Babouk (Libby, you might want to skip this one)

Everyone, meet Babouk. Babouk, meet everyone.

Babouk first appeared in our house the first week we lived here as this huge spider that kept us all out of the kitchen. When we learned that she was no ordinary spider, but that she had a name and that we should be happy to have her, I can tell you that all the Americans in the house were skeptical. Babouk's second appearance was in Caroline's room. Guess who captured Babouk not once but twice and put her outside? ME! Haha! I was so brave and took care of the matter like it was no biggie. What a champ.

Babouk eats mosquitos, is not poisonous (in fact, there are no poisonous critters on Réunion) and does not harm anything. Babouk should also not be squashed because Babouk is full of hundreds of little Babouks that scatter everywhere if released. Not something I want, poisonous or not.

We have several Babouks in the house (one has recently been living in my mosquito net- call me a wuss, but I sleep on the couch when I can't get her out). My favorite is this little one we call "Babybouk." She is about the size of a fifty-cent piece. She's so cute! (In as far as spiders are cute)

The picture shows Babouk next to a hand to give you a bit of an idea of the scale. This is not the biggest Babouk we have, but this is about the average size.