One of the largest spiders in the world decided to visit (scaredy-cat) me today. Look at this incredibly over-sized creature from the safety of your own homes!
I spent most of my day in the garden today which was a lovely change from the last month of sitting inside, hunched over my computer forgetting I had a life outside of these walls⌠I had forsaken the butterflies and the flowers and the growing spinach out there waiting for me! However in hindsight, those days were safe, those days were monster-spider-less.
As I was outside, breathing in the fresh air, minding my own business, strolling along happily without a care in the world, I walked into a web! I donât know about you but I FREAK out when that happens to me! I start convincing myself that something is crawling on me and then start jumping around, spazzing about until the imagined (or quite real) sensation goes away over time. Either way, it gives me the extreme heebie-jeebies.
Look at how camouflaged it is... just waiting for unsuspecting me to walk my nose right into it!
So now that I am frazzled, whipping around frantically trying to ensure my safety⌠I came face to face with something as big as my hand. Something I am not very fond of. Scratch that⌠something I am beyond myself with fear, terrified of.
I know itâs hard to tell because itâs a close up and honestly just to give you guys a better idea of the size⌠I allllmost put my hand near her but decided âscrew itâ. I donât care if you donât believe me, it is not worth the risk of that spider ending up on me!
Ummm...Do you see the size of this thing?
When I was younger, I responded with such intense fear to spiders that I had a doctor diagnose me with arachnophobia claiming that she believed it must have been deeply present in my DNA as in my ancestors must have been threatened by these 8 legged creatures to the point of it preserving itself in my genetic coding to avoid them!
I take those physiological warnings with ferocious seriousness and stay as far away from these guys as I can. If I were to show my friends and family back in Canada these pictures, they will never in their lives get on a plane, come all the way over here and stay in my house with me! It's the question everyone always asks- "What about the spiders there?"
"Yaaaaa... they're large."
You can imagine my excitement when I found her staring at me. Look at her pinchers! Oh my goodness the heart attack!
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Furry face doing it for anyone here?
Putting that all aside since I am inside now (let her remain outside, please!) what a magnificent creature.
At the time, I just wanted to get these photos and get out of there but now looking at them, this spider is truly a force of nature. Letâs take a look at what wiki has to say about her.
As far as I can tell if Iâve identified her correctly, (I did tons of research to make sure this wasn't an '8 Legged Freak' thing like the movie that tormented my youth) ... this is a giant wood spider (Nephila maculata).
The yellow spots under the legs are said to be the distinguishing feature.Wiki says they are found in Indonesia so, given that Bali is in Indonesia weâve got that part right. It also says that females grow large and up to a body size of 30-50 mm (20 cm) YEP, check and check! It also says that itâs the LARGEST orb-weaving spider in the world and one of the BIGGEST spiders in the worldâŚ
Ummmmm⌠AHHHHHHH! (Cue me running the heck out of here!)
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Wait, wait, wait.
Iâm just getting myself all hot and bothered for nothing. If I donât bother her, she wonât bother me. They are said to be docile and as much as I donât want to test it, apparently not lethal (though the bite is painful and could knock out my tiny pups!) I admit I am afraid but I am happy to let her do her own thing so long as she leaves me alone.
I hope I donât find her egg sacks in my garden because Iâm reading that eggs are buried in the ground. (Is it terrible that I donât want more of these monsterously sized spiders hanging around?)
I saw the male in the web as well, it is much, much smaller than itâs female counterpart (size of a finger nail including leg span in comparison with the female being bigger than my hand) however this was only after I went back another time when the sun was shining at a different angle.
I didnât bring the camera that time around but I can tell you that I was a little bit put off when I found not only the male mingling with the enormous female, but also another female that I didnât see behind the first. She was about ž of the size as the first, youâd still see her and think it was an enormous spider but in comparison to our friend here, sheâs a wimp- look at her!
I read here that the Japanese consider these spiders lucky to be seen during the day so I decided to take that and let it be my consolation and shake the fear off. I am actively working on calming myself and becoming one with nature instead of fearing it but just as I was beginning to relax after that increase in heart rate, I found that we have another female just beside my yoga deck, a short distance from my new garden bed.
Aye Yai Yai!
Well, letâs just post this over in nature and hope that someone there will love it and then Iâll be able to look at it as a gift because I can share it! :)
I hope I donât have nightmares. I am going to make sure to shut the door tonight. I hope the dogs will protect me! Yikes!
(Sorry no freaking way is there a selfie with this one, I hope you understand and will forgive me!)
Until then đXO,
