In the early evening I finally rehoused Jaiden's Brazilian whiteknee
tarantula (Acanthoscurria geniculata). The juvenile female's
enclosure had become quite cramped. I had already made a batch of
coconut coir by soaking a brick and let the sun dry it out quite a bit
the past days.
I first transferred the large spider to a catch cup and put it in a
safe place because our cat, Lina, was paying close attention. She
likes to watch the enclosures with the spiders within.
Next, I transferred the "old" substrate also to the new enclosure, it
was still good enough, and added some decoration: plastic plants and a
cork tube. Finally, I transferred the spider from the catch cup into
her new enclosure using a paint brush.
Female Acanthoscurria geniculata in her larger enclosure.
On both occasions, into the cup and out of the cup, the spider kicked
some hairs in defense. When it finally was in her enclosure it kept
her legs tucked in; a sign of stress. I'll let her acclimatize for a
few days before attempting to feed her.
In the far future, the crew of an interstellar expedition abandoned
the main spacecraft, which housed an AI who monitored the crew for
the all-powerful State. The “mutineers”, as the AI calls them, made
a new home in a gas torus that rotates around a neutron star, rich
in trees, animals, sufficient water, but no real gravity. Five
hundred years later, their descendants live in various, sometimes
waring, clans.
A scouting expedition by men and women from one of these groups
meets with hardships and enforced servitude. A revolt ensues. And
all the time, the AI of the original ship, observes and waits…
In the evening I started in The Integral
Trees,
The Smoke Ring series book 1 by Larry Niven.
When I was a teenager I didn't want to read the book because I thought
it would have math in it (integrals). Later I did read the book and it
became one of my favourite books by Niven.
The official Jack Vance website names Wyst
book 2 of 3 and Marune book 3 of 3. Based on a reply by "Kilo Volt" to
a Facebook post I made, a short review of each of the novels, this is
the order the books were written, which is:
Trullion: Alastor 2262
Wyst: Alastor 1716
Marune: Alastor 933
As the books are stand-alone it doesn't matter much, although I
recommend to read Trullion first as this book explains hussade which
is mentioned in Wyst several times.
There is also an Alastor book by the Dutch author Tais Teng, written
in English: Phaedra: Alastor
824.
