I had just sent off an e-mail to an arachnophobic friend promising her a spider-free stay at my house in Jabiru when I looked
under my desk and saw this. I was very pleased the boot had long laces with which I could hurl it into the garden.
The word on the side of the boot is a brand, not an instruction, but is highly appropriate.
I have encountered this species of spider several times in various houses in Kakadu, and every time they have caused me serious
alarm. They are the fastest spiders I have ever seen and move unpredictably. I once danced with one (the tarantella?) in a narrow
tiled corridor for what seemed like half an hour as it ran in panic-stricken terror around my feet and I danced in panic-stricken
terror above. Both dancers survived.