I dropped my car keys . . .

Rember the old Harry Belafonte song "Day-O" about the "Deadly black tarantula" hiding in the beautiful bunch of ripe bananas?

I believe that is a reference to the highly venomous Brazilian Wandering Spider. It was widely believed that these critters hitch rides in the banana shipments and bite people handling the shipments. Apparently, the issue is rather exaggerated, but if I was moving a crate of bananas and a large black spider came hauling out of the fruit, it would get my attention.

BTW, it's worth repeating my mother's spider ID and action chart.

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Edit: this was supposed to quote DWALT's story about garden spiders.

We have those in East Texas. They might be harmless and non-aggressive, but if you run into their web in the dark, they can give you a bite that will leave an angry raised red area about the size of a hen's egg.

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As kids, we have handled lots of spiders as well as the above "Mr. Furry".

The only one my parents told us to stay away from was the Black Widow, spider.

Later, when working in construction, we learned to stay far away from the
very dangerous Brown Recluse. Their bite will kill live cells and leave
a large wound, behind.

Think of it as a 2" rattle snake !!
 
Many years ago my mother asked me what I wanted for my 21st birthday, I told her a tarantula. She wasn't fazed and told me no problem, go buy one and I'll pay for it. I named her Mrs. Peabody and she was a member of the family for 20 years. If you stuck your hand down into her cage she would crawl up your arm onto your shoulder.

When I got married Mrs. Peabody was part of the deal. My wife wouldn't actually touch her but didn't have any issues when I took her out of her cage. When my son's got older they would take her out of her cage and let her walk up their arms with no issues. She would molt at least once a year and the boys would take the molt to school to show it off. She never once bit any of us, she was missed and when she passed away.
 
I told my daughter in law that spiders are good. They crawl on your face at night and eat the face mites off. She didn't sleep without the light on for a long time. Also, about two days later she called me up and screamed "Face mites???!!! What the heck are they?" Now, if you know her, she didn't use heck and didn't use the place down under. She started washing with wiping down her face with alcohol wipes.
Personally, I have no problem with spiders & snakes. They eat bugs & little furry animals.
Now, one of my ex-wives woke up with a mouse chewing on her hair, probably to make a nice blanket for Mr. Mouse. That was an interesting night, to say the least. She grabbed my unloaded shotgun and went on the hunt. I went back to sleep, laughing in my head. She went & got a cat inside of 3 days to keep in the basement. It caught a boatload of them.
 
My wife's S-I-L from Georgia brought her young daughter to visit us in Texas about 35 years ago. She was fascinated with our back yard tarantulas and played with them. She took one back to Georgia with her in a glass jar. No idea whatever happened to the spider, I never asked.

I wonder how well (or if) a pet tarantula could co-exist with our cats and dogs?
 
Each Fall young male Tarantulas migrate (to their death) looking for a mate. By early December they'll all be dead. I had a lot last month, but very few in Oct.
 
I did not realize this until this week but my next door neighbor's 12 year old son has a pet tarantula that apparently roams around the house.

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