Mission SOS

That would be Save Our Spiders...

Now, if you know the slightest bit about me, you probably know that I have arachnophobia.  Bad.  Real bad.  So why am I rescuing spiders?  Well, this is how the story goes...

Last year when we moved here and were still living in the Hamagawa Lodge (hotel) we discovered that Okinawa has big bugs, particularly big spiders.  Every day, to get to the car, pool, etc. we had to pass this bush that contained the web of a HUGE banana spider.  HUGE.  So in order for me to function, I had to make peace with this spider and I did so by naming it "Muffin" (get it - banana muffin).  Every day we'd pass the web and the kids and I would call out "Hello, Muffin!"  It made me feel only slightly better, but better nonetheless.  Apparantly, though, this made quite an impression on the kids who would comment about the well-being of Muffin throughout the past year.

About three weeks ago, a smaller version of Muffin (albeit still big) set up shop on our bushes, right outside of our front door.  Immediately christened Muffin Junior there was nothing I could do but let the thing stay.  I have to say, it's been pretty interesting watching the thing catch bugs, rebuild its web, etc.  And for a spider, banana spiders are pretty (can I really call a spider pretty?)  And the best thing about banana spiders is that they don't venture far from their webs.  Everytime I come in or out, there's Muffin Jr., which, in a way, is a good thing because at least I know where she is.  She's not crawling up my wall or hiding out in my shower drain.

But yesterday Muffin Junior crossed the line.  She laid two egg sacks.  And this morning Cannon came in from taking the recycling out and announced that my "worst nightmare" had come true.  The egg sacks hatched!!!  EWWWW!  Yes, thousands of itty, bitty baby spiders were now hanging out in my bushes.

OK, I was fascinated for a minute or two, but then I had to call in reinforcements, ie. Kelly, my savior neighbor.  After snapping a few photos, Kelly extracted the babies with the utmost care

and "relocated" them to the woods across the field. 

Of course those tricky little spiders quickly figured out what she was doing, so they would drop down into the bush only to reappear a few minutes later and quickly make another web. 

Those "dots" are tiny spiders!

So after two or three trips to the woods, and a nice trimming of part of my bushes, Mission SOS was completed.  Muffin Junior was left to live another day, but she better not try that stunt again!