I’m a biodiversity conversation research intern in the Peruvian Amazon (Madre de Dios region) and growing up, the only spider that ever scared me from the documentaries I watched was the Brazilian Wandering Spider. Well, they’re here, and I’ve had to get over that fear pretty quickly because they're just part of the day-to-day norm. No one at the research station is allowed to harm or mess with any animals here, including the spiders in our huts -- as someone who's applying to grad school for venomous animal conservation, I do appreciate being in a place that cares about *all* animals so much! Also, interacting with the wandering spiders (like trying to catch and release them) increases the chance of a defensive interaction, so it's safest to just leave them be when we see them in our huts. I think I'm \*almost\* normalized to seeing them in my hut, almost there. We hang mosquito netting that's tucked in around our beds so we don't have to worry about them in our bedsheets when we sleep. 

  
(The spiders in these photos were positively ID'd by qualified and expert biologists at this research station)  

Some of the Brazilian Wandering Spiders I’ve seen so far at this Amazon research station (including in my jungle hut)