Man Documents 500 Days of His Unlikely Friendship With a Tiny Jumping Spider

Ben Newell of Worcester Terrariums documented the life of Earl, his adorable pet jumping spider, over 500 days. Newell shared the challenges and experiences involved in caring for a small arachnid through various life stages, including multiple attempted pairings with fertile males.

This is third and final chapter of Earl, my tiny jumping spider who I have formed a bond with. Strap yourself in, it’s going to be emotional!

Sadly, on day 500, Earl passed away. Newell acknowledged that he could have made up something for the payoff, but that would not be right to Earl’s memory.

Earl is 500 days into our journey. She is the oldest jumping spider that I’ve ever known. And with that comes the problem. ….The likelihood is that she will never have babies with this journeyending in a way that I did not want. …But telling her story exactly as it happened was the only way to be fair to Earl and to you.

Earl has been immortalized with a new illustration by Angry Frog and in Newell’s third book Tiny.

But there is some good news because, as a way to immortalize Earl, I asked one of my favorite artists to create a design I could put on some t-shirts …And of course, Earl had to make the front cover of my third book.