Batch #2: Creepy Crawlies: Spiders, Scorpions & Toads

One night I was at my mom's when Lily saw a giant wolf spider on the ceiling. I wanted a picture of it, but pictures from the ground made it look so tiny. I stood on a chair but was afraid to get too close because I knew the slightest move and I'd fall off the chair. Luckily, my dad came home just in time to hold a ruler next to the spider. I was a little too close for comfort so the spider isn't centered on the ruler, but if it was, you can see it's nearly 3 inches across. Good thing Jason wasn't there because it has become evident that Jason would rather walk into a room and face a rattlesnake than a black widow spider. He definitely suffers from arachnophobia. Buying a home in scorpion territory wasn't something he wanted to do. But, the benefits were worth it and for his sake, I agreed to pay for an exterminator (something we've never done). Plus, Jason spent hours and hours with help from his friend Dan sealing the foundation of our house with caulking. The results have been fabulous. Prior to moving in, we were finding 1-3 live scorpions a day. In the month that we've lived here since the sealing and spraying, we've found a total of 2 live ones inside. Jason found one and another surprised me in the shower. Jason walks around the house with a black light, inside and out, every single night. His two favorite weapons are the scorpion grabber my mom got him as a house warming gift (ha!) and the plumbers torch our neighbor gave him. I tease him a lot, but I'd rather have someone overly paranoid than careless, especially with a baby on the way. Just a warning, if you come over to visit at night, there's a pretty good chance you'll be invited to go hunting. I wanted a picture of the scorpion in the black light, but settled for Clara. Here it is with our scorpion hunting gear.

And the toads. At our old house, we enjoyed giant Sonoran Desert toads each summer. They would hang out in our drive way, in our lawn and under the foundation in the dark corners of the exterior of our house. They eat bugs, lots of bugs, and we loved them. So much that we almost brought some over here. :) For some reason, this year they had a billion babies. I don't remember babies at all in years past, but this year, something must've been in the water. If you walked in the grass, it looked like crickets hopping everywhere, but really, it was these tiny baby toads. One night, I got a picture of one and you can see how tiny they are. See him under that blade of grass?

Oh toads, I miss you. You are way more cool than scorpions. Obviously, since scorpions aren't cool.