Darcy, the interpid spider hunter

[meep]

A wee story I had to share.

Was in the bathroom brushing my teeth one night and noticed the sillouhette of Darcy quickly trotting past the door, down the hall. All the lights were off as we'd been watching a movie, so couldn't see properly. I followed him into the bedroom, curious, and noticed him (again in the dark) sniffing and lickig at the floor. "Awh, how cute!" I think, he must be licking up some rain water from my umbrella or something.

Turn on the light to see him holding in his mouth the BIGGEST darned spider I have SEEN (in Glasgow anyway). He dropped it and I saw it fully, it was one of those ones with a HUGE body and really big thick legs. Just big and black and angry looking. I did the typical girl thing and started screaming and jumped on the bed. He was purring loads, and all wide-eyed, with his whiskers out, obviously enjoying it. OH came through and he is equally afraid of large spiders, but managed to stamp it with a shoe. Didn't want Darcy eating it!

After it was disposed of we gave him LOTS of love and cuddles and a few treats. He was still purring loads and really happy with himself. I've never ever seen a big spider in any of my flats in Glasgow before but this new flat has a huge tree and a few bushes outside the living room window; so methinks that as it gets colder, all the big spiders living in the undergrowth will creep inside, and if Darcy is happy to hunt them, I'm more than happy to keep praising him when he does! I feel so much safer with a cat around when the prospect of giant spiders coming into the flat presents itself!

[angieh]

Oh meep - I "saw" all that too! I am with you on the spider screaming front and wish that Merlin had been a brave spider hunter like Darcy! He has never shown any interest in them at all. We do get some biggies down here when the weather starts turning chillier. There are a few members here that would probably sign up for a Rent Darcy Spider Hunting Service!

[meep]

:lol: I was surprised Darcy was so keen on hunting it, he had it in his mouth and pulled off a leg :? He seemed upset we'd taken it away from him but he kept dropping it and watching it run around for a while; and it was getting closer and closer to the open door of my wardrobe where I did not want it to be! But after he got some treats he was content again :)

Minsky was asleep under the kitchen table the whole time, didn't even come through to investigate the squealing. I just hope that whilst I'm out at work everyday he's busy keeping control of the spider population in our flat! I'm sure he wouldn't mind being rented out either he's such a friendly wee man!

[angieh]

Lord alone knows why I remember this little tidbit - spiders are meant to taste of a mixture of potato and lettuce! Don't ask me who on earth tasted one to find out!

Perhaps ask Darcy?

[meep]

Angie, what a wonderfully random tidbit of knowledge! The thought of even being near a spider makes me shudder, so tasting one :shock:

Considering Darcy has eaten sellotape, I wouldn't look to him as a model of fine dining.

[meep]

And I just realised I typed 'interpid' instead of 'intrepid' hunter! :roll: Silly typo.

[angieh]

There is a way of editing a thread heading meep - but I can't remember how! If you are really sad about it, you could PM Mags!?

[meep]

It just looks rather silly! Like the other one I did "A night in my boys" instead of "a night in with my boys" :roll: Very meticulous on spelling but awful with typos. I may well PM Mags, thanks Angie!

[dandysmom]

meep, as I recall you go to Edit and then pick Advanced...that will let you fix the typo in the title. Lord knows I do it frequently!

And yes, may I please rent the valiant spider hunter? I have a horror of the things!!

[meep]

Brilliant, thanks DM. Change made!

There's something about spiders that's just so repuslive, all the wiggling legs :shock:

[dandysmom]

I read once that spiders and snakes were the pets of aliens whose spacecraft crashed on Earth millennia ago; the aliens perished but the pets thrived; that's why so many of us have an instinctive loathing of them ...... they're not Earth's children ......

Silly theory, but it amused me, thought I'd pass it on..

[angieh]

Thought you might like this - I had to hunt on YouTube for the singer but I remember the song when it first came out!

http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=4lYdD9DdLNY

[The snake is over in Mags' thread about Paignton Zoo!)

[dandysmom]

OMG, Angie, that took me down Memory Lane...haven't thought of it in donkeys years!!

[calismum]

I'm with you all on the spider front, terrified of them. My first cat Shanti, used to catch them and for some reason always came trotting towards me - you know the way they do sweet little face and tail curled in a question mark - with eight legs dancing out of his mouth. He obviously thought it was a great game making me squeal. The longer the legs the higher the squeal and the faster I ran.

Eughh.

CM

[dandysmom]

Eughh indeed, CM! He obviously enjoyed it, but what a perfectly horrid game! I cringe at even the bitty ones, and the big hairy ones give me the horrors!

[angieh]

That's a great story calismum! You know how cats make a bee-line for people in the room that don't like them (Merlin always headed straight for my dad!) - I wonder if what you describe with Shanti had a similar basis. You squealing and waving your arms about made him think oh mum likes this, I've been a good boy - here you are mum!

Eughhhh - I'm with you both there!

(Glad you liked the video Eileen!)

[calismum]

Thank goodness none of my cats since have tried that.

I'm sure he thought it was a great game, but I couldn't have let him near me in case he dropped it near/on me.

Poor wee guy just trying to please me.

CM

[meep]

Awh CM it does sound like he was just trying to please you! When a cat has a great trust and love for their 'owner' they do bring them 'gifts'. My cat at home, Sophie, used to leave shrews on my bedroom windowsill (outside), bless! But I have to admit that the site of 8 hairy legs sticking out their mouth is not a pleasant site. Darcy managed to pull one of the legs off and seemed especially pleased with himself.

I've read that cats go up to people that don't like cats because naturally, cat to cat, if a cat stares another cat in the face it's being slightly aggresive and dominant, whereas if a cat looks away or not in the other cats eyes, it's a sign of friendliness and submission. I guess in the same way dogs greet each other by sniffing their behinds! But anyway, people who don't like cats tend to avoid looking at them or bending down to pet them so in cat language that's "i'm friendly!" So I've heard.

Will check out the link later on my lunch break ;)

And that theory of snakes and spiders is so funny DM! I actually read an article online last week where apparently some archaeologists have discovered an alien space craft that crashed in the dinosaurs time. They found the decomposed bodies of two aliens and also some small dinosaurs inside, as if they were taking them away to examine. So maybe that's where spiders and snakes originated from!

It is strange that we do have such an inherent fear of both of them. I have waking nightmares that I can 'see' a snake or spider on my bed or on the wall beside my bed. It's like my eyes are open, I can see the real room but I dream onto it a snake or spider, like a hallucination. But because I've been asleep I still have a dream-like state so I think it's very very real and only when I've screamed, jumped out of bed and turned on the light do I start to realise it wasn't real. I've kicked the cats off the bed doing that before :roll: But I only have those dreams about spiders and snakes; am I being visited by aliens?! :shock: :lol:

[angieh]

And that theory of snakes and spiders is so funny DM! I actually read an article online last week where apparently some archaeologists have discovered an alien space craft that crashed in the dinosaurs time. They found the decomposed bodies of two aliens and also some small dinosaurs inside, as if they were taking them away to examine. So maybe that's where spiders and snakes originated from!

That's probably the "God is an Astronaut" school of archaeology meep! ;)

I've also heard the theory about non-cat people not looking directly at them and therefore cats thinking they are in fact inviting friendship!

And I'm so sorry about you nightmare - do you have it often? I always think if there's a cat on your bed everything is OK in the world and it's quite safe to go to sleep.

[meep]

:lol: I was a bit sceptical of the article myself.

The nightmares aren't proper, 'waking in a sweat' nightmare. Just the same terror you experience when you see a large spider on your bed! I seem to get them in phases, so I'll go through a month of having them frequently then a few months of none at all. Only had one once since I got the cats, and having them on the bed really does help me get a good night's sleep :) Afterwards I always wonder "what on earth is my brain doing?" Its the fact I'm dreaming onto reality, and my eyes are open and I can see but I'm still asleep that is weird :?