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  • Day 24 - Spider Mystery Solved

    January 2, 2022 in Thailand ⋅ ☁️ 26 °C

    It was a Huntsman Spider!!

    Appearance
    If big spiders aren’t your cup of tea, we’re sorry to say that the Huntsman Spider is one of the largest in the world, growing as large as 30 cm!
    In Thailand they’re often as large as a grown man’s hand. With long, strong legs, and a fuzzy body, these spiders are a mottled brown and tan color, making them difficult to spot against a forest floor.

    Habitat
    The Huntsman Spider’s natural camouflage serves it well in the woodland and forest areas that it calls home. Unfortunately, they also are curious enough to venture into houses and dwellings in rural areas, most likely because they do not spin webs, but hunt for insects and small invertebrates.

    Bite
    Fortunately, these spiders are shy and often scared of humans. Huntsman aren’t known to aggressively bite humans, but if you do get bitten, you’re likely in for a little discomfort and swelling that will subside in a day or two.

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    At 6.30am I stumbled out of bed to the bathroom & was confronted by the spider for a 2nd time. It was on the wall next to the mirror. I edged back out & grabbed Jackie’s phone. The spider had hidden itself behind all of Jackie’s clutter beside the wash basin. I couldn’t turn her flash on, probably because my hands were a bit sweaty, so I had to resort to taking a long shot in the dark with a disappointing result. The spider is definitely living in the big gap behind the cabinet in the bathroom.

    Back in bed I got back to googling & was able to identify this spider, which was probably the same as the 1st one, as a Huntsman Spider. In my defence, it would appear that Huntsman Spiders are regularly mistaken for Tarantulas. It didn’t make Jackie any happier when I read out the description above & I know I will have to conduct a thorough search from now on before Jackie enters the bathroom.

    We were treated to a ‘glamour’ shoot on the beach at breakfast. The girl had absolutely no shame or embarrassment as she stripped off down to her bikini & pranced & posed in front of us bemused hotel guests trying to eat our breakfast!

    We were also amused by the peculiar sight of a girl sat on her balcony wearing a mask & snorkel whilst reading.

    We sat in deckchairs on the beach all day with just a few beers & went out for dinner starving. We went to the Bombay Indian Restaurant and started ordering. When I got to the rice & asked if we could easily get a 2nd rice if we needed it, the waiter replied “I think you’ve ordered enough sir”. That is when you know you’ve ordered too much!!

    Our dinner consisted of popadoms with salad & mint sauce, 10 onion bhajis, a chicken tikka masala, a chicken jalfrezi, 2 naan beads & just the one steamed rice. We ate it all except 4 onion bhajis that were bagged up for us to take home for lunch. It was delicious, but we were too stuffed to do anything else after but waddle home.

    During the day & evening, I sneaked into the bathroom with my camera primed, but unfortunately there were no further sightings of our Huntsman.

    Song of the Day: Tiptoe Spider by Ray Bonneville.
    Jumpin’ Jack Flash by The Rolling Stones.
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