The Tarantula

This little guy visited me in class today.

Just more proof that my students are crazy fun people. 

Actually, this little guy visited two of my classes today. His name shall not be mentioned, as students tend to pick...off color...names. But yes, he is a tarantula. And I even touched him! 

He comes with one of my students who just found him on the side of the road and decided to keep him. Why, I don't know. Why she decided to bring it to school is a bigger mystery. I know she wanted to show the science teacher, but still... (and just FYI I teach Spanish and English, not science.)

So what I learned about tarantulas today is that they are very active creatures. He kept moving his little spider fangs up and down while staring at me! He also scuttled around quite a lot. Usually, wild creatures in boxes are still but apparently not tarantulas. 

They're also not THAT scary. I touched it and it jumped, and I jumped, and a random girl in my class jumped... yeah, it was a jumpy kind of experience. 

Still, I wouldn't want to own one... and I'm still not sure why I'd bring one to school if I did.

I'm for nice safe class pets... like rodents! Mammals rule! I'm even good with reptiles. But not insects and certainly not spiders, which are arachnids, not insects.