Night Visitor in the Jungle

I stayed at a rural resort area in the jungle. There were bungalow cabins to sleep in. Each cabin had a cot type bed and an indoor bathroom. The windows were open without glass but were covered with screens.

I went into the bathroom in the dark. I sat on the toilet...shut the door...and turned on the light. Behind the door about two feet from me was a tarantula spider as big as my hand next to the door hinge. I had heard they are harmless to most humans unless provoked. My first response wasn’t to provoke the spider but to get out of the small bathroom as quick as possible. Now with my pants around my ankles I couldn’t run fast anyway.

I slowly got up and kept watching the spider. It looked like it could wrap itself around a baseball. I found two pieces of stiff cardboard and opened the screen door of the cabin to the outside. I scooped up the spider and flung it back out into the jungle. I closed the door and noticed the large gap between the door and floor. I didn’t sleep well the rest of the night.

End