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Jul 29, 2022Liked by Dan Masoliver

I want to know what the long legged one that keeps dangling beside my shower head is living on? There are no flies in there. I've washed it down the drainpipe 3 times and this not even slightly incy wincy keeps coming back.

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It’ll have decided that that’s a good spot to hunt its prey. And in the absence of any bugs, I’d have to assume that its prey is… you!

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Jul 29, 2022Liked by Dan Masoliver

Intellectually persuasive , emotionally…I’m far from adopting the cutie adjective!

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Yes it is possibly a bit of a stretch!

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Somehow, I find spiders in the garden quite charming. A spider in the bathroom at night feels very different.

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Very true. In the garden, I’m in their domain, so can’t really complain. When they come indoors though, uninvited, it’s just plain rude.

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A lifetime of being outdoors has made me realize I'm far more at ease in the wilderness than I ever am in city center...

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Interesting point! I grew up in a big city. I wonder, is arachnophobia a condition experienced only by urbanites?

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I think an innate revulsion to spiders, snakes, etc. is probably a legacy of our evolutionary past, when our progenitors were right to be cautious of potentially harmful critters. But why that hard-wiring rears its head differently in some people is the big mystery in my mind ;)

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Jul 29, 2022·edited Jul 29, 2022Liked by Dan Masoliver

In our neck of the woods, snakes scare me more than spiders do. They are not venomous, but it's quite startling to come across one while gardening or (true story) in the basement. Popular opinion is decidedly anti-snake, with neighborhood Facebook groups chanting "kill them!" which we would never do. And besides, they perform a valuable service controlling the mice that also like to visit. But they still freak me out.

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I absolutely love snakes. It’s easy to say that, obviously, living somewhere where I’m about as likely to stumble upon a humpback whale in my borders as I am a snake… Though I guess that any time we suddenly find ourselves face to face with an unexpected creature (or even inanimate object) it can come as an uncomfortable shock. Such a shame that popular opinion is anti-snake - like sharks (and I suppose spiders), they have a long long history of being misunderstood and much maligned

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I feel for you with your Oz trip. We have redbacks and hunstmens in our garden. We are careful as the redbacks can bite and you are in trouble then. But yes, I agree with you about gardens and spiders - it becomes a respectful relationship, doesn't it? And there's always that lovely view of cobwebs after frost or drizzle, when they're threaded with diamonds and pearls - it's quite awesome.

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I genuinely worry whether I could garden in Australia. The ever present possibility that you might suddenly stumble upon a redback or huntsman or worse is an unsettling feeling. You Aussies are hardy folk, for sure

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Good point! Pulling on a pair of gardening gloves is a bit like donning a suit of armour - a definite confidence booster

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