Spiders & Other Interesting Creatures

When we first got to the orphanage/learning center I was a bit nervous about walking from our hut, say, up to Adams home, or to the outhouses. It was all new, and I knew there were such things as snakes, spiders, scorpions or other miscellanious and unfamilar creatures. I knew I really didn’t have to worry about anything like wild boars or even monkey's, as they are not around this area anymore. There are evidences of tigers though. One of the volunteers while hiking around in the area heard a tiger and there have been tiger tracks seen on the other side of the Moei River. Tigers like the water and to swim so we know they are in our area. We did finally get to see an elephant walking down the road and right past the entrance to the Adam's house. That was exciting! But so many of the animals, big or small, here have been hunted till there are very few if any around (there still are rats around, which the people hunt and eat them. They make a rat paste that they eat with their rice or they will place them on a stick like a Big Frank and roast them!). This hunting supplements what these poor people have to eat. I know many people that live here aren’t poor and yet they still eat these creatures but many of the people around where we are, eat these unclean creatures (rats, snakes, beetles, larvae, etc), and enjoy them! 

Patiently waiting by the footpath for the next insect 

But back to my walking around at night. The very first night we were here, I needed to go up to ask a question, so I grabbed by head lamp, put it on and cautiously headed up the steep path to the Adams home. On my way up, I saw a large toad sitting quietly by the trail. It never moved, just sat hoping I would not see it, for fear I was a toad eating human being, (he didn’t have any worries). On my way back down to my hut, in about the same area as the toad had been was a spider which was large in circumfrance, but skinny in body and leg thickness but looked like a tarantula. It was exciting, and fortuantely, neither toads or spiders scare or bother me.

One of MANY spiders with the beautiful eyes!

One evening Davis came into our hut after evening worship and asked, what were all those shiny things on the ground at night? Lexi promptly answered him, telling him that they were all the spiders that come out at night. And she was right! Those spiders have the most beautiful eyes! They sparkle just like little blue or white diamonds! I was walking around with someone one evening and I was commenting on all the beautiful "sparkles" and asked this other person if they could see them. They answered that they didn't see anything like I was describing. I gave them my head lamp to put on to see if that would help them to "see" them better. There was a gasp and a quick return of my headlamp. They did NOT want to see all those eyes or even know that they were there. I guess they didn't see them as beautiful like I did. Different perspectives I guess.

One evening after a very long, busy, hot day when I never had a chance to get down to take my “creek” (it isn’t a shower, or a bath), until it was very dark after worship. The nights are warming up as we near the wet season so although I didn’t get in the water, which still would have been cold, I did take a creek side wash. All along the way to and from were those beautiful glittering “diamonds”. 

One of the small, poisonous kind of spiders that are found here

There are poisnous spiders here too, very amazing. The ones that have points all over their backs. Miles has seen two of them so far. He says they are pretty neat lookng. He took one picture of them, but unfortunately it came out blurry. I will see how bad it is and see if it is worth showing you or not. He showed me a different kind that was in one of the lime trees between our hut and his, just hanging out along the path. I had walked that path many times as that is the way I go to get to worship every morning and evening, but I never saw it! I do not know how poisonous is poisonous about these spiders, but I do know I had walked past that spider by inches for many weeks and never knew it was there. How many other times has there been something potentially dangerous that God has kept me or my family safe from or you. Only when we get to heaven will we have that answer!

A brown scorpion commonly found here on the border

Another member of the arachnid family are scorpions! One night as I was needing to use the outhouse (as I frequently do), I headed over to the 6 block cell of them and went in one of the 6 options. I try to always check and make sure there is plenty of water in the container to be able to flush the squat toilet when I am done before I use the toilet. As I was looking in the direction of the container, there on the wall was a 1 1/2" - 2" brown scorpion. The brown scorpion's give a bad sting something like a Bald Faced Hornet (if you have been stung by them you know how painful they can be), but it is not deadly. There are black scorpions that are much more poisonous and deadly but I never did see one of those.

Beautiful but poisonous

One day, I was trying to find a good cell phone signal so I could call my dad, (“Hi, Daddy!”).  But no matter where I moved to, before I could ever get the call through, the bars on the phone would decrease and disappear altogether! Never was able to reach him that day. But while I was “hunting” for just the right spot. I saw this very interesting catapillar on a plant near the rock by Adams home. Lena was also trying to call someone and saw it. She told me it was a poisionous kind of caterpillar that causes a person to break out in bad hives all over their body and other issues. Not long after I saw this very attractive, white catapillar Miles told me a little girl from one of the local villages came to get treated from touching one of these catapillars. She was in a lot of pain and her hand was extremely swollen. She had come in for treatment 2-3 days after it had happened. Since we didn’t want that to happen to anyone here at the school, it was put in the fire, don’t worry we didn’t eat him!

So many interesting creatures that God created! They aren’t still as beautiful and safe as they once were, but they are so very interesting to look at. It would be fun to study each of them and their habits but we certainly don’t have time for that.

I am so thankful God doesn’t shudder or shriek when he sees us and what we do or don’t do. He isn’t disgusted or even thinking we are untouchable at all. He loves us so, even with our weak, sinful natures. He sees us as the "diamonds" He died for! With all our wicked ways, I could easily see how he could think of us as terrible spiders, like some people think of spiders but He never does! We serve such an amazing and patient God, longing for us to have that relationship with Him He longs for, but never impatient or forceful. What a blessing it is to be loved no matter who we are or what we look like or even what we have done. It just makes me fall more in love with Him doesn't you?!