Mr. First (top, center) and Second (lower left) look alive, though I think Second is dying. Below Second is the remains of Third and to the bottom right of First, you can make out Fourth's body.I hate spiders. Don't you? There's something unsettling about them. I've caught a few spiders in and around the apartment. The first two I caught were huge by my personal-experience-with-spiders standards. I thought that when I put the second one in the jar with the first one, that one would eat the other. It turns out they did not. I assumed it's because they were of the same species.
I later introduced a third one, quite a bit smaller than the first two, and definitely from a different species. This Mr. Third (or Mrs.) was immediately attacked and eaten by Mr. First. Then I caught a Fourth and threw him in the mix, but he apparently knew to stay out of the others' way and survived slightly longer. But last I checked, he has also been consumed.
I feel bad for the first two, though. I haven't been feeding them. Even though they are spiders, I went out of my way to take ownership of them, as it were, and I haven't even opened their jar in over 24 hours, so I feel a little pity for the two. My feelings for them were probably increased when I saw the big one eat the little one.
If I'm trying to drive quickly through multiple lanes of traffic, I often find myself behind two (or more) cars, one in the left and one in the right, and I have to decide which one is going to push ahead so I can follow him or her. I think of it as betting on the right horse. It also gives me huge satisfaction when someone who is trying to pass me picks the slower of the two lanes and then has to change lanes just to follow me again.
It's for the same reason that I get excited to see the big spider eat the little guy; "I
knew it was gonna happen!" It affirms what I already knew, that the big spider is supposed to eat the little one. It's a comfort to see that my pre-existing beliefs can get hardened further.
On second thought, picking up the jar and looking at Mr. First strongly reminded me of how much I can't stand spiders. Catching each one brought a rush of adrenaline. I hate them, but I hate killing them, too.
One and Two again. Right below Two you can make out the shriveled remains of what I think is Three. 
Mrs. First/ Number One. 
I was thinking about creating a tournament, but instead of competition, it might just turn into feed-the-big-one. Unless I can find a bigger one to eat Mr. First.
Edit: Mr. First is a giant house spider, as far as I can tell.
Comments (6)
I covered my eyes as soon as I realized that they were pictures of spiders! that's how much i hate spiders. i have like a huge anything-that-moves-that's-not-human PHOBIA (it excludes dogs and cats but that's all lol) my husband saw a mouse in our apartment the other day which resulted in bitchy emails to the landlord and super. now we have mouse traps and i'm so jittery all the time now because what if a mouse gets trapped and he can't run away from me? then i'm going to have to see him and that's going to make me faint.
@royal_diadem - Mice creep me out too when they're wild. They can be damn cute as pets, but seeing them scurry around the house always frightens me.
I think my fear of spiders isn't quite a phobia, but whenever I get up close to one (if it's not securely contained), or when one touches me, it makes me quake all over.
that makes me all squirmy.
@proclamatory - Oh me too.
Wow, you should definately check out tarantulas. We have them down here. A regular customer at the shop brought one in that his wife hairsprayed and stuck in the freezer. It's a huge spider, i'm glad I live in the "city" (5,000 pop. I still dont understand why they call it a city), all we have in town as far as major wildlife goes are oppossums and skunks. No hand sized spiders. I'm alright with spiders and possums and skunks tho to an extent, but roaches....those fuckers FLY.
@TauM_BoI - I don't know how I'd react to a loose tarantula. They're bigger than any spider I've ever seen naturally. I don't think I've ever seen a roach, either. I'm sure both of them would send me into some sort of panic, for a few seconds at least.
In the Army, my grandfather was stationed somewhere in the South, I can't remember if it was Arkansas or Oklahoma. Apparently at the base he and his friends would catch tarantulas, remove their fangs and place them on each other's shoulders. That'd scare the shit out of me.