CM Simpson: Writer & Gamer

This not-so-little lady was roaming around the house. She was low enough on the wall that I almost walked into her, but she wasn't aggressive and I caught her in the plastic container you see there, using a piece of thick cardboard to close the top. The trick is not to put your hand on the base of the container above the spider, where it will look like a predator about to strike. That causes the spider to panic. This one, we put outside to make her own way. She'll be around somewhere if one of the other spiders didn't eat her.

This not so little lady almost caused my son to leap out of his skin. He had called me out to photograph another spider, when I saw this large dark shadow on the fence about two metres behind him. It took me a little whle to realize this really was a huntsman, just the biggest, fattest huntsman I had seen in... oh, forever... Good thing they're not poisonous.

At least, I think it's a baby huntsman. I took this shot on November 24, 2013, while out near the back gate. The wire gives you some idea of the scale, but this little critter was around a centimetre total in diameter (including the legs). If it's a huntsman, it'll grow up to 20 cm across, including its legs. They are so cute, when they're little. Just cruising on the gate arch - hoping whatever built the web doesn't notice. And then someone shook the gate and he went nuts - this is the only half-decent shot of it in motion. It settled down again in a shadier part of the gate and sat still long enough for me to get this shot. Which is where I left it. Here's hoping it gets to grow up.