Creepy-crawlies

Late monsoon is the season for invertebrates in the desert: enameled lubber grasshoppers, flying ants, transparent damselflies, and all sorts of more sinister wonders, too.

We have bark scorpions in the house all year ’round, but only in late summer do we start to feel that we’re fighting a losing battle, with multiple individuals most days. This was a small one, an inch long; occasionally we find monsters twice that size. They’re reclusive and speedy, and not really that much of a problem so long as you don’t get stung. I’ve been inexplicably lucky these five years, Alison less so….

And  this is the time of year, too, when any night-time drive along our entry road turns into a spider slalom. Tarantulas as big as a cookie stalk the cool night ground, looking for mates. They’re utterly harmless to humans, of course, but an impressive sight all the same, and the sure sign that summer is coming to an end.