Arachniphobia

As was mentioned in the previous post about our camp-out, we did see a real tarantula. It was crawling in the road and Mary came running, calling for us to come and see, as we were setting up the tents. Sure enough it was a real live tarantula. We think it was a Eurypelma californicum. Natalie and Maddie thought it was pretty neat, as did the boys from a neighboring campsite. But there's something about boys and the need to destroy and squash, because all they wanted to do was throw rocks at it. This of course made the spider very mad and it rushed the girls (to the delight of the boys). Aimee was not too thrilled about seeing a giant spider so near to where she was going to sleep. We had to coax her out for this camping trip in the first place, so this wasn't helping convince her of the pros of camping. But she was brave and didn't get in the car to squish the spider. The park ranger said that there are wasps that prey on these tarantulas. They sting him until he's dead and then lay their eggs on it and when they hatch they have some food all ready to go. I'm more scared of those wasps to be honest.