Happy news!

I am glad to report that I have not had to give away all my pets! I still have my spider! A Chilean Rose-haired Taranula to be exact. Her name is (was) Trixie. Funny story about the spider....

When I bought it I was hoping it was a female (the girl in the pet store didn't know), which would have been perfect, because female tarantulas can live 10 years in captivity (twice the life span of a male). I thought that I would take a chance and call it a female and just hope for the best. A friend of mine babysat her while I was working in Milk River. This friend happens to be doing his PhD on spiders and, as such, knows a lot about them. He took Trixie out of the cage and after looking at her for a total of 3.2 seconds, said "Oh, I have very sad news for you. Your spider is actually a male!"

So here I was, calling the spider a female for the past three years! I can only imagine how offended he was! I was very sad to find that out, becuase it means he will be reaching the end of his life in about one year (he was one year old when I got him). So he is now just The Spider, since Trixie is not a very tough manly name.

The Spider on my arm. So cool!

The Spider on my hand. Even cooler! But not as cool as when he sits on my shoulder!