Tarantulas keep tiny frogs as ‘pets.’

It may not be as heartwarming a tale as an adopted puppy or kitten finding their forever home, but tarantulas live with pets of their own — well, sort of. One species of arachnid has been known to welcome tiny frogs into their burrows, forming a symbiotic relationship that makes for a more unlikely living situation than that of The Odd Couple.

While other spiders feast on frogs and vice versa, this peculiar mutualistic situation has been exhibited by the burrowing tarantulas and dotted humming frogs of the Amazon rainforest. The larger spider essentially acts as the tinier frog’s security detail, protecting the amphibians against snakes and other predators. In return, the frogs protect the tarantula’s eggs by slurping up any ants that enter the burrow, as ants are the primary predator of those tarantula eggs.