Sunday, September 30, 2007

Six-Eyed Sand Spider.

As happy and excited I am to be going to Namibia in a month, there are also numerous reasons why I would rather not leave my safe little home here in PQ. I will share one of these reasons with you now:


The sand spider, resident of southern Africa. Also known as (according to the blog of a current PCV in Namibia) a "hair cutter." It crawls into your bed while you are sleeping and cuts your hair to use in its nest. As stated on the Wikipedia page, it is "very shy and unlikely to bite humans," however, there is also no known antivenom for its bite, and "toxicology studies have demonstrated that the venom is particularly potent...causing blood vessel leakage and tissue destruction. Envenomations of laboratory animals have yielded devastating results, with many of the test subjects developing multiorgan breakdowns."

I am scared. If anybody would like to get me a going-away present, I would like a two-year supply of razors (to shave my head) and a set of steel pajamas. Thank you.