Arachnophobes Beware!

Just barely caught the Spider Pavilion on it's last day at the Natural History Museum with the hubby this past Sunday.

Taken with my iPhone

When you first walk in, you get to view some of the potentially harmful arachnids encased safely in their little habitats.

The most beautiful was the Indian Ornamental Tarantula

It was difficult to photograph some of the other arachnids such as the brown recluse.  I think you get the idea from its name on why I was unable to photograph it.

Next was the free range environment where they allow all sorts of orb-weavers to spin their beautiful webs anywhere they please.  The spiders in this area were of course harmless, but I have to admit they were intimidating at first.

When you initially walk in to the pavilion you do not even notice the spiders at all.  Once you start to look around you realize you are surrounded by them.  And some of those suckers are big.  Some expletives did manage to cross my lips amongst the presence of children.  Oops.

After I got over the initial shock I started taking photos.  I brought my Sigma 50 mm macro with me.  I wish I could have gotten in a little closer.  I think investing in the Canon 100 mm macro will be a wise choice for this type of photography.  Even though they are harmless and more scared of us than we are of them, I wasn't brave enough to get in any closer.

Here you can see why...

I thought the top of this Golden Silk Spider looked a bit like a skull.

Creepy!

If you missed it this time there is always next year in the fall. Anyone with a fascination of these strange creatures will enjoy being able to see them up close doing what they do best.

Perhaps this is the best kind of therapy for any of you spider-fearing folk.  The guide in the pavilion told us she was once arachnophobic. Now, she can hold them in her hands with no problem.   I personally wouldn't go that far.  Eek.

If you want to brave a couple more photos check out my slideshow.  Even view it large if you DARE.