Botswana
Chad
Equatorial Guinea
Ethiopia
Gabon
Ghana
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Botswana |
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| This is one of my hairy friends that frequented my house. The house was built of corrugated tin sheets ("chapas") nailed onto wooden posts. Termites and ants had eaten the bottom of some of the posts (don’t ask what was holding up the house) leaving a hole in the ground where tarantulas made their own homes. "Aranas Peludas" (Hairy Spiders) as they are called, didn’t bite unless provoked. One evening I forgot to tuck in my mosquito net and awoke in the middle of the night to find one on my pillow. Fortunately, (although not for the spider), a machete could chop them to pieces within minutes. After the still squirming legs were swept outdoors, the ants would then come and carry them away. Photo by Christine Strater. |