Wolfgang. The Poolboy

[Little Miss Risk]

I've made a new friend, sort of. He's small, sort of shy (but kind of pervert) and has really hairy legs. He hangs out by my parents pool all day and watches me swim and occasionally is good enough to fish some gross bug out of the pool that's drowned and eat it for me. I'm talking about Wolfgang, the Huntsman Spider.

It didn't really start out as a good relationship. The first time we met, he was by the fountain and I was swimming, so my face was more or less eye level with him (in all his six inches of glory). I screamed because a) I'm not used to having spiders half a foot from my face and b) we made eye contact. Of course, I screamed and he did what any sensible person would do, and that's run and hide, and I can't say I blame him.

But he has proven to be a curious little bugger and very interested in my swimming habits and always comes and sits at dusk and watches me paddle in the pool. If it's been a windy day, or the Insect Suicide Hotline had a bad day and the pool is full of soggy bugs, I flick them in his direction and he disposes of them in his own way. Like any animal that gets used to you feeding it, he's come to associate my splashing with snacks and has thusly been keeping the pool free of the usual wasps, flies and lesser spiders. I daresay he even enjoys the Metric and Chromeo I splash around too and is quietly bobbing his head to the sweet techno grooves.

For anyone not au fait with what a Huntsman Spider looks like, check out this video on YouTube to see what I'm dealing with...

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pCO56iyBXtU]

So due to his clearing the pool of bug my mom has taken to calling him out Poolboy. And he works cheap too... I only hope he doesn't get too friendly and try to join me but after seeing the fate of nearly all other insects around who get the overwhelming desire to play Ophelia, he may have taken note. Or else at least started fashioning a very small rowboat.

G'Night.

Little Miss Risk