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A TARANTULA DISCOVERED in a bunch of bananas by a woman in Donegal has been rescued by the ISPCA.

A tarantula has been rescued from a woman?

Years ago l met a friend of a friend, who at the time was a keeper at London Zoo, and who had some exotic pets. One day he was in a local grocery when a staff member, knowing where he worked, said to him, “We’ve just had a delivery of bananas, and there’s a bug in there you might like for your collection.”

He led my acquaintance to a back store room and indicated a box. My mate walked over to it and gingerly opened the flaps. Nestled in amongst the fruity goodies was what l infer to have resembled the arachnid equivalent of Tyson Fury, glaring pugnaciously at him though about sixteen beady eyes.

My oppo, realising that he was outclassed but unwilling to demonstrate the terror he was feeling, announced in a deadpan tone, “Ah, I’ve already got one of those, thanks”, then beat the world record for the 100-Yard Nonchalant Stroll out of the shop.

maximus otter
 
We had one in a box of bananas at work about 18months ago. I quickly covered the open box with the plastic and asked someone to get rid of it. A manager came along who reckoned that it didn't bother him.

For someone not fussed about it he walked really bloody fast with the the box with arms outstretched at full length.
 
Huge spider assumed extinct in Britain discovered on MoD training site
Described as ‘gorgeous’ by the man who found it, the great fox-spider has not been seen since 1993

Phoebe Weston
@phoeb0
Sat 31 Oct 2020 08.01 GMT

One of Britain’s largest spiders has been discovered on a Ministry of Defence training ground in Surrey having not been seen in the country for 27 years.
The great fox-spider is a night-time hunter, known for its speed and agility, as well as its eight black eyes which give it wraparound vision. The critically endangered spider was assumed extinct in Britain after last being spotted in 1993 on Hankley Common in Surrey. The two-inch-wide (5cm) arachnid had previously also been spotted at two sites in Morden Heath in Dorset. These are the only three areas in Britain, all in the comparatively warmer south, where it has been recorded.
etc

https://www.theguardian.com/environ...extinct-in-britain-discovered-on-mod-site-aoe
 
Im not a creepy crawly fan but I would love to unpack banana boxes...
 
A TARANTULA DISCOVERED in a bunch of bananas by a woman in Donegal has been rescued by the ISPCA.

The animal rescue said it received “an urgent call” from a member of the public who discovered a small tarantula in some recently purchased fruit. ISPCA care assistant Leela Voss, who is experienced in handling exotic animals, responded to the call and identified the spider as a Mexican red rump. Voss said the woman had purchased a bunch of wrapped bananas at her local supermarket in Donegal and made the discovery once she got home.

It is about four months old and relatively harmless, said Voss. “Once this little guy matures to adulthood, it can be determined whether it is actually a male or female.” ...

https://www.thejournal.ie/donegal-w...arantula-in-bunch-of-bananas-5250171-Oct2020/

I took in a Huntsman last year after a phone call from a mate who works in an aquatics shop. She had hitched a ride in a livestock box and laid an egg sack, had a bout 200 spiderlings lol.

Still not found any new pets in my supermarket fruit though
 
Extra protein while you sleep.

You may have consumed anywhere between 1,000 spiders in the past year in your sleep, and zero. Actually, that number is closer to zero.

"It would be a strictly random event," Rod Crawford of the Burke Museum of Natural History and Culture in Seattle says.

From the Scientific American:
More than anything, spiders probably find sleeping humans terrifying. A slumbering person breathes, has a beating heart and perhaps snores—all of which create vibrations that warn spiders of danger. "Vibrations are a big slice of spiders' sensory universe," Crawford explains, "A sleeping person is not something a spider would willingly approach."
https://boingboing.net/2020/11/05/how-many-spiders-do-you-eat-in-your-sleep-per-year.html
 
A story about an Australian man with a large huntsman spider as a roommate, along with notes and photos from other Australians who've encountered the daunting beasties ...


FULL STORY (With Photos):
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/ar...sive-huntsman-live-Queensland-house-year.html
I hate spiders. I really, really shouldn't have opened that link.

I'll qualify that by saying that I appreciate the role they play in the ecosystem. I just don't like seeing the bigger thicker, hairier versions.
 
Aaaarrrggghh! I will have nightmares about this. Giant mutant spiders trapping humans.

On a sweltering afternoon in northeastern Madagascar, the coolness of a leaf’s shade is an attractive respite for a frog. But some of these oases may hide hungry architects: huntsman spiders.

New observations show that the gangly spiders partially attach two leaves together using silk, creating a leafy hollow. One of the arachnids was spotted eating a frog inside one of the pockets, suggesting that the spiders create the structures to lure and trap frogs, researchers report December 11 in Ecology and Evolution.

In 2017 and 2018, biologist Thio Rosin Fulgence and colleagues were conducting an ecological survey in Madagascar when Dominic Martin, an ecologist at the University of Göttingen in Germany, spotted a large huntsman spider (Damastes sp.) eating a small Madagascar reed frog (Heterixalus andrakata). The spider was on a small tree, near a pair of overlapping leaves that had been attached together with spider silk to create a pocket. Upon approach, the spider backed into its leafy lair, amphibian prize in tow. ...

https://www.sciencenews.org/article...tm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Latest_Headlines
 
A contender for Europe's largest indigenous spider, with a leg span reaching 6", the Desertas wolf spider is endemic to the islands of Madeira.

When we were there in late 2019, we stayed in a hotel on the corner of Rua dos Aranhas (Street of the spiders) but, sadly, didn't spot any of these cuties!

spider.JPG


spider.JPG
 
Aaaarrrggghh! I will have nightmares about this. Giant mutant spiders trapping humans.

On a sweltering afternoon in northeastern Madagascar, the coolness of a leaf’s shade is an attractive respite for a frog. But some of these oases may hide hungry architects: huntsman spiders.

New observations show that the gangly spiders partially attach two leaves together using silk, creating a leafy hollow. One of the arachnids was spotted eating a frog inside one of the pockets, suggesting that the spiders create the structures to lure and trap frogs, researchers report December 11 in Ecology and Evolution.

In 2017 and 2018, biologist Thio Rosin Fulgence and colleagues were conducting an ecological survey in Madagascar when Dominic Martin, an ecologist at the University of Göttingen in Germany, spotted a large huntsman spider (Damastes sp.) eating a small Madagascar reed frog (Heterixalus andrakata). The spider was on a small tree, near a pair of overlapping leaves that had been attached together with spider silk to create a pocket. Upon approach, the spider backed into its leafy lair, amphibian prize in tow. ...

https://www.sciencenews.org/article...tm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Latest_Headlines
Fascinating and terrifying! If spiders were as big as humans, we'd be in trouble. Except they wouldn't be able to breath or lift their bodies to walk.
 
Better to use a vacuum on the spiders then suck up some flour to smother them.
 
A contender for Europe's largest indigenous spider, with a leg span reaching 6", the Desertas wolf spider is endemic to the islands of Madeira.

When we were there in late 2019, we stayed in a hotel on the corner of Rua dos Aranhas (Street of the spiders) but, sadly, didn't spot any of these cuties!

View attachment 33913

View attachment 33914

Potential holiday destinations for when all of this C19 hysteria ends:

Madeira
Cromer
Ardrossan
Chernobyl

maximus otter
 
... also there a dessert spiders that fast wheel in a very similar way.

index.php

:drool: :hunger: Mmmmm! ... Dessert Spiders! :hunger: :drool:​

But seriously ... That would be the golden wheel spider of the Namibian desert ...

 
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:puke2:

maximus otter
There are genuine fears for the continued existence of the tarantula Haplopelma albostriatum, because people are eating them at unsustainable rates.

Personally speaking, eating just one would be an unsustainable rate...
 
There are genuine fears for the continued existence of the tarantula Haplopelma albostriatum, because people are eating them at unsustainable rates.

l fear that l can harden my heart to the fate of large spiders.

maximus otter
 
Nuke it from space. It's the only way.
Yay Huntsman Spiders how beautiful my fav Spiders. Really bizzare i sometimes get scared of small spiders. I've seen 4 Huntsman Spiders on separate occasions on my 4 trips to Australia. One a trip. They're the leapers that sit in toilets waiting to jump out. Totally harmless. They keep mice and rats at bay in the home. I like Orb Spiders too only saw 1 in my trips to Auzz very pretty spiders. They both also appear on I'm A Celebrity. I
First trip to Auzz in the car backseat. My brother says what s that on the rear view mirror. I say it's the furry dice. My second cousin driving says that's no furry dice!! Huntsman.
 
A contender for Europe's largest indigenous spider, with a leg span reaching 6", the Desertas wolf spider is endemic to the islands of Madeira.

When we were there in late 2019, we stayed in a hotel on the corner of Rua dos Aranhas (Street of the spiders) but, sadly, didn't spot any of these cuties!

View attachment 33913

View attachment 33914
i spotted something similar in Rhodes with my brothers Wife. She thought it was rat coming out the sewer drain. I made her take a closer look and said that's know rat.
 
My Mums teacher was an Aussie. He told a story of when he was about 6 years old opened toilet lid Huntsman jumped out. The toilet lid smashed back down into his privates.
 
Second trip to Auzz. Went to sit down and leap Huntsman on my bum. It crawled around the front where I then looked at it and thought how sweet it didn't bite me.
 
My brother catching spiders in th UK. Get me a glass.
my brother catching spiders in Auzz. Get me a bucket.
 
...Huntsman Spiders... Totally harmless.

“Like most spiders, apart from the Uloboridae and some Liphistiidae and Holarchaeidae,[6]Sparassidae use venom to immobilize prey. They have been known to inflict serious defensive bites on humans.[7]

There have been reports of members of various genera such as Palystes,[8] Neosparassus(formerly called Olios) and several others, inflicting severe bites. The effects vary, including local swelling and pain, nausea, headache, vomiting, irregular pulse rate, and heart palpitations, indicating some systemic neurological toxin effects...”

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Huntsman_spider#Size,_venom_and_aggression

maximus otter
 
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