Friday, January 26, 2018

Bright eyed and thirsty

I'm calling him Sidney, after Terry Pratchett's Sidney Lopsides.

This young 6-legged harvestman showed up three mornings in a row in my kitchen sink, getting a drink. Transferred gently to a damp paper towel, he* clung to it for several hours, then went his way. The third day, yesterday, I convinced him to move to a water-loving cyclamen pot. He didn't come back today.

"Water is fine, thanks!"

It's not harvestman season outside; too wet, too cold, too windy. But the pots on my windowsill will be a good place to rest and recuperate.

I am probably too soft-hearted.

*I'm calling him "he", although he could be female. I'm just guessing. Male and female spiders are easily distinguished by the "boxing gloves" on the male's pedipalps, but although harvestmen are also arachnids, they don't follow this pattern. Male harvestmen (The name implies, masculinity, doesn't it?) tend to have longer legs, and a smaller than the female does. The males' colours are brighter, but when the colours are brown and black, there's not much difference.

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