Rain Spiders and Jerusalem Crickets, and Beetles, OH MY!

    T-top of the morning to ya!

 

    I am currently scratching myself nervously due to the creepy crawlies... Guys, all of the insects in King Kong are REAL!! They must've done a casting call in Nelspruit, Mpumalanga because alllll of those bugs are living it up in a golf estate and giving a particular welcome to the Whitlocks.

   Recently, to my utter dismay, I heard someone say that if all of the bugs in the world were exterminated, human life would not exist in 50 years... That is just a sad thought. The other sad thought is that the Afrikaners have made me reevaluate my murderous ways. Their rule is if you kill it, you eat it. Otherwise, rescue the bugs and put them back in their natural habitat.

   Problem is, they seem to be naturally inclined to trespass upon the Whitlock premises.

   I didn't blog about the rain spider; but that was a frightening experience. I can handle reptiles and amphibians... Lions and rhinos. Etc. But anything with more than four legs is on my hit-list. I discovered the existence of the rain spider (or the Huntsman spider) when I was using our little powder room a few weeks ago. I was going to wash my hands when I saw eight eyes shift and stare at me. I SCREAMED and sprinted out of that bathroom.

  My brothers wouldn't even get it when they got one look. Dad was out of town. So... We called our superhero and the REAL Spiderman - Shaun Adams - to come up and rescue us. He got a real kick out of "The Americans" and taught Gab (the only brave soul) how to catch spiders. He said you can actually handle these disgusting, 8-legged, hairy man-hand sized creeps.

   I would've taken a photo but I ran out too quickly.

   Today, however, was when it dawned on me just what jurassic creatures we have in our midst. We got home from dinner and saw what was the equivalent to an elephant hiding behind a pillar: a Jerusalem cricket trying to crawl under our front door to hide from us. I don't know why HE was scared.
 
   The one we caught is much much uglier than the photos online. It serves him no justice. He looks like his mother was a half cricket and half ant and his father was a scorpion. HUGE. And my favourite part of the description in our insect guide was the fact that they have a terrible bite. Yes, folks. He's huge, can jump, has the face of a Goliath-an ant, and can BITE. I didn't take a photo of him because I am afraid my faithful iPhone is too small to capture the size of that thing. He is now in a jar and showing himself aggressive to anyone who tips it to get a look.

  So, the moral of my story is: King Kong is realistic. Forget dinosaur days. They all just migrated to Africa and the Middle East.



"Well... That's all I have to say about that."