London's importunate insects

Country Mouse has been in London for more than a month and is faced with a very long stay. So far all goes well. London seems to be very warm, very humid and occasionally sunny.

And the universal truth still holds: one can tell the natives from the tourists, the former wear more clothes. Londoners are muffled in padded jackets and woolly scarves, booted feet run for buses. Country Mouse stifles in pullover and pashmina over light weight trousers.

The great advantage of town over country is, of course, being able to go shopping on foot and that until very late at night. This is just as well for London dwelling places are rather short on storage place.

But not short on desirable accommodation for insects, so far mostly spiders. Our first morning in London we woke to find a spider, a biggish black one, had snuggled down under my pillow, into a crease in the sheet.

Of course I took the sheet outside and shook it. Vigorously. Wrapping the sheet round my arm I returned inside to make the bed. The spider was still clinging to the sheet. Indignantly I swept him off onto the floor. Two hours later, s/he or a cousin, was squatting the bath.

Do not pass, spider busy

Another spider cousin, perhaps a second cousin twice removed because it was tortoiseshell patterned, disputed our rights to the path up to the road. I met it busily slinging the beginnings of its web from right to left, across the York paving, starting from one micro box bush to another. Carefully I lifted the two right hand strands and returned them to the left. I went shopping. When I had returned, so had the spider strands. This time I did left to right – in spider terms – because I was going down the steps.

This exercise continues intermittently. But at least s/he stays outside.