! 🙂

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  11. I used to like daddy long legs. But don’t now. As far spiders, unless they are really tiny, I run a mile. The tarantulas, yes, I would be joining you that distance and hiding. The back of my neck on end, a bit cold and skin crawling, all because I took a second look at the tarantula.

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      1. We do. There was one in the caravan the other day. It was massive. I couldn’t go near it so my 13 year old came to get it into a glass and set it free. He talks to them like they are his personal pets!

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      5. We also wondered given folks have not bee out and about… how overgrown places were and we were doing forests cos of the bucketting rain, so the foliage was pretty heavy in places… if that didn’t help. Cos they love that kind of damp setting.

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  17. I’m with you…those big hairy things…they make my toes curl up, but I could never kill one. I’ve got to the point where I can deal with the smaller ones…I help them go outside. Those things they have in Australia that eat rats etc….arghhh. I think they have some here too out West…huntsman spiders…scream!

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  18. Daddy-long-legs in the photo is not a spider! The wings and six legs give it away. It’s also known as a crane fly. So you’re safe!
    I wanted a pet tarantula. But got bitten by a spider last week and so have changed my mind. Not a dangerous bite but a bit worse than a mozzy bite.

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  20. I don’t know what to comment. 😀 I got too distracted with reading through your comments. My brain is all over the map now. 😂 That’s not a daddy long leg. 😮 That is a leather jacket (crane fly). We always called then leather jackets at school. I’m okay with spiders as long as they aren’t coming down from the ceiling at me, especially when I wake up to one. Then I take my pillow and bat that thing across the room. Next I think, oh maybe I could have handled that differently. Now that spider is still free to roam and may still make its attack. 😀 Okay, the brain is working. I thought of something to comment.

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  21. You know from my book that I started a list with fearful things I wanted to conquer… and spiders were on my list. You know the story when I held the tarantula. I still don’t like them but holding that tarantula was not scary at all. I don’t know why. It actually gave me the message that I don’t need to be afraid. But as I said, I still call my boys or husband to remove the spiders from a certain size on… and I insist that they catch it…

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