Snerdley

I thought I might take a moment to tell you all about my new flatmate. He is Snerdley the Spider. I discovered that he was living with me the other night when he skittered out of my bathroom when I turned on the light. Snerdley is an ugly little SOB, and my initial reaction was to kill him. I don't like that it was my first thought. What had little Snerdley done to me? So, I decided to fight the urge and let him live. Spiders eat flies and other bugs I like less than spiders, so why not let him do his job? Still, Snerdley was ugly and scary and big, so I decided to give him a name that I couldn't possibly fear. I haven't seen Snerdley much since he moved in, which makes me ever happier that I didn't kill him.

I mean, honestly, why do we kill spiders? Are they planning a take over of the human race? Will they attack you in your sleep? We've all heard the urban legend about spiders laying eggs in your face and things, but have you ever had that happen? There is also that horrible fact that we eat some ridiculous amount of spiders because they crawl in our mouths while we sleep. Are spiders lying in wait for humans to sleep so they can commit suicide in our mouths? Even if I have eaten some spiders, am I any worse for having done it? For all I know, they're a good source of protein.

Granted, if I thought they had poisonous spiders in New Zealand, I would have reacted a bit differently. I read in a book once that there is nothing that is dangerous to humans in the whole of the country. I operate on the belief that this book didn't lie to me. Even if it did, Snerdley hasn't launched any attacks on me in my sleep or otherwise. Unless of course, he is living in my belly after having crawled down there last night, feeding on my leftover yogurt and muesli. Still, why should I care?

Moral of the story: stop the mass genocide of the spider; are you really that scared of a bug?