Joy stood frozen in the landing doorway
regarding - Streuth! - a giant of a white-tail
on the tiled dunny floor - also frozen -
human and spider pointing at each other.
'Quick! Mortein! Cupboard. Right away!'
came the strangled cry from Whiter-shade-of-pale
so I nipped off and grabbed the hefty can
'There you go.' (Shaking it.) 'Blast the muther.'
Murderous can sputtered, then a deadly stream
caught dark scissor-beast who cringed
into angle between dunny wall and floor
playing bullet dead, but yet in truth dying, I thought
running for chunky glass with flaring rim
also 'Thai at Sale' restaurant menu - we'd binged -
the standard tools of spider removal. There!
glass down and card slid under. Caught!
But spider ran fearful-furious around her prison,
limped and stuttered to a watchful stop,
up-ended, clung to the flaring inside. Would not drop.
Playing dead again, resting, resisting the poison.
Took glass, card and grisly inmate outside,
plonked right way up on concrete verandah
she ran about a bit and slowed again. 'You bide
there till morning,' I said, and for dead left her.
Only to find Joy pointing again, high up wall-corner
big as a spread hand, only a huntsman this time.
No need to kill the harmless hulk. 'Nother tumbler
'nother card, the same old universal trick - and out
you go to spider-haunted dark.
Joy took tape (clear)
made sure any odd holes and gaps we could find
in our defenses, pronto, were sealed over,
plugged bath 'gainst Incy Wincy's drain-spout.
...................
White-tail spiders have a nasty bite ( though not in the category of red-backs and certainly not of funnel webs) worse for those sensitive to their poison. Huntsmen can be huge but not classed as poisonous or dangerous.
Dunny = toilet.
