Unlikely Friends — Mutually Beneficial Relationships
Nature could teach us so much about teamwork, acceptance, symbiosis, and friendships. All we must do is pay attention.
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My Son’s Spider Story Sounded Unlikely
My son will often come to me with wild and fantastical stories that raise my eyebrows. He loves general knowledge and I know the minute that he’s going to ‘enlighten’ me when I hear. “Did you know?”
I’ve learned to sit down and strap in. The information is coming at me and there is no way to dodge it. It’s often too farfetched to believe.
Where does he get this stuff?
I try to keep my face neutral, but it never listens to me.
So, the dance begins.
My left eyebrow stands up and jiggles my frown lines. Then both eyebrows lift which pulls my chin up like a pointer finger. He just ignores my face dance and keeps talking.
The Spider and the Frog
However, yesterday he told me about a spider that domesticates a frog. The two then have a symbiotic relationship where the spider protects the frog, and the frog eats the bugs that feed off its spider’s decaying prey.
I can understand why the frog sticks around. I love leftovers too. My fridge is full of them.
The frog’s constant movement around the spider nest scares off ants that would otherwise eat the spider eggs.
My constant movement around my fridge probably also keeps the ants away.
As far as a spider domesticating a frog. Well, I mean come on now! Yeah right!! That was my first thought.
I had to wonder how many times my kid watched Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets. Did Aragog the Acromantula have actual relatives?
So, I did what anyone would do.
First, I shivered. I don’t like spiders.
Then, I Googled it.
I was gob-smacked because, by golly it’s true!
