Spootnik

In the summer of 1998 Spoot stopped eating, indicating that she had either become a vegetarian (which is a dangerous choice for a tarantula) or was nearing the end of her spider life span. Not being an especially active creature, it was difficult to tell.

Spoot was buried in our backyard in late August 1998. We still miss her furry presence on the desk in the kitchen.

Spoot’s favorite piece of art was a lithograph by Odilon Redon called Araignée (Spider).

Spoot would have liked to visit Canyon de Chelly In Arizona to see Spider Rock, a monolith of rock 800 feet high. According to Navajo legends, Spider Rock was the home of Spider Woman (Old Mother Tarantula). These legends describe an enormous spider who would climb down from the rock to catch children and carry them back to the top to eat. Some Navajo parents told their children that the streaks of white quartz at the top of the monolith were the bones of the disobedient children who had been eaten by the spider.

Spoot’s favorite links to tarantula sites:

• Spoot was a Chilean Rose tarantulas. Tarantulas as Pets has many pictures of Chilean Rose tarantulas.

• The American Tarantula Society also has a picture of a tarantula that looks just like Spoot.

• The Tarantula Nebula doesn't look much like Spoot.

• The Milwaukee Public Museum has good advice about Keeping Tarantulas in Captivity.

• The Arachnology Home Page has an entire page of Tarantula Links. There is also a list of Spider Links for Kids.

• Bryan Beatty has created computer animations of Walking Spiders. (The “Chubby Spider” moves the most like Spoot.) He also explains how he modeled the spider’s gait.

Copyright © 1997-2003 Lucinda Surber. All Rights Reserved.