Happy Halloween!
Or day-after-Halloween, more accurately. Trick-or-treating got off to a busy start, as I had kids already waiting for me on the porch when I got home from work - luckily I had the candy ready to go that I'd put in the bowl in the morning before I left because I knew I was going to get home late. Rain started about half an hour in, though, so I only ended up with around 20 kids instead of the more usual 40-60, which means I have LOTS of candy left. Less than there was this morning though because I had chocolate for breakfast and also for lunch, lol (vegetables for dinner though because even I can eat too much chocolate). Funny thing I noticed this year, very few of the kids said "trick or treat" when I opened the door - mostly they just stood there. I'd end up saying "trick or treat" instead, and then I had to urge them to actually take the candy, and then to take more than one piece - not sure if I just had a run of very shy kids this year or what, usually I get a bunch of the "grab all the candy you can with both hands" types :P
In other news, I picked up a new friend - a pink-toe tarantula! She's very adorable, with her little tippy toes. I had a rose-hair tarantula for several years that finally died this spring, and I needed a new one for my fall spider programs at the park. Pink toes are tree-climbing spiders instead of ground dwellers like the rosehairs, still very unlikely to bite, but they are much faster and skittery and inclined to jump right off your hand! A rosehair is a better choice for a program spider, but they can't sell them in pet stores anymore apparently, and the rescues didn't have any either. A spider that might jump and go skittering around is exactly the opposite of what you want to get people over their fears of spiders, lol, but she actually did very well at her first program yesterday (I sat on the ground while holding her, just in case - a long fall could hurt or even kill her), and none of the participants in my spider program had spider phobias so they were all pretty calm and interested. I need to think of a nice, non-threatening name (previous tarantula was Barbie, because of her barbed urticating hairs) - Princess Tippy Toes or Snookums or something. I'll try to put some pictures on tumblr - just moved her from her temporary carrier into her new permanent house so I don't want to disturb her again tonight though.
This entry was originally posted at https://playswithworms.dreamwidth.org/197326.html. Please comment wherever you wish.
In other news, I picked up a new friend - a pink-toe tarantula! She's very adorable, with her little tippy toes. I had a rose-hair tarantula for several years that finally died this spring, and I needed a new one for my fall spider programs at the park. Pink toes are tree-climbing spiders instead of ground dwellers like the rosehairs, still very unlikely to bite, but they are much faster and skittery and inclined to jump right off your hand! A rosehair is a better choice for a program spider, but they can't sell them in pet stores anymore apparently, and the rescues didn't have any either. A spider that might jump and go skittering around is exactly the opposite of what you want to get people over their fears of spiders, lol, but she actually did very well at her first program yesterday (I sat on the ground while holding her, just in case - a long fall could hurt or even kill her), and none of the participants in my spider program had spider phobias so they were all pretty calm and interested. I need to think of a nice, non-threatening name (previous tarantula was Barbie, because of her barbed urticating hairs) - Princess Tippy Toes or Snookums or something. I'll try to put some pictures on tumblr - just moved her from her temporary carrier into her new permanent house so I don't want to disturb her again tonight though.
This entry was originally posted at https://playswithworms.dreamwidth.org/197326.html. Please comment wherever you wish.