Poecilot.pdf

Andrew Smith’s

Tarantula

Journal

Entry: November

2012

India: In Search

of Poecilotheria

rufilata – the

elusive demon

Kaduva Chalandi

and a few surprises

along the way?

Poecilotheria rufilata -

is, in my humble opinion,

the most attractive and

the most desirable of all of the Indian Poecilotheria tiger spiders.

What – I hear you cry, more so than Kali blue metallica or daffodil

legs regalis. Yes, I say – those spiders are mere beginner’s baubles -

all of whom lack the sheer majestic presence and power of the

Agastya Malai mountain beast.

You have no idea of the number of rock strewn and jungle carpeted

hillsides; me, Paul Carpenter and my young Indian driver Sinod

Kumar, searched, as we scrambled through thick scrub in pursuit of

our elusive prey. One week later my researcher Jackin Jayaram was

to join us – but for the first week up at Ponmudi – there was just the

three of us.

Days passed in blur of exhaustion and excited exhilaration as we

worked in a patchwork landscape of steep stream splashed ravines,

(sheltering the last patches remnant forest), and wind rippled

cathedrals of whispering bamboo - on hillsides interspersed with

wide open spaces of windswept tussock grass and granite and thick

secondary forest scrub. Mornings would be spent in toiling up steep

and slippery slopes of dark leech infested forest – only to break out,

midday, onto a

hilltop clearing

of granite slabs

and wild coffee

– a hot sun

forcing us to

shield our eyes

as we stared

out onto a hazy,

sprawling

Indian

landscape – so beautiful, if I was a poet, I would say it comes about

as close to touching the face of God – as it gets.

If you want to go in search of Poecilotheria rufilata – you have to fly

to Trivandrum in Southern India and there begin the lengthy

business of negotiating with Indian bureaucracy - as you arrange

your car hire and then permission to stay in Government Guest

Houses. Be patient and put aside a couple of days for this very

Indian introduction – to what is one of the most amazing countries in

the world. They say you either fall in love with India – or you cannot

wait to leave. My family have been regular army for centuries – so

my grandfather’s stories of the North West Frontier were part of

my childhood.

On our first day at the Mascot Hotel – an Indian Ocean squall swept

over Trivandrum and our hotel room rapidly filled up with water – a

steadily rising wave that gently crept down the passage, under the

door and across our room. I wandered down to Reception and

followed a member of staff, as he opened spare room after spare

room, all of which were flooded. In the end we just shrugged and me

and Paul put our bags on chairs and went out in search of a beer.

That’s India for you.

We arrived at the Government Resthouse at Ponmudi - a couple of

days later - and as we unloaded our kit, a mountain storm roared up

the valley in a volley of rain and greeted me with a flash of

lightening. Paul has dined out on this story for years. He had just

vanished into the building – when there was terrific flash and a bang

and the rich and heady smell of sulphur. He ran out expecting to find

that the devil had finally claimed me, leaving nothing but a pair of

smoking shoes – and discovered me standing open mouthed at a

smoking tree at the end of the compound. It was damn good thing I

was not carrying my tripod. A stiff swig from the old flask and then

we were standing watching one of those awesome sights that nature

dreams up to amuse you – as banks of white cloud rolled down the

valley and enveloped us in cold ghostly fingers. Lucky for us, the

restaurant served up a good hot curry and lashing of Cobra beer.

The next few days

found us scouring the

hillsides.

Poecilotheria rufilata

was eventually found

in an old engine shed,

built when there was

a large, thriving tea

industry in the region

– much of which

dated from the days of the Raj – when these hills were used as a

summer residence for the families of British Colonial Civil Service.

As you can imagine old building have lots of dark nooks and crannies,

which make excellent retreats – and thus should always be carefully

inspected. This is done best at night. You will be amazed how many

day time inspections drew a blank – only to find the spider sitting

out at night.

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