littlewoodenmanRocky The Spider Posted 2007.09.28 by Matthew with 12 comments
Did you know that some spiders can amputate their own legs at will? And then grow them back? I don’t know why no one ever taught us this in school, because it’s freaky. We found this out the other day, thanks to our little friend Rocky.
Rocky is a spider we noticed a few weeks ago hiding out between the wall and our bathroom sink. He was missing 3 legs on his left side so Angel felt sorry for him and decided not to kill him. She named him, in fact.
And then a few days ago I was washing my hands and noticed he had 3 brand new spindly little legs! I did some Googling and it turns out that spiders do have regenerative powers. Rocky’s since moved on and we wish him well. Although now that he’s a fully able spider again, all bets are off. Angel’s ready with the bug spray, dude.
Aaron Ortiz 2007.09.28
Hahaha, poor innocent arachnid!
Susan 2007.09.28
Okay DUDE!!! We NEED to talk about these spider photos. It’s hard to get off the page when my eyes are squeezed shut and I’m banging on the keyboard wildly, blind because I refuse to open my eyes, and cursing your name!
Kris 2007.09.28
You need to get another photo with something else to give it a little size perspective.
Teri 2007.09.28
Good thing that I didn’t see anything like that when we were there - I wouldn’t have needed a plane to get home and the trip would have been over very quickly!!!!!
Matthew 2007.09.28
Not to scare anyone, but there are spiders out there bigger than Rocky. Harrier, too. Rocky is just a little more than an inch wide. There are spiders in Canada that big, aren’t there? Anyway, Rocky is nowhere near as large as the hairy monster I stepped on in bare feet our first night in Juticalpa. :-S
Tom 2007.09.29
That will keep the visitors away!!
Aaron 2007.10.06
EWWWW, did you feel it crunch?
Trish 2007.10.22
Oh, that was educational! I can’t believe I’ve never learned that before. Thanks for the info!
maribeth 2007.11.11
was it a different spider?
Angel 2007.11.12
Yes, my darling Maribeth, the spider Matthew stepped on our first night here was another spider. Although a few weeks ago I found a much, much larger spider setting up camp above the closets in our bedroom - a little too close for comfort. Being the wimp that I am, and being too short to reach, I had to ask Matthew to kill it. I’m pretty sure it was NOT Rocky, seemed like a wolf spider instead. That’s right folks, there is such a thing as wolf spiders, they’re so fierce they don’t need webs, they actively hunt their prey instead!
Also, not long after Matthew took the above photo, Rocky left us a present of a molted skin, I guess growing back a few legs can be considered a growth spirt!
maribeth 2007.11.29
Didn’t mean to post my email for all to see (damn auto-fill). Spiders sound more dangerous down there. No bare feet for me!
Matthew 2007.11.30
Maribeth, it’s a little late now, but I fixed that for ya.