My skin is crawling. Everything itches. I can’t keep my eyes on the computer screen–they are busy scanning every inch of my body in a cyclical pattern, from the back of the arm to my knee pits.

As carefully as I checked each log before loading it into the box to come inside, I missed one. A big one. And it’s not the first time. A few weeks ago, I caught one crawling on the floor in the bathroom looking for a place to nest. Luckily, I had a CCW in hand and smashed her to smithereens with the health section.

It was a healthy move, for if my suspicions are correct, my newest roommate longs to kiss me with a venom I won’t soon forget.

It’s difficult to determine for certain, but I’m open to the fact that I may be living in the midst of the poisonous brown recluse spider. They are commonly marked with a violin-shaped black spot on their back, though other spider species contain similar markings as well. I think I saw a violin shape, but it all happened so fast…

I’m not a freak about spiders. I have set household spiders free many a time for less courageous roommates. But it’s a different story when a spider has the potential to kill me if I accidently sit on it.

I’m pretty sure I’m rid of her. After taking numerous photographs (only one of which actually turned out) while trying not to lose her or allow her to climb on me, I flushed her. I’m normally not a flusher, but to be honest, I panicked and didn’t know what else to do. However, knowing the audacity of these spiders, she’ll probably swim her way to safety and make her way into my wood pile again.

Tonight, the firewood stays on the porch.

This entry was posted on Monday, February 1st, 2010 at 11:48 pm and is filed under Local Adventures, Wildlife. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.