I was told that there are BIG spiders there

[sweetwater]

I'm not too concerned but my oldest son has a phobia about spiders. I was told that there are very large spiders that will just jump on you and bite you! Is this fact or fiction? How do you pronounce the name of the frogs that they spray to kill off? I'm going to have to study up on how things are pronounced there. We actually found a website that covers this..just haven't had time to look at it yet. As a health care worker, do you think it would be beneficial for me to learn Japanese? Linda Bowman

[Kelena]

I have arachnophobia and I have only seen one spider in Puna. That was with John Dirgo about 18 months ago when I was looking at a house in Nanawale. Giant cane spider (I think) in a web. Almost walked into it, but John kindly alerted me to it. I certainly have never had anything jump on me (that had eight legs) while I was in Puna. When I came home from my most recent trip I was in chambers when a black spider started crawling up my neck. A judge --yes, a judge-- asked me to stay perfectly still (without telling me why) and then she flicked it off and explained why. It was an odd experience, but she did the right thing. Had she told me in advance, I would have shrieked like a 12 year old girl -- a reaction that might have affected my professional standing. As it was, I just allowed the hair to stand up on the back of my neck, which is actually not as easy as it sounds because at my age, I use a LOT of conditioner. Spiders love me because they seek my approval. I don't approve but they continue to jump at me, or get in my hair or other improbable places. Never happened in Puna though, knock on HardiPlank (which is paintable, by the way).

Fear centipedes. Still haven't seen one of those either, but I am told that one fell in my pool. I meant to ask the pool guy "What happens to large poisonous objects when the go into the filter?" but I never got around to it. Worse than spiders, you betcha. They kill mice.

Frog name: ko-kee. It's not a hawaiian name. It's not a a hawaiian frog. It's a malihini.

For Hawaiian, you carefully pronounce each syllable, except for certain dipthongs. Many words look long, but watch for repeating sounds, as in Kamehameha (meha is repeated twice). That's the name of a former king. "ka" means "the" and "mehameha" means lonely or loneliness, so, "the lonely one". That man should never have been lonely.

I would imagine it takes a couple of years and a trip to Japan to learn Japanese. It took me that long to learn French. And I had to go to France for a couple of years. When I got really good, the French thought I was from Spain, or some southern province. Because I am dark-complected, they refused to believe I was American. Don't learn Japanese just for your profession but do consider taking the Japanese Basket Weaving course at the University of Hilo's adult extension program to keep your sanity and provide a meditative practice so you can get in touch with your chakras.

I don't know what chakras are, but they are very popular in Puna, especially in and around Kalani and I think basket weaving would enhance them.

[StillHope]

So,Glen,the key word is the number(of legs).
Would you be less afraid of a handicapped spider?

[Kelena]

Still,

I am just saying that if something with two legs jumped on me, I could probably handle it. Eight legs? Watch me freak.

[StillHope]

On U-Tube?

[waynesb]

You asked about the coqui frogs.... There's a great radio story about it.

You can read about it here: http://www.atlantic.org/projects/heartof...radise.php
and listen to it (you have to create a username) here: http://www.prx.org/pieces/20035

[Andrew]

Hi Linda:

There are some nasties in Hawaii for sure. One such is the cane spider. see: http://www.instanthawaii.com/cgi-bin/haw...imals.cane

However it depends on where you are located. I have dug up, crawled through, rummaged around in and pretty much have covered every inch of my place in Leilani Estates in Puna and have never seen a cane spider or scorpion even one time. I have only come across two centipedes which I was able to dispatch in a quick manner (neither of which was inside my place).

In Kona on the other hand I have seen a lot of cane spiders and have been stung at least twice by scorpions and several times by yellow jackets.

What we do have at our place in Leilani in spades include kokee frogs, cane toads, mosquitoes and mongooses. The amphibians actually don't bother me a bit. I don't like the mongoose because they molest the local bird population. Mosquitoes are my arch enemies. If I had the last mating pair of mosquitoes on the planet I would grind them to a dark smear in a second and then rejoice.

Andrew

[Seeb]

Once you meet a centipede you'll forget all about spiders ( the ones around my house are about 6 inchs ) and when it rains real heavy they just appear from everywhere

The devil is in the detail

[missydog1]

that's what I was thinking, seeb. Spiders are not terrifying. Centipedes have a hundred odd legs and are creatures from hell. Cut one in pieces and all the pieces will run off. It takes hours for the thing to figure out it's dead, during which time the head will still bite.

The little crab spiders have an unpleasant bite. I've had many, and the more I get, the more I react to them. I've not been bitten by a cane spider, but I hear they do.

Coqui's are from Puerto Rico, and the sound of their name is like the sound they make.
The best way to learn pronunciation is talk to people, listen, and repeat. IMHO. I wish I spoke Japanese. I think it's a very useful skill but I don't think it's a requirement to work in health care here.

[Daniel]

I would have to say that a cane spider is about 10 times freakier than a centipede. They are so fast and jump so far and are so big and ugly. I have even seen them fight each other... Also i think they are pretty much harmless, but ugly none the less.

Daniel R Diamond