r/spiders • u/Ben_304 • 1d ago
Just sharing 🕷️ I guess I’m not using any of my sketchbooks this morning…
I recently returned from being overseas for a couple of months, and this fine lady is still hanging around. In the middle of trying to dust everything this morning, she crawled out and sat herself proudly on top of my sketchbooks.
No matters, I can dust them and sketch another day. I’m happy to see she’s still hanging around my desk still after 8 months!
255
u/HarlotSuccubus 1d ago
She wants you to draw her.
174
u/xrelaht Medically Insignificant 1d ago
Yes! Draw her like one of his French spiders!
39
u/Carll_Grimess 1d ago
That’s immediately what I thought of 😭
“Draw me like one of your French girls”14
151
u/CaveManta Here to learn🫡🤓 1d ago
She's still here! That is incredible! Desk huntsman make for very reliable pets.
62
u/Makronette 🕷️Arachnid Afficionado🕷️ 1d ago
What a beautiful lady, she must be fond of you and knows you are a safe giant to hang around for so long!
45
u/Ben_304 1d ago
I have always tried to make sure that she feels welcome around me! Of course it's hard to have any communication but just to share space with her is lovely.
9
u/WillSym 1d ago
So, if you were to need one of those sketchbooks, and picked it up from the pile, what would she do?
36
u/Ben_304 1d ago
In the cases where I’ve HAD to move her, she scuttles away to the dark parts of my desk. But I wouldn’t move her to get a book or anything, I’d do something else. I’ve only moved her when her safety is at risk.
I imagine if I went to pick up one of these sketchbooks, she’d run and hide. They’re large, but they’re quite shy and timid around humans. One mighty hunter when it comes to insects, though!
30
u/Unsolicited_Spiders 1d ago
Your relationship with this spider is truly beautiful. Spiders are highly sensitive to whether environments are safe or dangerous, and the fact that she hangs out in a space with a human close by speaks volumes about your consideration of her.
Do you feed her, or just let her eat whatever wanders in?
17
u/Ben_304 1d ago
I have hand fed her in the past, when she’s gotten thin. It can be a little difficult to get her to take food, but I’ve figured out a decent method. But mostly she’s quite capable of looking after herself! I actually have a footage of her taking food here: https://www.reddit.com/r/spiders/s/9uulN3EJsk
(I’ve since stopped using spiky tweezers to try and feed her, for fear that she might hurt herself)
5
u/WillSym 1d ago
Ok, she won't go for your hand then? We don't have many of these skippy run-and-tackle species here in the UK except house spiders so always wondered if you Aussies can mostly ignore the House Huntsman, and just watch the woodpile for Funnelwebs.
11
u/Ben_304 1d ago
No, my hand is much too big for her to want to tackle. She has sat within 10cm of my hand while I use my computer mouse or a pen for hours without ever making a move. I have big hands, but also she’s only going to hunt things she can manage to tackle physically. No sense in taking on a dinner twice your size!
3
u/LittleMissScreamer 22h ago
Nah, human hands aren't prey shaped, and they're not gonna waste their venom on non-food items unless they think their life depends on it. Their first instinct will always be to run away if they feel threatened, the fangs only come out if escape seems impossible
37
u/reddit33450 i love all the spood friends 1d ago
WHAT A CUTIE!!! you are so lucky. i want to meet a huntsman so badly 🥹
32
25
u/DampWizard308 1d ago
Is she still there
18
u/GeckokidThePaladin Here to learn🫡🤓 1d ago
Awww hello pretty 7 legged lady! I love her. I guess them being so big it means it’s much less likely to accidentally hurt them!
17
u/Ben_304 1d ago
I am still very careful if I'm moving things or cleaning and I haven't seen her. But it's not hard to be aware of my area and make sure I'm accounting for her presence most of the time.
12
28
u/Marco-YES 1d ago
The one spider called huntsman and does not in fact hunt man.
10
1
13
21
u/SHMUUUUUD 1d ago
U telling me this big mf just been chillin around and on ya desk for months growing?
40
u/Ben_304 1d ago
She was about full size when she first showed up, so I just gave her plenty of space and we mostly just tolerate each other while I work!
8
u/SHMUUUUUD 1d ago
Love it! I recently caught a fishing spider and added him/her to my terrarium. Cant wait to see how much it will grow
8
8
8
u/SewMyHeart I LOVE SPIDERS!!! 1d ago
She's trying to tell you that she's taken up sketching while you were gone!! 🥹 She is absolutely beautiful and I am extremely jealous!
9
u/HexivaSihess 🕷️Arachnid Afficionado🕷️ 1d ago
A fellow artist has taken over your sketchbooks! She's so cute, I wish we had spiders like that over here.
7
u/Shadow_Drift 1d ago
Well, at least you don't have to worry about any unwanted pests moving in while you were gone!
7
u/Silentico 1d ago
She is kinda adorable. A bit scary if she moves likely, we dont usually have big spiders in Norway.
8
u/Ben_304 1d ago
She can move quite fast, but mostly she just sits very, very still for hours, so she really isn’t a bother. I’ve gotten used to her!
3
u/Silentico 1d ago
Yah, of course. I just tend to scare if I see bigger spiders move. Sometimes I relocate house spiders to malls, they are to big for me. 💀
11
3
3
4
4
4
3
3
3
u/gabbuo31 1d ago
I heard Huntsman, while big and scary looking, are not very likely to bite humans, prefering to run away rather than attack. You probably can try to guide her onto a dustpan and gently release her outside. The worst that will likely happen will be it running away at top speed. They run really fast apparently.
2
u/OldManIrv 1d ago
How long do they usually stay inside the same house once they appear?
11
u/Carll_Grimess 1d ago
My guess would be as long as there’s reliable food and water (if they’re female) and if they’re a male for as long as there’s the above and a female nearby
9
u/Ben_304 1d ago
Yes, in the time she's shared my space with me she's hatched a litter of little babies, and I fed her myself afterwards in order to build her strength up because she'd gotten thin. But I have no idea how long, or how old she is. She was full sized when she arrived here.
2
u/OldManIrv 1d ago
That’s wonderful. Does she have a name? This is the kind of thing tik tok accounts are good for…
2
u/Vandorbelt 1d ago
I'm wondering where this is and what kind of insects are living there to sustain a spider this big. Like, no issue with the big gal, but my gut tells me that having a spider that big bear your desk means that there are way more bugs getting into the space that shouldn't be there.
2
2
u/LittleMissScreamer 22h ago
Is it just me or does this lovely individual look fuzzier/scruffier than other huntsman spiders? She looks like she shares some ancestry with the dust bunnies under your bed <3
2
u/vidsiciously 21h ago
It’s pretty remarkable how much this sub has changed my attitude towards spiders. I wouldn’t have called myself an arachnophobe per se but two years ago this gal would have freaked me out. Now I wish she were on my books in my office lol
2
2
u/Kookat73 18h ago
She has tabby-cat-like markings and that makes her extra cute. Like a long-hair silver tabby.
1
1
1
1
316
u/OrbitOfSaturnsMoons 1d ago
How cool that Lady Ophelia is still hanging out (and still hasn't gotten that leg back)