Cozy Critters

Cozy may not be the most appropriate choice of words, but I enjoy some alliteration from time time. Yesterday afternoon I took my kids to Costco. Amongst the shrubs for sale, we found a large and lovely brown garden snail. His shell had been cracked and broken, but he was creeping along the outside of the pot. Having grown up in a very non-humid area, things like snails and fireflies are so fascinating. I decided, since I was getting one of the potted plants anyway, that we would give him a transported ride home and the kids could watch him for a day or so before he bites the dust. He's really cool. We've got him in a bowl with a rock, some dirt, a few leaves from my Phlox, Lilac and Lilies. We read they like those plants as well as raw potato and carrots. I've yet to see him eat a thing, but he does a lot of sliding around. I wanted to name him Slipper, but Sassy thinks Curly is a better choice. Curly? Whatever.

This next one is anything but cozy. Yikes! I've seen these around my house for several years. Never a lot of them. One or two here and there. I found a rather large one on the front of my house this morning and promptly sprayed the tar out of her with some spider spray until she was writhing on the ground and dying slowly. (did that sound like I enjoyed it? :::ahem:::) I've finally discovered, after typing 'black furry spider' into Google that it's called the Bold Jumping Spider. Bold it is. These spiders will watch you and turn there body to face you as you move around. They will also position themselves with their legs up in the air, seeming very aggressive and ready to jump. Freaks me right out! When she was dead enough to be less intimidating this morning, I poked her with a little stick and she grabbed right onto it with her pincers. Those stinkers are like the tips of regular size needles. I've read that they aren't poisonous, but that their bites are quite painful. This is a lovely photo I found on Google (as well as the one above of the snail).