Near her house in the San Francisco Bay region, Laura M. frequently goes for runs and is accustomed to encountering a variety of animals. Although she appreciates all animals, large and little, she is clearly uncomfortable with spiders, especially tarantulas.
Laura was in a terrific rhythm on a recent run until an unanticipated and mildly threatening person came into view.
When a giant spider surprised me as I was running down a curved part of path, I said to myself, “Well, at least it wasn’t a tarantula,” The Dodo was informed by Laura, who asked that her last name not be published. “Less than two minutes later, I rounded a corner and immediately spotted the tarantula leisurely gliding over the track, about 15 feet ahead.
I immediately froze, stopped my watch and stared at it for a few seconds, rethinking all my life’s choices. The tarantula had also stopped moving and was watching me in return.”
As Laura stood frozen on the trail, engaged in a staredown with a tarantula, she decided her only option was to take a photo so that everyone would know how big and scary he was when she hopefully lived to tell the tale.
Eventually, the tarantula decided he’d had enough and moved along, and Laura ran as far away as possible. Later, she worked up the courage to check out the photos she’d gotten, and was a little bummed when she saw the results.
“I was a bit disappointed that he looked very small in the photo compared to real life, but iPhone’s zoom feature isn’t all that spectacular and I was not willing to get closer for a better shot,” Laura said. “I saw it with my eyeballs, that was enough.”
In the end, Laura thought it was sort of hilarious how little and harmless the tarantula appeared in the photographs. One that she shared online and distributed around her friends and family received a variety of responses.
“My relatives and friends advised me to return to the Midwest, where there are no tarantulas, and the nice people of the internet could scarcely see the tarantula in the photo I shared, which was equal parts amusing and invalidating,” Laura said. “My husband congratulated me for my bravery.
The tarantula is difficult to see in Laura’s images, but he is undoubtedly present. He is probably perplexed as to why a stranger stopped to snap a picture of him going about his job. Later, they both had a fascinating tale to share with their friends.
Laura doesn’t feel the need to seek for the tarantula again, even though she would have loved to take better pictures. She is aware of his size, and that is all that counts.
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