September 19

The foundation of the building I work within is so low to the ground that we attract all sorts of outdoor critters.

Once I remember rounding the corner to the copier room only to come face to face with a young garter snake. He was reared up like a cobra in an attempt to defend himself and scare me off. It worked.

We've also held rockchuck rodeos more times than I can remember. The babies of that rodent species are so dumb I find it amazing there are any that grow into adults. They get inside our building and it can take half an afternoon to get them out. These little guys will manage to corner themselves in a straight-shot hallway.

But the most common of all our uninvited nature guests are the spiders. And the biggest, most hairy always seem to find their way to Blaine's desk. His response is always a quick stomp of the foot.

I'm grateful he didn't smash this mama wolf spider though. She was heavy with her little babies and moved at half-speed (which was nice, considering I was on my belly and about 6 inches from her to take this shot). After watching her carry those babies around as if she were the bus and squeezing off a couple more photos, I escorted her back outside. I'm sure we'll be seeing at least one of her passengers in the future.