Subject: Spider doesn’t look native to BC
Location: Cortes island, British Columbia, CAN
March 25, 2016 9:23 pm
Hello!
Found a spider that I think may be far from home. Can’t tell if it’s hairy exactly; it looks more armoured but could have hair. If plopped in my hand it would likely rim the inside of my palm – fairly large. And it’s spots seem distinctive although I cannot seem to find what it really is… Any ideas?
Signature: TLC
Dear TLC,
We do not recognize your spider and we agree that its distinctive spots should make it easy to identify. Its markings are unlike any North American Spider we have seen. We wish your images were of higher quality, and that they illustrated the details of the spider better. Your description of the size is further indication that this is NOT a native species for your area, and it looks suspiciously like this plastic spider on the Collectible Wildlife Gifts website. We suspect that you are either the victim or the perpetrator of a hoax.
Lol!! Thank you for your honesty – and I too suspected a possible hoax. I have done much travel through south/ Central America and have seen a great many spiders yet this one was a puzzle indeed. I would inspected it further but I had nothing with me to detain it and I feared if it was real that me prodding would simply send it into hiding; and so I took photos in the half light of the yurt and the following day collected a friend and some tools for the trade.
I thought I would write back to both thank you, and to let you know after a very funny story, some mental gymnastics and compassion for a creature far from home, we discovered it was indeed a spider from China… Made in China that is. And it was the source of great laughter and much merriment.
My iPhoto did not seem to capture even a glimpse of the rasta colouring on top of him. So he has now been lovingly collected into a well holed coconut oil jar complete with sticks, wood shavings and the likes, and called Bob Marley and will forever live in the communal cob kitchen.
Be well. Warmly, TLC