Eight-Legged and Eerie

Saltwater crocodiles, snakes, spiders, box jellyfish, sharks, blue-ring octopus, and centipedes all have two things in common: they live in Australia and can kill you.  I haven't even seen any of the creatures above except one, and they lurk around my tent at night: spiders.

I'm aware that many of them are harmless,  but they aren't the most cuddly looking animals either.  Some of the Huntsman spiders can grow to be larger than human hands.  True, they help keep mosquitoes and other pests away, but I still don't think I want to stare at 8 furry legs connected to a fat, black body lingering above my bed.

One of my friends lives out in The Jungle, and recently gained a new roommate: a Huntsman.  She was laying in bed and could see the spider in between her tent and its top waterproof layer.  I'm not envious of her in the least.

I laughed at my friend until I went into my tent one night to go to bed.  I went to zip the front of my tent and a spider moved from between my tent and one of the tent poles.  I shrieked like a girl, grabbed my flip flop, and turned the spider into a stain.

I felt relieved that it was dead, until I shined my cell phone light along the inner wall of the tent.  I ended up seeing two more spiders inside my tent, neither of which I successfully killed.  I only ended up knocking them off the tent wall, probably sending them right into my bed, under my covers.

I think in time I will get used to seeing spiders more often.  I typically am not afraid of them unless they surprise me, or are just massive.  That being said, I dislike that they are so small and can do so much damage if you tangle with the wrong one.  If I were to die from a deadly creature in Australia, I'd rather have it be from a shark or crocodile at least.