To some, spiders are the most terrifying creatures but to the others, they see them as adorable and fascinating. Here’s one person who decided to share a gigantic spider that was freeloading in their home.
Meet Charlotte, and somehow, she became part of the family.
Australia is home to a huge number of animal species. They have it all; big, small, venomous, and non-venomous. One day, a stray, giant spider made its way into somebody’s home in Australia, and guess what? The spider decided to stay. Now, the resident, Annette Gray, has noticed her eight-legged houseguest. Annette and her son, Jake decided to name the spider Charlotte, probably inspired by the famous children’s book, Charlotte’s Web.
The spider was a type of huntsman spider.
Now, Jake recognized the species of spider Charlotte was, and it was called a Huntsman spider. These spiders are known to be quite large, with their legs spanning up to 12.7 centimeters. Additionally, they are venomous to the extent to paralyze their prey, but not enough to actually incapacitate a human being. They know for a fact that these spiders aren’t dangerous or aggressive to people, and so the family just let the spider live in their house.
The family did not expect the spider to stay for a long time.
The spider stayed at Annette’s home for a very long time. In fact, they were able to witness the spider’s growth!
“We’ve watched [Charlotte] grow over the last year or so,” Jake told The Dodo. “[She] never bothered us. She moves about the house, pops up room to room, eats all the bugs.”
Since then, they noticed that the spider grew 15 centimeters wide (about six inches).
Annette decided to share Charlotte on the internet.
Their spider houseguest has been living with them for a while, and now the spider’s practically family. Annette and Jake had shared about Charlotte with their friends and family, and so they decided to take it to the next level – sharing her with the whole world.
As the internet saw Charlotte’s photograph, a lot were horrified. Just imagine having a spider that big at your home. Some even joked about burning the house down to get rid of the spider. Although, Annette disagrees. They actually got used to Charlotte’s presence that they continued being a great host to her.
“I don’t kill them,” she wrote. “[Charlotte’s] harmless.”
Perhaps we should be like Annette.
There is really no need for us to kill spiders. In fact, they bring some benefits to the table. They can clear the room with pesky pests like mosquitos, or even cockroaches. Thus, they could get rid of the annoying pests that might even bring the family disease. It was just right for Annette to keep Charlotte with them, and perhaps even other spider visitors that they had before.
Spiders could be great as pets.
Despite the spiders’ threatening look and creepy legs, they make such good pets to others. Since Australia has a lot of spiders, why not make the best of the situation and adopt one as a pet? Although, keep in mind that keeping spiders is not an easy task, and there’s a lot to consider before getting one; for example, the correct breed, and how to maintain them.
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