tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8754379282583650722.post1447440116258481739..comments2024-01-18T14:03:27.252+02:00Comments on Ramblings from Rhodes: It's a Matter of DegreesJohn P. Manuelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07426089334296469215noreply@blogger.comBlogger5125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8754379282583650722.post-61098077993640183422015-04-27T02:53:22.338+03:002015-04-27T02:53:22.338+03:00Aah, that would have been Ziggy and his gang. But ...Aah, that would have been Ziggy and his gang. But then, they're from another planet.John P. Manuelhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07426089334296469215noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8754379282583650722.post-36997822605189965182015-04-27T01:58:16.710+03:002015-04-27T01:58:16.710+03:00We saw large numbers of huge spiders at the end of...We saw large numbers of huge spiders at the end of your lane when we passed last Saturday, John. Wonder if they were waiting for your return! Or maybe they were just basking in the warm sunshine!<br />Only kidding,<br />Vicki<br />Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8754379282583650722.post-33771086204926273672015-04-20T11:01:43.071+03:002015-04-20T11:01:43.071+03:00What’s the matter John?
Is it that you can hear th...What’s the matter John?<br />Is it that you can hear the sound of those toxic chitin fangs grinding on the forceps, or that you can imagine that strange tickling of the toes, slowly moving up your leg while you are snuggled down in your bed in Rhodes?<br />They are comparatively rare, “Don’t have nightmares!”<br /><br />SimonAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8754379282583650722.post-48852575693411343262015-04-19T13:14:13.282+03:002015-04-19T13:14:13.282+03:00Nurse! NURSE!! My tablets, quickly!!Nurse! NURSE!! My tablets, quickly!!John P. Manuelhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07426089334296469215noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8754379282583650722.post-69467355406246629232015-04-19T10:47:28.617+03:002015-04-19T10:47:28.617+03:00The month in question is April which is very frequ...The month in question is April which is very frequently better in the (southern) UK than in Rhodes. I speak from bitter experience; while on a visit to Halki in the early 2000s I was telephoned by my staff who told me how hot it was in Norwich, while I “froze” on Halki!<br />Regarding arachnids; the bane of my peripatetic lifestyle are Pholcus phalangioides which get busy in Norwich in my absence spinning webs everywhere to my intense annoyance. These beasts get called “Daddy-long-legs” a term I reserve for the Crane fly (family Tipulidae). My mother called them “Harvestmen (order Opiliones)” which is also incorrect! The most apt common name for them is “cobweb spiders” because that is what they do best!<br />I recall being shown a Greek house, as a potential buyer, and seeing a small “mouse” run across the floor which turned out to be a robust black spider which is probably your mini tarantula. As a fellow arachnophobe I was disturbed, and can understand your concerns. It turns out that the cobweb spiders eat other spiders bigger than themselves proving that they are of some use after all!<br />By far my worst experience with terrestrial arthropods concerns the Scolopendra cingulata; the Mediterranean banded centipede, serandapodi to the Greeks. I had one in my Greek house under my stored deflated dinghy and, horror of horrors, one between the cushions of a chair in a friend’s house on Halki where I was staying. I grabbed it with a handy pair of Spencer-Wells and still remember the sound of its jaws on metal as it tried to bite the forceps. Now that is a close encounter of the third kind I can do without!<br />No doubt all this has put everyone off visiting Rhodes; sorry!<br />Simon<br />Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com