Not for arachnophobes.

[Jayneflakes]

Awwwww, what a wonderful story. Thanks for sharing. So this tarantula...?
Hugs,
Jayne
XXXXX

Grunty's story reminds me of a similar situation I was in but with a jaguar.

Is it just me, or are there loads more garden spiders than normal this year - masses of huge b*ggers this year. Lovely things but I keep seeing shield bugs in their webs which is a shame.

we lost a fully grown pet tarantula in the house for 2 months before we found it on the stairs one night

[gruntygiggles]

Originally Posted by tanis34

we lost a fully grown pet tarantula in the house for 2 months before we found it on the stairs one night

Haha, my snake disappeared last October, just before Halloween and then, 6 months later at 11.30 on a Thursday evening my neighbour knocked on the door with my snake in her pillowcase!

http://forums.sv650.org/showthread.php?t=129011

Originally Posted by rpwoodman

Is it just me, or are there loads more garden spiders than normal this year - masses of huge b*ggers this year. Lovely things but I keep seeing shield bugs in their webs which is a shame.

I think you're right especially about the shield bugs, they're beautiful insects. I was stood at a bus stop the other day and one flew onto my leg, very pretty green and brown colouring.

[gruntygiggles]

I like Mint Leaf Beetles. One of my fav bugs because the colour is literally all over. They are incredible when you look at them up close!

[gruntygiggles]

I love that you can see the clear silhouette of the cameraman!

Originally Posted by missyorkie_chris

I think you're right especially about the shield bugs, they're beautiful insects. I was stood at a bus stop the other day and one flew onto my leg, very pretty green and brown colouring.

Just outside my house there are a lot of those bushes with white berries on them - shield bugs seem to love them.
I took my 2 year old nephew out a few weeks ago and one landed on my arm. His parents aren't really into nature and bugs and things so he hadn't seen such things before but I put it on his arm and his face and he thought it was great crawling all over him. Hopefully he'll start to get into such things.

Originally Posted by gruntygiggles

I like Mint Leaf Beetles. One of my fav bugs because the colour is literally all over. They are incredible when you look at them up close!

Didn't know the name of those before now - they are super tho - I saw one for the first time earlier in the year. Can see why you like them.

[gruntygiggles]

Originally Posted by rpwoodman

Didn't know the name of those before now - they are super tho - I saw one for the first time earlier in the year. Can see why you like them.

They are just one of the many many creatures on this earth that make me feel completely insignificant. Just look at it. Here we are, a few evolutionary notches up from some of the animals we share this planet with and we are, in my opinion, quite boring in a physical sense. The only unique thing about us is our brain and how we use it.

Creatures like the Mint Leaf Bug show how incredible colour can be in nature. People pay thousands to have cars painted like this and it doesn't come close to being as good. Others, like Crocodiles are incredible for the adaptations that have seen them become almost the perfect predator. Woodlice are always brushed aside, chucked out the window, but they were on earth before the dinosaurs were! Many people don't know that they are actually crustaceans and you only see them in dark moist areas or roaming around in the dark is because they need moisture to live. They get their oxygen by breathing through gills on their back legs.

Crazy, amazing world this is. Whilst I don't like some things to get too close, I am still fascinated by them. Well......not too keen on flies and slugs, but hey ho!