Here's Dean Lennert, spider hobbyist, spreading the word that Spiders are Cool to Tuesday's Summer Reading group. We had a great talk about spiders and how useful they are and how folks need to learn to think before they squish.

Here Dean is holding Kiki, a Chilean Rose tarantula. He has had Kiki for many years, now. Female tarantulas can live for twenty or thirty years if you take good care of them.

He also brought in Theo, an elderly (for a boy) fellow with an eight-inch leg span, but Theo isn't particularly social and did not come out of his cage. Dean says he can run really fast!

The kids really enjoyed their close encounter. The tarantulas were a big hit. Some of the Moms might have been slightly less enthusiastic, but we learned a whole bunch!

Here is a closeup of Kiki: