Spiders

Today I saw my first spider! Spiders were my biggest (and deadliest) concern about Australia. The first thing I did when I arrived was check the apartment, and inspect my shoes and the toilet seat on a daily basis. I was obsessed with it!

Well, today I had my first encounter. It won't go down in history as my first "major" encounter, and I hope that day never comes. I was riding in Pat's (my flatmate) car, window shut, when i noticed the smallest creature on the outside. It resembled the shape of a spider, but in its 1mm blond glory, it could easily have been just a flea with legs! The microscopic nature of the subject, plus the fact that it was on the outside of a perfectly sealed window combined for what can only be described as a very encouraging first encounter!

You see, Australia is quite a unique location, when it comes to dangerous animal species. I come from Portugal, where there isn't a single poisoness animal, or any other type that might constitute any sort or threat to anyone bigger than a lepricon. The only threat over there is the treasure department (those motherfuckers can bite pretty hard!) Out here, you can come across sharks, box yellies, crocodiles, snakes, etc. It is true, bites of crocodiles, sharks and black mambas are to be avoided, but it is spiders I dread the most!

There are 4 or 5 species that constitute a threat, from which the bite is quite harmful, but to the extent that's often publicised. In recent history, the last recorded person to die from a spider bite was in 1980, from a Sydney Funnel-web. Of course, to me that amounts to nothing, as the first sight of their multiple legs will make me run faster than a Jamaican, or indeed a Portuguese tax payer.
Still, design wise, they're fascinating creatures...