Watch out!!

Have you ever come across anything that puts such heebie jeebies in you that every tiny hair on your body stands on end... like this fine example of NZ wildlife which confronted me in the kitchen recently, to my horror. The New Zealand weta looks rather menacing - check out those waving spiky legs and the LARGE stinger thingy... but I do believe they are relatively harmless. I didn't ask it though - I just removed it as quickly as poss to the great outdoors where it belonged, and managed [very bravely I thought] not to scream loud enough to alarm the kids who were playing outside and remained oblivious to my distress - or indeed the distress of the poor weta. Once removed, I calmed down and reflected on where it may have come from, as I had been doing stuff in the kitchen for ages before I noticed it, bold as brass, on the stove top, possibly with its front leg stuck in the element.

Oooh, I am sitting here shuddering about it still, and this happened 5 days ago! What a wuss I am :)