Arachnophobes Need Not Apply

So heading out to the garage this morning, Austin brings to my attention this spider, which happened to be blocking the door we needed to get through in order to get into the garage. The spider was was pretty big and I thought maybe it was a small tarantula. We had tarantulas running around our property in So. CA, but even then I hadn't seen any except in October and November and they were much bigger.




Being adventuresome, I got a ruler and the spider obliged me by sitting still for me to get a good scale photograph.

Upon closer inspection, I learned that the spider wasn't really hairy.




It was just carrying a bunch of baby giant spiders on it's back.



So anyway, spider time was fun and all, but I had to get Austin over to the high school to buy his yearbook. I told the Austin and Amanda to step back just in case the spider bolted their way when I opened the door. Well as I opened the door, the giant creature instead went into the garage. Not good. I opened the big roll up garage door hoping it would head out into the far wilds and fresh air, but upon seeing the light the spider quickly retreated further into the garage. But I, still holding the ruler in my hand, decided to lightly flick the spider out the roll up door. Great idea. And it worked. Except as I flicked the spider, tens of the baby spiders fell off the spider's back and began scattering in all directions on my nice cool garage floor. Giant spider tried to run back into the garage. I quickly pressed the button to close the big garage door. The Mama spider was trapped outside while the baby spiders began to figure out where the Mama spider was and ran toward her. There was plenty of room between the garage door and the frame for the spiders to reunite, so I felt pretty good about that.

Meanwhile, we open the bay door to the garage stall I needed opened in order to get my van out. As we backed the van out and I started to close that garage roll up door. Austin then says that he saw that giant spider dart back into the garage. I left the garage door open all day hoping it would somehow, some way, miraculously run back out.

But I have feeling we will be over run with wolf spiders in our garage before the summer is over.