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Arachnophobia

I like most spiders, but I don't live in Australia where everything can kill you. I live in the SW U.S. and I grew up playing with a tarantula and wolf spiders, and bull snakes. All benign and helpful critters to have around. We had the bullsnakes to keep the mouse population down but they were friendly (we got them when they were very small) and the tarantula was one my dad found on the side of the road and brought it home. Wolf spiders are native to this area and are very good because they eat cockroaches and other bugs that we don't want. But I will stomp a blck widow the second I see it. We did not have brown recluse but I think they are being brought by those dratted immigrants from the east and midwest.
 
Stormkhan said:
Well, I've attached a photo. Not a good 'un, though, because I rarely 'handle' her as she tends to get distressed easily. Before you see her, just consider she's only 15cm from front toe diagonally to rear toe.
View attachment 66630
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Wow! Nice pic. Fluffy really is fluffy! She looks like one of those tinsel stars you put on the top of a Christmas tree if you don't have an angel handy (not that I'm suggesting you do that to poor stressful Fluffy).
 
Oddly enough, as she's got older, she's shed a lot of her white hair. She's not so ... fluffy any more. She now looks like a light brown spider but with grey 'trim'.
I'll try to get an up to date piccie.
 
Nice little souvenir

Stowaway African huntsman spider found in Edinburgh suitcase
Published
3 hours ago


A large African huntsman spider has been found in Edinburgh, after it stowed away in a traveller's suitcase.

The Scottish SPCA has quarantined the 10cm spider, which was discovered at a property in the city's Boswall Drive.

The animal charity said the resident had recently returned from a work placement in Africa.

Huntsman spiders are found in warm and tropical regions including Africa, Asia and Australia. The traveller managed to capture it in a plastic box.

Scottish SPCA animal rescue officer Catherine Atterton said the spider was "very fast".
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https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-edinburgh-east-fife-66043577
 
'Very fast' is an understatement.
What are known as Old World spiders are generally the most aggressive and venomous. One such is Cobalt Blue Spider (Haplopelma lividum), known among enthusiasts a the 'fury' or 'pure hate'! My supplier recommends even experienced collectors use caution with these: "When unboxing, wear gloves and do so in a deep, dry bath with no means for it to climb out!" As one person said ... "This is the kind of spider who'd jump out, kill your dog, terrorise the neighbourhood and trash all your furniture!"
People keep them because in colour, they are absolutely stunning! Still, I'd never have a spider that's known to bang against the side of a glass tank to get to someone!
 

Arachnophobes, look away now! Thousands of tarantulas are set to crawl across Colorado​


In a few short weeks, hoards of tarantulas will begin their yearly crawl across southeast Colorado for their mating season.

Tarantulas are generally found in the southwestern United States, including southern Colorado, where some enthusiasts turn up every year to watch the mature adult male tarantulas on the mating trek or 'mate-gration.'

Though the annual episode is sometimes colloquially referred to as a migration, what the tarantulas in reality are doing is seeking mates.

AA1fwOKt.img

When male tarantulas, about five inches in size, reach the age of maturity, which happens at between eight to ten years old, they begin seeking a mate. The trek usually occurs between late August and early October.

Males sometimes travel as many as 20 miles in search of a mature female with whom to reproduce. Often the males travel in groups as they search.

https://www.msn.com/en-us/weather/t...-begin-their-annual-mating-season/ar-AA1fwY6h

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maximus otter
 
Youngest and her husband were moving things around in the sunroom on Sunday.
I heard them yelling as if there was a terrible monster and went to look in an empty box that was there.
In the bottom was huddled a poor huntsman spider so I took the box outside and had to use a stick to get it out onto a plant.
A bit later I heard them yell again so I told them to take the box and leave it outside.
 
There was a nice BBC R4 programme about curing phobias this week. I'll find it if I can.
Part of the treatment involves repeating Spiders are safe! Spiders are safe! if the fear arises.

It worked for the person we heard undertaking the cure. :)
 
escargot said:
There was a nice BBC R4 programme about curing phobias this week. I'll find it if I can.
Part of the treatment involves repeating Spiders are safe! Spiders are safe! if the fear arises.

It worked for the person we heard undertaking the cure. :)
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Spiders are safe, spiders are safe, spid... Ahhhh f*****g b*****d spiders!!!
 
Have mentioned before that using spiders in advertising is about the most self-defeating exercise one could imagine.

Here an Audi advert -


Samsung - OK, it's a cute spider -


Could've sworn I'd seen a car one featuring a giant spider charging across a desert and turning into a car like they do :rolleyes: but that may have actually been a scorpion.
Nearly a spider, also widely disliked.
 
escargot said:
Have mentioned before that using spiders in advertising is about the most self-defeating exercise one could imagine.

Here an Audi advert -


Samsung - OK, it's a cute spider -


Could've sworn I'd seen a car one featuring a giant spider charging across a desert and turning into a car like they do :rolleyes: but that may have actually been a scorpion.
Nearly a spider, also widely disliked.
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Now I don't mind a scorpion for some reason.
 
Floyd1 said:
Now I don't mind a scorpion for some reason.
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Yup, well, they're not a problem where I live for a start.

Buying UV torches a while ago, noticed that a selling point is that they make scorpions glow. You can use them to detect them in your holiday accommodation.
Sounds like a manufactured scare to me. :chuckle:
 
maximus otter said:
They’re easier to find, as they fluoresce under UV light. (As also do false teeth and semen. Insert contrived joke here…)

maximus otter
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What we need is fluorescent spiders. I bet they have them somewhere in the world (apart from cheap novelties in shops on the run up to Halloween, that is). I await the photos on here.

As for the contrived joke, Max, I can tell you're baiting us - but for once I'm not going to bite.
 
There was a huge thing in the bathroom this morning, and being that Mr. R is still in a physical therapy facility, I ran outside screaming, 'Help!', and one of the men outside killed it -
Was a large centipede, the thing that scares me the most!
 
I find centipedes fascinating. They have to have some rudimentary brain or else the little beggars would be tripping themselves up a lot.

And don't talk to be about pattern or rhythm ...

You try getting the oars of a trireme in order! Forget big drum, forget lashes. What we need are muscular musicians!
*stares at drummers*
Hmmmmmmmmmmm.

Seriously, I've no issue with any insect/arachnid/arthropod. They are what they are. You've just got to be aware of their bite.
 
Well despite the spider repellent we have been using since the start of August, we do still see the odd one in the house. In fact, one bit me last Friday morning.

I was sitting in the kitchen working away on the laptop, little DT was sitting at the kitchen table eating breakfast, when I felt tickling sensation on the back of my neck, so I reached to scratch whatever was causing it, and felt what was obviously an insect. I grabbed it and threw it off of me, but unfortunately it landed next to my sons cereal bowl. He of course screamed blue murder and ran out of the kitchen.:)


It was a large cardinal, dead and a bit squashed. My neck stung for a few hours and bled a bit later that evening, and I can still feel a mark. We are in October now though and we should start seeing them less and less. In a few weeks we won’t see any at all.
 
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Dick Turpin said:
Well despite the spider repellent we have been using since the start of August, we do still see the odd one in the house. In fact, one bit me last Friday morning.

I was sitting in the kitchen working away on the laptop, little DT was sitting at the kitchen table eating breakfast, when I felt tickling sensation on the back of my neck, so I reached to scratch whatever was causing it, and felt what was obviously an insect. I grabbed it and threw it off of me, but unfortunately it landed next to my sons cereal bowel. He of course screamed blue murder and ran out of the kitchen.:)

It was a large cardinal, dead and a bit squashed. My neck stung for a few hours and bled a bit later that evening, and I can still feel a mark. We are in October now though and we should start seeing them less and less. In a few weeks we won’t see any at all.
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"Ouch". . . that must have stung a bit! :)
 
Dick Turpin said:
Well despite the spider repellent we have been using since the start of August, we do still see the odd one in the house. In fact, one bit me last Friday morning.

I was sitting in the kitchen working away on the laptop, little DT was sitting at the kitchen table eating breakfast, when I felt tickling sensation on the back of my neck, so I reached to scratch whatever was causing it, and felt what was obviously an insect. I grabbed it and threw it off of me, but unfortunately it landed next to my sons cereal bowel. He of course screamed blue murder and ran out of the kitchen.:)

It was a large cardinal, dead and a bit squashed. My neck stung for a few hours and bled a bit later that evening, and I can still feel a mark. We are in October now though and we should start seeing them less and less. In a few weeks we won’t see any at all.
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I was bitten by a spider in Sutton Coldfield on my neck sometime in the early 80's at school. As far as I know, it's unusual to be bitten by a spider in England but I somehow managed to. One of my mates said something like "Sir! Swifty's been bitten by a spider!." but we were told to shut up and carry on.

(now I think about it, that must be where all my super hero powers came from)
 
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Dick Turpin said:
Well despite the spider repellent we have been using since the start of August, we do still see the odd one in the house. In fact, one bit me last Friday morning.

I was sitting in the kitchen working away on the laptop, little DT was sitting at the kitchen table eating breakfast, when I felt tickling sensation on the back of my neck, so I reached to scratch whatever was causing it, and felt what was obviously an insect. I grabbed it and threw it off of me, but unfortunately it landed next to my sons cereal bowl. He of course screamed blue murder and ran out of the kitchen.:)


It was a large cardinal, dead and a bit squashed. My neck stung for a few hours and bled a bit later that evening, and I can still feel a mark. We are in October now though and we should start seeing them less and less. In a few weeks we won’t see any at all.
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Let's battle the criminal underworld of New York together!.
 
Swifty said:
I was bitten by a spider in Sutton Coldfield on my neck sometime in the early 80's at school. As far as I know, it's unusual to be bitten by a spider in England but I somehow managed to. One of my mates said something like "Sir! Swifty's been bitten by a spider!." but we were told to shut up and carry on.

(now I think about it, that must be where all my super hero powers came from)
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I was bitten on the foot by one while asleep. The bite wound went a deep red and was spreading. Doctor gave me some antibiotic cream, which worked.
I found the spider and flushed it down the loo. Oddly translucent spider that had the reddish tinge of my blood.
 
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