Chilean Rose Tarantula

This is the spider I found when I went to bed last night.

Just kidding.

However, I DID see a spider of this species yesterday evening. Domestic, gentle, and all together, very friendly.

I've always claimed to like all the creatures of the earth (with the exception of humans in general). This is true, but I confess that I suffer from arachniphibia. It's mild, and not as bad as it used to be. And even though I'm a little afraid of eight legged critters, I've not killed one in the last 8 years. I always try to catch them in a cup and set them outside.

But I never touch them. So when ~Corvat and ~crny-jen called me last night to come over and meet Charolette the Chilean rose tarantula (whom was visiting their home for the night), I was excited, but not entirly prepared to hold her. They held her first, and so I did as well. I was afraid she would tickle me (I'm very ticklish) and would hurt her in my alarm, but she was very steady with ' paws' that were hardly prickly.

She was so sweet, and dare I saw it, ADORABLE!! Charolette would travel slowly and evenly across your hands, sometimes pulling forward with the help of her feelers. She was afraid of breath or anything gusty, and cringed at sudden actions (pulling her front legs over her face--also cute). We would set her down on the counter, and if you put your hand down elsewhere, she tended to walk towards you so that she could be handled again (and became upset when she had to go back in her tank).

Charolette was not defanged, and you could actually see them below her fealers. But she was entirly docile, and even if she did bite, I do not believe it would be too harmful (or so I've read). Charolette is very well mannered!

I've learned a lot in the last 24 hours. A few fun facts are always interesting, but the most important lesson was the true nature of these creatures. One way to get me very cross is to put down a creature for a reason it doesn't deserve (usually about all bats being blood-sucking terrors). Because of Charolette, I intend to become cross with people who choose to call them disusting, ill-tempered, and nothing-but-dangerous.

So yesterday was like an Aracnid Religious experiance! I was able to 'invite something good into my life,' haha, really really!! So the next time you see a domestic tarantula, try to overcome the cringe! They are not as bad as you think, and are in fact, entirly lovely! Thanks to Charolette, I now can further appreciate the beauty of tarantulas, both physically and personally.

Finally, about the drawing itself: I wanted to do a background, so I chose a shadow (which I now regret--I put the body of the shaodw under the tarantula, I wish I had put it towards the back, assuming a light was shining in the critter's front). It didn't take horrifically long, probably under two hours. I used photographs for reference, and Miss Charolette as my muse! Done in a nothing-special ballpoint pen.