Alien vs. Jessica

Last night, when I turned off my light to go to sleep, I heard a sound which I at first ignored, convincing myself that it was coming from outside. But then I quickly realized that it was definitely really close to my head. So, I turned the light on. About a foot away from me was a large spidery/scorpion/alien-looking thing staring at me. I screamed. It ran down onto the floor. I gulped down the half glass of water I had on my nightstand, intending to capture it under the empty glass. When I lowered the glass down onto it, it ran faster than I ever would have imagined possible, and disappeared behind the bed.

Sleeping with the knowledge that this creature was in the room was pretty difficult. I left the light on all night because I figured that might keep it at bay. I didn't see it all day after I woke. As I was getting ready to leave the house around 10:00p to go on my hike (which you will read about in my next post), I went into the bedroom to turn the light off, and there my little friend was, sitting on the nightstand. I picked up an empty beer bottle and came down hard. I lifted the bottle up, and the little guy ran away again! So I caught up to him and literally beat him to death. Here's a picture!

Yes, that is one of its legs over there on the right. It was a violent death, but I don't think there was any other way.

It turns out that this was a camel spider, which is not actually a spider. It is somewhere between a spider and a scorpion, but is not classified as either -- rather, it is a "solifuge". Whatever the case, it doesn't belong in my bedroom. 

And guess what?! It turns out this is not my first post involving camel spiders! Back on March 20th, I posted this, which just so happens to be a live specimen. I totally forgot about this. The one I killed is definitely bigger, though. Apparently, quarters are my go-to system of measurement when it comes to the bugs I encounter. I hope not to ever need a larger object for the sake of comparison.

Sorry if this grossed you out.