2nd Tarantula sighting

Ok, so I never told you about the first tarantula sighting. That is because I didn't have a picture. Well, the first one was about 3 weeks ago, it was on the steps of the guest house. We were having an Easter service that night at the guest house so there were several of us there. As we were getting ready to leave, there he was, in the middle of the first step so you had to go past him to get out. By Ecuadorian standards, he was not very big, maybe 4 inches in diameter. Several people wanted photos, so we (really them, because I was just watching from afar) were bothering him. So he moved, kept trying to walk away but they kept following him. He was walking on the railing (really a short concrete wall) that had shoes lined up on it. We thought for sure he would end up in someone's shoe, so one of the ladies decided to move the shoes. As she picked up the first shoe, he jumped onto the shoe then onto her hand, she screamed, jumped, and dropped the shoe. He fell over the railing onto the ground below and walked into the trees. It was quite scary for me to be that close to one that was moving. I only freaked out a little when I felt he was getting to close to me and I couldn't move because there were people all around me. I ended up pushing someone out of my way because I asked several times for them to move so I could get away and they wouldn't.

Well, last night I was on call and I got called in at 1 am. I was coming home from the hospital around 1:30 am and I saw this tarantula (in the photo) on the side of my house. He was even smaller than the first one, about 3 inches in diameter (that is a standard 16 inch cinder block), really just a baby. I came in the house and got my camera and was taking pictures at 1:30 am. I was afraid, since it was dark and I was making a bright flash, that I was going to scare him and he was going to jump on me, that is why the picture is kind of far away. I wasn't getting too close. Anyway, I got called in again at 3:30 am and he was still in the exact same position. When I went in again at 7 am, he was gone.

I always knew there were tarantulas around our houses, but now I have seen the proof. I had a couple holes in my screens that I have been meaning to patch (with duct tape of course) since I moved in. You can bet that I already patched them this morning.