House Critters

Every night it's hard telling what you will find on/in our house. These humid, nasty Japanese summers drive critters indoors seeking relief from the elements. One night I found an adorable little lizard on our house - and the next day I found him in our backyard too. He was barely 2 inches long! We often see blue tailed skinks running around the patio, too.

Another critter we see a lot (and have found in our house twice) is the huntsman spider. They are the largest spider in Japan, and often grow larger than a softball. They are HUGE. It makes the wolf spiders of Kentucky look like babies. They are harmless though, unless you're a bug. They are interesting because they don't build webs, they chase down their prey like an eight legged cheetah. Due to this hunting technique, they are lightning fast! You can blink and they'll be on the other side of the room!

Huntsman Spider

Sometimes we see praying mantises, which are cool. Other times we see GIANT 3 inch long cockroaches, which is not so cool. But the roaches are the favorite food of the huntsman spider, so it balances out.

We think there may have been a tanuki in our backyard a couple of nights ago! I noticed something got in our trash and had the jaw power to crunch through big, thick chicken bones, so I know it wasn't a cat. Tanuki are very cool, and are also known as raccoon dogs, although they are not related to raccoons. Tanuki are in fact canids, meaning they are cousins to foxes, wolves, and dogs, and are very similar to the bush dogs of South America. Tanuki are native to Asia, but have been introduced to Europe recently. I have seen them in zoos, but have never spotted a wild one yet, so hopefully we will someday!