Phil's Stories

SPIDER - VS - CAT

I lived in an apartment in Seattle in the early nineties. I had all kinds of “indigenous pets”. One of my favorites was my giant European house spider. This is a harmless and actually quite beneficial spider, common in this part of the country. They get relatively large, upwards of three inches, and feed off the other insects in the house. On several occasions I witnessed it stalking large crane flies or they’re also called mosquito hawks by running along the walls and ceiling and finally jumping through the air trying to catch the crane flies in mid flight. I actually don’t recall him ever succeeding but I'm sure he must at times or it wouldn’t do it.

One day I was watching a small spider walking across the carpet, no bigger around than the eraser on the end of a pencil, when my big “pet spider” three inches in diameter spied it. Like a big cat stalking its prey, the larger spider ran in a line parallel to the wee spider, reminiscent of a cattle dog herding a rogue steer. I was watching the little spider and I was thinking “ You’re in trouble now!”. Just as that thought escaped my mind, a neighbor's cat wandered through the open back door. Immediately it saw the little spider. Through my head went this thought:”Oh boy, now you've really had it.”

When the cat saw the little spider he ran over to it and leaned down to sniff it. When the cat’s nose got within about an inch of the spider, the little spider jumped up and landed on the cat’s nose. I can’t venture a guess whether the spider bit the cat or not but the cat let out a shriek and bolted out the door likes a streak of lightning. After contemplation I realized I had seen one of the most amazing things in my life. In human terms it would be like you or me scaring away something the size of and ocean liner or a skyscraper. It boggles my mind when I think of it!