CHAPTER 1 Look at the size of that orange spider Ring shouted Theraphosa Blondi said his sister Asia jotting down the scientific name in her field notebook with the date and time Whatever it's called it's as big as my fist Ring started sketching the giant spider in his field notebook It's also called the goliath bird-eating tarantula although it rarely eats birds Asia continued Females can live up to twenty-five years Males live six years Why is that No one knows It would make an interesting scientific study Ring wasn't sure about that but he did think the spider would make an interesting pet It was crawling up a long vine dangling down from a giant tree He reached out for it I wouldn't do that if I were you Asia warned Tarantulas are not that dangerous Ring said
The AMAZON 2 Until they sink their inch-long fangs into you or one of their irritating hairs pokes into your skin Ring hesitated His sister was always ruining his fun and showing off with her encyclopedic memory of scientific names Maybe I'll wait until I have something to put it in besides my pocket Good idea They continued through the shadowy rainforest looking for their mother's research site They hadn't seen her in three days but they weren't worried about her She often went off-grid during her animal studies Sloth poop Ring said He was standing at the base of a massive kapok tree with a swarm of insects buzzing around his head He wore his long blond hair in a ponytail halfway down his back and a red bandanna tied around his forehead to keep the sweat out of his eyes He was eleven and he looked like his mother same hair color same slender physique same bright blue eyes Asia walked toward him stopping short of the insect cloud Dangling around her neck were a pair of binoculars a camera and a compass She prided herself on her preparedness She looked like her father with a stocky strong build short dark hair and brown eyes She was thirteen but an inch shorter than her younger brother We should wait for the sloth to come down to add to that pile Ring said excitedly How many people have
