Stella!!

So I have a friend who enjoys many unusual passtimes. Most recently my friend got a hankering for a tarantula. When he actually got one, I decided I ought to do some reading up on them. In my reading I discovered that those are quite interesting creatures! He got a female Chaco Golden Knee. Those are actually a fairly new species. Imported from Paraguay, it first came to the United States in 1998 and they didn't name the species until 2001. He has named his Stella.

Apparently, there are two general families of tarantulas: Old World and New World. The Old World are those from Asia and Africa and are generally more aggressive and quick to bite. Also, they tend to be more venomous. The New World tarantulas (from South America and stuff) are generally more docile. If they decide they feel threatened, their first line of defense (if unable to simply retreat) is to flick a hair at whatever is harassing it, after that it'll rear up it's front legs and try to look scary. Only if those behaviors are unsuccessful will it bite. And they aren't generally so venomous (bee sting, mosquito bite sort of irritation). Though, in Cambodia they find a whole other use for them.

Also, different species are different levels of docile. The most common pet tarantula is the Chilean Rose-Haired tarantula. Only slightly less docile is this Chaco Golden Knee. So, when my friend offered to let me hold the tarantula, I nervously agreed. Hehe. Happily, we all survived the whole process. However, I think I may wait a little while before holding it again.

Behold:
See, we're plenty good while she is still in her container. She just sat there too. Probably more afraid than I was.

But then I held her in my hand. She was having none of that yucky human flesh touching her. She was all about getting off. I think we were both pretty scared of each other. See the fear! EEEee!