Someone was waiting for me.

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Marian told me that she had a surprise for me at home. I was released from hospital and I thought she had a nice gift waiting.
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And oh, what a wonderful gift this was.

She found a Rain Spider on its nest behind the air-conditioning machine mounted on our bedroom wall.
So come and see.

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It is a Rain Spider of the family Sparassidae and the species is (Palystes castaneus)
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Marian has some of her succulent pots below the machine and there are many dwarf lizards that visit the pots. Rain spiders eat lizards and it's the ideal place for her nest, as the babies will have much food.
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Palystes is a genus of huntsman spiders, commonly called rain spiders or lizard-eating spiders, occurring in Africa, India, Australia, and the Pacific. The most common and widespread species is P. superciliosus, found in South Africa, home to 12 species in the genus. The name Palystes is derived from either the Latin palaestes or the Greek palaistes, meaning "wrestler"
Source

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Talking about much food for the babies, this little being was lying next to the pot and perhaps the rain spider was storing it for food for her babies when they hatch. Perhaps the spider raided some small bird's nest.
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She started climbing around the nest, as I touched her back leg.
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And as I kept my finger in her sight, she raised her legs ready for a fight.
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Now you don't want those two mandibles to get a hold of your finger, as it has a sore bite, but I loved her eyes.
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Rain spiders can grow very big and this one is a young sample as I have posted a much bigger one before. I am happy for the gift, as the spiders also keep the bad insects away. They are not poisonous and once her babies are born, I will catch her and show her to you on my hand. In the meantime we leave her nest alone to perform its natural function.

I have some catching up to do, as I was in hospital over the past two days and it's amazing how quick work can pile up, at Papillon and on Hive.
But I will get there again.
Thank you once again to those that supported me in my absence.

And That's All Friends.

Photos by Zac Smith-All Rights Reserved.

Camera: Canon Powershot SX70HS Bridge camera.

Thank you kindly for supporting a post on behalf of @papilloncharity

photography gifts nature spiders insects proofofbrain creativecoin neoxian silverbloggers
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53 comments
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I'm in a similar position as I have a wasp's nest in the loft. I rent my flat from the local authority. If they knew, they'd come and destroy the nest, so I don’t tell them. The wasps get into the loft via a gap near my front window. I see them coming and going. They don't hurt me and I don’t hurt them. 😀

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Proud of you for doing that as we know that many will not do it. Respect them, love them and leave them alone, then they will not come for you. I take close ups of their nests many times, as the little one are lovely when they emerge from the cocoons.

Blessings and !LUV

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That is a one beautiful beast! :D Nice gift indeed.
I like the yellow and orange colours.

And of course.. nice succulent pot :)

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Thank you my friend and yes, she is a real beauty. I found her hiding spot that she uses during the day and she will come out around 6pm to sit on the nest for the night. Maybe we will make a little pink bow for her to wear !LOLZ

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Hope you are feeling better. You and Marian are in my thoughts

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I do indeed feel a bit better now that I am at home and thank you for the care my friend.

!PIZZA

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Oh my!! I never knew of such a spider, well that's because I don't really have interest in them but I'm very happy I got to learn about rain spiders today. I'm surprised that it's not poisonous, so you mean it it uses it mandibles to crush its prey, right?

Well, it's a good thing you are back from the hospital, it will be really nice to see you hold the spider in your hands but please don't let it bite you, I'm not sure I will do that though, hehe.

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I look at nature holistically, meaning that I investigate all aspects offered to me as we are all surrounded by its wonderful secrets.

The rain spider will only bite if it feels threatened, so one should just allow it to walk onto the hand and then lift it very slowly 😊

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That's really cool, I will love that but I'm just so uncomfortable around animals but I can relate well with plants, hehe.

Okay, I think I get that well now, thank you so much for explaining it to me 🥰🙏.

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Beautiful photography and what an experience to interact with such an amazing spider.

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Thank you and yeah, that spider is a real humdinger !LOL

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You're very welcome and have an amazing day I can't wait to see you even more of your content!

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Never had scene this specie of spider before. It's huge in Size And I guess that small bird is baby Parrot.

Saw a hatch when they hatch to growing up and it's like exactly same.

You did perfect job with Pictures!

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They are mainly in Africa and many people keep them as pets. The spider is not fully grown yet and I think that is its first nest. I cannot say what the small bird is, but this morning it was gone. So the spider must have taken it overnight.

Glad that you appreciated the photos.

!WINEX

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First time I hear about those. Indeed beautiful... but from a distance! 😁

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Thank you and they are mainly in Africa. Can grow the size of dinner plates.
They are not dangerous, although many think that they are and them kill them.
Instead they should rather cuddle them !LOLZ

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Plates?? Wow! I'm guessing if you show up in a room cuddling one of them the room will get empty pretty quickly... :)) !BEER

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Hahaha, now just don't you go and give me any ideas, as I just might try this :) !LOLZ

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It’s so scary looking and big… nope… wouldn’t like that one around. But still, it is rather beautiful. The colours. 😎

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Best thing to have around my friend. They can grow as big as a small pup and having one as a pet, you can scare all unwelcome visitors away 🤣
A magnificent animal and now we are waiting for her nest to pop, as we are preparing some nice daylight hide aways for the babies in the garden. Rain spiders are nocturnal hunters and they only come out at night.

Be well my friend.

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Yes, I can imagine. They take away all the things you don’t want to have around. But still… nope hahaha 🤣

So cute you are making shelters for the babies.

Hope to see some more captures once they are out the babies. 😎😊
Enjoy your evening further Zac. Thank you so much, you too my friend.
Take care… 🤗🤗

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They can be happy that we don't keep any pets else I will have them in the house here to guard the portals against unwelcome visitors 🤣

Yes, you will as I keep a close eye on that nest.
Having our second power cut of the day now in a few minutes at 6pm.
Such is life and you also take care.

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Hahaha that’s funny… !LOL

Great 😉🎉

Such is indeed life.
Take care my friend 👋🏻😊 enjoy your day further!

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Funny indeed as it should be !LOL

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Yep 😊👋🏻
Have a great new week Zac hope you hear soon something 🤗😎

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