The giant terror!

The Giant Crab Spider!!!!!!!

My back porch has been overrun by these tiny critters. They come in the dark and stay all night. When the morning sun begins to rise, they make their way back into the tiny crevices found on the wood paneling that outline the walls of my porch. It's crazy how something so big can squeeze and squish itself into a tiny hole, yet be okay with that lol. Just like they sometimes get into the house through the window screen. Always, I find one hovering over Mojo Risen's cricket keeper (I got a gecko). That's always a startle. And I'm not easily startled.

As a child, I loved keeping pet spiders in various terrariums I constructed out of refuse bottles and jars. I even had a pet black widow that I kept for quite sometime and would let out to crawl on my arm. I didn't know any better, being six. Quickly, my mother's room mate found my pet and scolded me and taught me a lesson. A lesson that scarred me for life and made me absolutely, indecently, scared of spiders. You're thinking he spanked me, or something kind of creepy...which is... kind of. 

He made me watch the old school "arachnophobia" movie over and over and over. He pointed out over, over, and over again the creepy moments, such as when the old man died after he got bit on the toe when he put his shoes. Or the part when the spider fell onto the girl while showering. Or the part, especially the part, in the end....when the taranchula "sought out" the hero and they battled in the wine cellar. And in the end, I lost my love for my tiny critter neighbors and learned to be scared of them. 

Years later, I've dealt with neighbors and friends getting bit by brown recluses and having to have the tissue removed (at the bite sight) from their arms, legs, or hands. Which made me more uncomfortable around all spiders. When I started working at Tucker Wildlife Sanctuary (Silverado, CA), I soon had to face my petty fear of spiders as I started caring for their animal ambassadors. One of the ambassadors was a California Blonde Taranchula. 

It wasn't love at first sight. Feeding him the first time, meant I had to open his terrarium and drop in some crickets. At the time, we were also having to take out old cotton balls from his home and place new cotton balls soaked in water (so he can drink). This meant putting my hand into the cage. But I quickly realized, hey if you do not feed him or give him water, this little dude is not going to live. And with that responsibility at hand, I slowly grew more comfortable being around taranchulas and sharing cool facts to visitors. 

Several months later, while one of my co-workers had him out, he fell after being scared by some kids. I was shocked to learn that he had imploded. Yes, imploded. See....terrestrial (meaning they live on the ground, that is their home, they don't often climb up trees and high places) taranchulas are most vulnerable from above. This is where it is easy for predators to pluck them up and eat them. So...over time, their body structure changed and their heart is now located close to their belly, where it is safe from predators. The only   downside being, that if they fall from any height above a couple inches, they do sometimes die from implosion. But in their natural environment, this is not a great danger to them. Also, they have a , highly fragile exoskeleton. All insects have exoskeletons, which means, unlike us where are skeletons are inside our bodies, wrapped by muscles, body tissues, and skin...their skeleton is their skin, and inside is all the soft squishy parts. So my little guy didn't have a chance to survive the fall. 

Several months later, a pal gave us a baby taranchula that we raised and while doing so, I grew to absolutely love tarachulas. They're smart, interesting, and fun to observe out in nature. Many tarachulas can not hurt you, unless you ask for it. Many have encirculating hairs that can shoot out at predators when they are scared. It's the only way they can defend themselves. And endless you're hurting it, it won't hurt you. 

So back to the terrors overrunning my porch hahaha! I think they are great, I just wish I could go out there too and not have them jump out at me. Yeah you can say it's just a little spider, but these guys are aggressive! Last summer, we sprayed pesticides in the areas we knew that they were staying during the day. Most the of time, the pesticide designed to kill spiders, didn't kill these guys. This summer, the first time I saw one, he was hanging out on pillar and a giant bat swooped down and gobbled him up. So, being that I do love the creatures that inhabit the area around my home, I decided to throw away the pesticides and co-exist with my unwanted guest. 

P.S. Using pesticides, even if it is just for a spider damages the local ecosystem. See, it can get onto the spider and be carried to the bats that eat them and kill the bats. Thousands of bats die each year from poor use of pesticides. It also kills other creatures like praying mantisis, and can make birds sick too. All these guys hang out in my garden. In fact, a mountain lion in the Santa Ana Mountains had died just from pesticides and fertilizers. We spray the plants, herbivores eat the plants, and it's carried up the food chain. It's astonishing that there was so much usage within a habitat that it actually killed a full grown mountain lion. And knowing that makes me not to take this practice home with me in Sedona, AZ. 

So I am learning a little about these guys. Since they are here. Gotta see them every night, find them in my house. You'll like to know your enemies! whahaha!

So some cool facts I have found and learned about the Giant Crab Spider (Olios giganteus):

*They are nocturnal and hunt at night. Yes hunt. They do not spin webs but hunt for their prey. 

*They stalk their prey which is awesome to watch. I'll try to capture it on camera.

*Common to the desert environs of Arizona

*Medium to light brown. Legs often extend parallel to it's body. 

*Can move rapidly, running sideways, which originates the common name "Giant Crab Spider".

*You can easily distinguish the crab spider from a wolf spider. Even though crab spiders are huge, they can easily climb and run against walls and ceilings, whereas the wolf spider can not climb. 

*The Crab Spider belongs to a group of spiders associated within tropical regions. 

*Are most often seen during spring to autumn. When the seasons become colder, the Crab Spider enters a torpid state, in which it remains inactive. 

*It takes several molts for a crab spider to grow into it's large, mature stature. 

*Lives only a couple of years, usually one. 

*They are more common to find on walls and ceilings where it is easy for them to find prey.

*Being such a huge spider, it's hard to imagine how these fat asses get into your house. They often travel through air ducts to get inside.

* Said to be one of the largest spiders in the state of Arizona.

* They are non-poisonous to humans but have a painful bite.

So this year, I'm hoping to capture a video of these guys hunting, if I can. They usually know I'm there, hence the jumping. Also, I hope to get some pictures of their egg sacs. Last year, we had several females leave a couple sacs on the porch and I got to watch them hatch. We usually see more and larger ones during monsoon season