Houseguests

I am mildly arachnophobic. It's a condition that has improved considerably over my life; when I was in my teens I couldn't handle the itsiest, bitsiest spider within a 12-foot radius of my person. At this point, as long as its diameter is less than 3 or 4 mm it can hang out as long as it likes. Half a centimeter to two centimeters and it gets thrown outside like a drunk from a bar. Bigger than that and I call in reinforcements (aka Davis).

In Montreal, we don't get huge spiders, though I'm sure there must be some. The biggest we get is probably the size of a nickel, but it's those tall leggy ones (not harvestmen). In Vancouver, the long growing season tends to produce some nice-sized monsters... still midgets by Australian or tropical standards, I'm sure, but big enough to make Davis squawk when it darts out from behind the television.

My mother trapped this sucker last night. I'm very proud of her. We relocated it to the foot of the driveway; hopefully it doesn't have a strong sense of philopatry. Don't scroll down if you are severely arachnophobic - I have friends who would be strongly disturbed by the photo below.
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