Have you ever seen a spider big enough to require a large caliber rifle to hunt, and a packboard or a few mules, if you were so lucky to steady your nerves and get a off a clean shot before it attacked?* Not counting the one in the Harry Potter movies, me neither, but the spider in the following video was pretty big. Easily, the biggest spider I´ve seen (and Roger says that this was a small one!?).
In rewatching this video, I feel bad for my host-grandfather who was in his wheelchair watching the gringo film the spider as it stalked towards him. Oops. I don´t know Quechua yet, but I´m pretty sure he´s saying to my host mom ¨What´s he doing?¨ (or something to that effect). Hopefully he doesn´t hold a grudge and slip a spider in my bed as a pay-back.
* The heavy hunting reference is a shout out to Adam, THE big brother, who is surely honing his advanced military/pioneering hunting tecniques in the Seeley-Swan Valley as we speak. Those of you who haven´t had the pleasure to observe or see pictures of this art form, think: cross country skis with special wax, hot chocolate, knit sweaters, ironic facial hair, and a notebok to meticulously record windage, trajectory and other ballistics. Good luck out there, be safe.
