I think I've seen the light

This tarantula wrangling thing has certainly had some knock-on effects.

Last night, when home alone, there was a huge spider on the stairs. Huge. Really. Big even by non-fear-fuelled standards of bigness (ie biggest damn house spider I've seen over here in a long, long time - every bit as big as one that menaced feather_autant on our autumn trip to WA last year). #1 daughter was whining about having to pass it. Normally, I'd get a hold of The Man to deal with it on all our behalfs but, like I say, I was Home Alone.

So I grabbed a newspaper, big brave me, and went to deal with it. For lo, I have Wrangled a Tarantula and Survived - so how bad can a big, huge, everyday, common or garden house spider be? And yes, 'deal with it' means 'flatten the little bugger'.

Never again, I don't think.

I whacked at it and missed, and it bounced around some: by crikey, it could move! And then it ran head first into a corner of one of the steps. And stopped there. And I swear, it was just like it had its wee head buried in its arms and was thinking to iteself, 'I can't see it! I can't see that big scary thing with the flappy white and black thing that keeps swiping at me! I can't see it any more! So it must have gone away!'

It was probably still thinking that when I swiped it and flattened it.

But do you know what? I actually felt guilty. I'm still feeling guilty. I think I'll still be feeling guilty tomorrow. And I don't think I'll go that again. :-(