Postcards from Thailand #8: My Acti-Incy-Wincy Report Card: 6th April 2023

Yes, it's a spider. A bloody great scary bugger that dropped from a tree right by my feet as I was using a very long pole to clear the huge cobwebs that were hanging up there!

The MiL had been complaining to the wife for weeks about the webs, telling her about how the spiders are so dangerous and so the task was passed to yours truly to destroy their homes and banish them from the garden. When I hesitantly and finally agreed it was safe in the ignorance of not knowing how big these monsters were. No one had actually mentioned their size, and I'd never thought to ask!

Look closely and you'll see the huge webs that are strung between the trees. In my opinion, they weren't doing anyone any harm but the 'peaceful, no killing' Buddhists in the family had decided
otherwise!

As I swished my long, bamboo stick in the air, the silky web wrapped around it and out of the corner of my eye, I saw something about the size of a small mango, fall, or jump to the ground.

"What was that?" said I, to no one.

When I looked around, to all the onlookers who had been shouting 'advice' all I could see were clouds of dust and the rear view of three grown adults disappearing off into the sunset at high speed.

I turned back to the landing site, and there on the ground, looking back at me was this fella...or most likely girl, as on planet Arachnid it seems the girls are usually bigger than the boys.

She was really beautiful and didn't really look all that scary. OK, I wasn't going to pick her up and stroke her but I pulled my phone out for a picture without panic. Just in time too as I caught sight of a now advancing MiL carrying a huge lump of wood and with a murderous look on her face! I quickly gave the spider a tap on the arse with my shoes and she scurried back to the tree.

So what species of spider was it, Nathen?

I thought you were never going to ask! Well I posted the photo onto the Thai Biodiversity FB page which is run by a local university as part of a program to map the distribution of all creatures great and small in Thailand and within minutes, the answer came back.

Trichonephila antipodiana (Araneidae)

Basically a Golden Orb or Banana Spider and quite common throughout the tropics. Not dangerous either, non aggressive and only extremely mildly venomous and not at all harmful to humans.

Read all about it here

It always surprises me how little locals know about their flora and fauna and so at lunch and with great glee, I explained how important these spiders were to humans and the ecosystem and how they weren't dangerous at all.

The wife's eyes were glazing over as she slurped her Tom Yam Kung and the in-laws were oblivious, right up until the point Fon started translating my reasons for not murdering every living creature. MiL was even accepting that Mr Spider wasn't dangerous and could in fact, be beneficial to her beloved garden.

But,

Will she stop battering to death every living creature that dares to venture into the garden?

Nah....

...and she's still pissed with me that I let that spider escape!

Oh, and I got almost 10000 steps in, the way the others were running, they probably did more!

I hope everyone is having a great week :-)

@nathen007

This report was published via Actifit app (Android | iOS). Check out the original version here on actifit.io

Badminton, Daily Activity, Walking