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Source: (consider it)
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Thread: 8-legged creatures of darkness
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Athrawes
Ship's parrot
# 9594
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Posted
The redbacks in my aviary are pretty cool. They have a 3D web, and an interesting shape. I hope that, if I can breed them big enough, they might even take care of the mice... ![[Razz]](tongue.gif)
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Explaining why is going to need a moment, since along the way we must take in the Ancient Greeks, the study of birds, witchcraft, 19thC Vaudeville and the history of baseball. Michael Quinion.
Posts: 2966 | From: somewhere with a book shop | Registered: Jun 2005
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Og, King of Bashan
Ship's giant Amorite
# 9562
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Posted
I don't mind actual spiders. It's only when I see them up close and start thinking about a hypothetical giant spider watching me with its many eyes and luring me into a trap where I will be paralyzed but not killed so that it can eat me alive that I start getting the heebie-jeebies.
Seriously. I was reading The Hobbit for the first time a year ago and I had to totally skip that chapter. Thought they were going to come through the wall at me. ![[Frown]](frown.gif)
[ 20. June 2015, 03:34: Message edited by: Og, King of Bashan ]
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"I like to eat crawfish and drink beer. That's despair?" ― Walker Percy
Posts: 3259 | From: Denver, Colorado, USA | Registered: May 2005
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Kelly Alves
Bunny with an axe
# 2522
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Posted
(Hi there, Og. Let me help you out.) ![[Devil]](graemlins/devil.gif)
I love me some pumpkin spiders. Not only are they, like, HUGE,, and a lovely amber color, and nicely round, they make these awesome outdoor roof-to- soil webs that have incredible resilience. Most spiderwebs, you can just whisk them away with one hand and feel little more than a wispy cotton candy like texture, but you have to take a couple whacks at a pumpkin spider web before it will go down, and it kind of feels like very thin fishing line.
And I live among the Black Widows. No kidding. They thrive in my neighborhood, in the sparse bits of woodland we have in between houses, and our house has quite a nest of them in the darker corners of the basement and the crawlspace under the house. The are not as dangerous as their name sounds, because they are basically chicken shit. many times I have had one land on a hand or arm and it just goes "AAAAUUGHGHH! HUMAN ARM!" and bails like a D-Day paratrooper to the concrete basement floor. (Not that I don't help them out by cursing and waving my hand to beat the band.) Mostly, though, their rules of engagement involve staying the hell away from humans, with great dedication and commitment.
I got bit once when I was a kid-- this translated into a big, itchy, drooling welt on my arm that went down after about a week, and a couple day's worth of flu-like symptoms. Since them, I pay them no mind, except for the very rare occasions they wind up Places They Are Not Supposed to be. In which case I am happy to Thin the Herd.
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I cannot expect people to believe “
Jesus loves me, this I know” of they don’t believe “Kelly loves me, this I know.”
Kelly Alves, somewhere around 2003.
Posts: 35076 | From: Pura Californiana | Registered: Mar 2002
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lilBuddha
Shipmate
# 14333
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Posted
I LOVE jumping spiders. They are pretty, and curious. They will look right at you, especially at a camera lens. Makes them easy to photograph.
Walking in the midst of ballooning baby spiders is magical.
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I put on my rockin' shoes in the morning
Hallellou, hallellou
Posts: 17627 | From: the round earth's imagined corners | Registered: Dec 2008
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Kelly Alves
Bunny with an axe
# 2522
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Posted
I am equal parts Awww! and Screee! about the jumping spiders, LilB. I think I prefer Spider Indifference to Spider Curiosity.
Having said that-- isn't the Cuban Pete thing in Lamb Chopped's link the cutest little thing you ever did see? ![[Axe murder]](graemlins/lovedrops.gif)
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I cannot expect people to believe “
Jesus loves me, this I know” of they don’t believe “Kelly loves me, this I know.”
Kelly Alves, somewhere around 2003.
Posts: 35076 | From: Pura Californiana | Registered: Mar 2002
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lilBuddha
Shipmate
# 14333
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Posted
Love that whole page, but the vid is massively smile inducing.
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I put on my rockin' shoes in the morning
Hallellou, hallellou
Posts: 17627 | From: the round earth's imagined corners | Registered: Dec 2008
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Kelly Alves
Bunny with an axe
# 2522
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Posted
quote:
Originally posted by Hiro's Leap:
This is a truly terrifying thread. ![[Help]](graemlins/help.gif)
They are ADORABLE!
And thanks you, Lamb Chopped, I was actually kind of sad during my Facebook lounging last night that only three people shared my spider love. I think I buried it in A flurry of self-soothing posts to counteract all the political stuff.
Seriously, there was a whole lot of kittens and goats last night. I think we really needed them.
[ 20. June 2015, 04:55: Message edited by: Kelly Alves ]
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I cannot expect people to believe “
Jesus loves me, this I know” of they don’t believe “Kelly loves me, this I know.”
Kelly Alves, somewhere around 2003.
Posts: 35076 | From: Pura Californiana | Registered: Mar 2002
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Lamb Chopped
Ship's kebab
# 5528
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Posted
![[Big Grin]](biggrin.gif) I loves me some bug eating spiders. Particularly if they can take out our mosquitoes.
Speaking of terrifying, my son has a very realistic looking stuffed plush tarantula. He has named it Mr Cuddles.
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Er, this is what I've been up to (book).
Oh, that you would rend the heavens and come down!
Posts: 20059 | From: off in left field somewhere | Registered: Feb 2004
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Hiro's Leap
Shipmate
# 12470
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Posted
quote:
Originally posted by Kelly Alves:
They are ADORABLE!
The "adorable" ones are the worst.
You're all very, very sick puppies.
Posts: 3418 | From: UK, OK | Registered: Mar 2007
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Kelly Alves
Bunny with an axe
# 2522
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Posted
The seventh one down kind of looks like a mutant otter.
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I cannot expect people to believe “
Jesus loves me, this I know” of they don’t believe “Kelly loves me, this I know.”
Kelly Alves, somewhere around 2003.
Posts: 35076 | From: Pura Californiana | Registered: Mar 2002
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Ariel
Shipmate
# 58
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Posted
They'd probably sink their mandibles into your hand.
Spiders are creatures of darkness and shadows, who prefer places of solitude and neglect. They are selfish individualists who spin traps and don't want company, and some female spiders will eat their mates. Cute and fuzzy the babies may appear to be, but don't be fooled by appearances, their essential nature isn't.
Warning for the arachnophobic: don't link on Curiosity's links. The close-ups will get you.
[ 20. June 2015, 06:19: Message edited by: Ariel ]
Posts: 25445 | Registered: May 2001
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Kelly Alves
Bunny with an axe
# 2522
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Posted
quote:
Originally posted by Ariel:
Warning for the arachnophobic: don't link on Curiosity's links. The close-ups will get you.
GOOD FREAKING GOD ok, you're right Ariel, that's too close.
I still reserve the right to admire the cuteness of spiders. At a distance. Or when someone else is taking the picture.
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I cannot expect people to believe “
Jesus loves me, this I know” of they don’t believe “Kelly loves me, this I know.”
Kelly Alves, somewhere around 2003.
Posts: 35076 | From: Pura Californiana | Registered: Mar 2002
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Hiro's Leap
Shipmate
# 12470
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Posted
Huh, weird. I find it hard to look at the cute spider pictures, but Curiosity's don't worry me at all - they're beautiful. Anyway, I'm scuttling out of here. ![[Smile]](smile.gif)
Posts: 3418 | From: UK, OK | Registered: Mar 2007
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LeRoc
Famous Dutch pirate
# 3216
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Posted
I was bitten by a spider in Brazil once where its venom kept me in hospital for a couple of days.
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I know why God made the rhinoceros, it's because He couldn't see the rhinoceros, so He made the rhinoceros to be able to see it. (Clarice Lispector)
Posts: 9474 | From: Brazil / Africa | Registered: Aug 2002
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jedijudy
Organist of the Jedi Temple
# 333
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Posted
My house spiders do a bang-up job of keeping the ants at bay. I'll find little piles of desicated ant bodies on occasion which are very easy to sweep up.
Our black and brown widows stay outside. Whenever I clean my smoker to use it, there are usually one or two I have to shoo out, or some of their distinctive egg cases.
I'm not fond of them, but I don't go on killing rampages, either, since they do have their place in the world! And banana spiders have pretty colors, even if their huge size kind of creeps me out!
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Jasmine, little cat with a big heart.
Posts: 18017 | From: 'Twixt the 'Glades and the Gulf | Registered: Aug 2001
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Kelly Alves
Bunny with an axe
# 2522
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Posted
( Widow egg cases look like little Q- tip tips. Or huge ones.)
As per Judy-- another reason I made my piece with spiders is that when I was about eight or so, we had this godawful plague of house flies in our house.( had to do with my parents' amateur attempts at rat control. I'll spare you.) This was one of the rare occasions The Widows came inside-- they must have thought we were throwing a pot luck.
At one point I had spiders living in three out of the four corners of my ceiling, and I was okay with that-- as long as they stayed right there. And kept the flies away.
I do have my limits with arachnids, though. Few days ago, A daddy long legs got into our shower, and foolishly decided to make a web by descending from the ceiling and using my head as an anchor point. He wound up a little brown spot on the wall.
LeRoc-- morbid curiosity-- what kind of spider was it?
[ 20. June 2015, 20:03: Message edited by: Kelly Alves ]
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I cannot expect people to believe “
Jesus loves me, this I know” of they don’t believe “Kelly loves me, this I know.”
Kelly Alves, somewhere around 2003.
Posts: 35076 | From: Pura Californiana | Registered: Mar 2002
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Drifting Star
Drifting against the wind
# 12799
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Posted
A Daddy Long Legs (in the UK, at least) is an insect and not a spider, so your arachnophilia can remain intact. ![[Biased]](wink.gif)
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The soul is dyed the color of its thoughts. Heraclitus
Posts: 3126 | From: A thin place. | Registered: Jul 2007
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Kelly Alves
Bunny with an axe
# 2522
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Posted
I know it's not a spider, but I thought it was classified arachnid?
[ 20. June 2015, 20:18: Message edited by: Kelly Alves ]
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I cannot expect people to believe “
Jesus loves me, this I know” of they don’t believe “Kelly loves me, this I know.”
Kelly Alves, somewhere around 2003.
Posts: 35076 | From: Pura Californiana | Registered: Mar 2002
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Drifting Star
Drifting against the wind
# 12799
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Posted
The UK one isn't, but there are other beasties that are known as Daddy Long Legs, and some of them are.
From Wikipedia:
They are also known as daddy-long-legs around the world, not to be confused with daddy-long-legs that refers to arachnids of the order Opiliones or the family Pholcidae.
[ 20. June 2015, 20:22: Message edited by: Drifting Star ]
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The soul is dyed the color of its thoughts. Heraclitus
Posts: 3126 | From: A thin place. | Registered: Jul 2007
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Ariel
Shipmate
# 58
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Posted
They might as well be spiders. Flying spiders. Long filmy legs unexpectedly tickling your face just as you're about to drift off to sleep, maybe even drifting across your partly open mouth. One of the joys of having your windows open on a summer's evening.
[ 20. June 2015, 20:25: Message edited by: Ariel ]
Posts: 25445 | Registered: May 2001
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Kelly Alves
Bunny with an axe
# 2522
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Posted
Ahh, the sweet smelling sound of enlightenment in the morning.
In California ( I'm gonna go ahead and guess that this is a regional thing) the bugs I am talking about very much resemle spiders, only their legs are long and spindly and their thoraxes are minute in comparison with their legs. I think they also have dwelling habits that diferentiate them from spiders.
We have flies similar to what you linked above, but we call the mosquito hawks or " skeeter eaters" Those do creep me out, in a phobic sort of way. Their wings make a metallic buzzing sound, and they fly at light sources agressively, making this hideous clacking sound when they hit the lightbulb, or window, or whatever. Ugh. That's weird. Spiders don't bother me, but I would freak out if one of those came in the room.
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I cannot expect people to believe “
Jesus loves me, this I know” of they don’t believe “Kelly loves me, this I know.”
Kelly Alves, somewhere around 2003.
Posts: 35076 | From: Pura Californiana | Registered: Mar 2002
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LeRoc
Famous Dutch pirate
# 3216
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Posted
quote:
Kelly Alves: LeRoc-- morbid curiosity-- what kind of spider was it?
To be honest I don't know, it moved away very fast. It was big and black. My Brazilian friends called it a viúva negra, which translates as black widow, but I'm not sure if this was accurate.
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I know why God made the rhinoceros, it's because He couldn't see the rhinoceros, so He made the rhinoceros to be able to see it. (Clarice Lispector)
Posts: 9474 | From: Brazil / Africa | Registered: Aug 2002
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Ariel
Shipmate
# 58
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Posted
When I was a child (living overseas) I once opened the door to the study and stopped immediately. There on the floor was a huge spider, with all its legs splayed out. And I mean huge. It would have been about 8" across.
It didn't move. For which I was very grateful. That thing could have outrun me easily.
I very carefully backed away, closed the door slowly and gently and didn't go back for a week. When I did, it had gone. I never found out where.
Posts: 25445 | Registered: May 2001
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Kelly Alves
Bunny with an axe
# 2522
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Posted
( checking wiki) looks about right. Wondering if they are bigger in Brazil than up here, though.
Sorry, my url button keeps making my browser crash-- otherwise I would put up a link.
[ 20. June 2015, 20:45: Message edited by: Kelly Alves ]
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I cannot expect people to believe “
Jesus loves me, this I know” of they don’t believe “Kelly loves me, this I know.”
Kelly Alves, somewhere around 2003.
Posts: 35076 | From: Pura Californiana | Registered: Mar 2002
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Kelly Alves
Bunny with an axe
# 2522
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Posted
quote:
Originally posted by Ariel:
When I was a child (living overseas) I once opened the door to the study and stopped immediately. There on the floor was a huge spider, with all its legs splayed out. And I mean huge. It would have been about 8" across.
It didn't move. For which I was very grateful. That thing could have outrun me easily.
I very carefully backed away, closed the door slowly and gently and didn't go back for a week. When I did, it had gone. I never found out where.
(Holds hand approximately 8 inches apart) ugh!
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I cannot expect people to believe “
Jesus loves me, this I know” of they don’t believe “Kelly loves me, this I know.”
Kelly Alves, somewhere around 2003.
Posts: 35076 | From: Pura Californiana | Registered: Mar 2002
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Lamb Chopped
Ship's kebab
# 5528
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Posted
My father was an odd person, and didn't hold with coddling his children. Which is why we got told, many times over the course of our childhood, to move his stash of loose concrete blocks (you know, the kind used to build walls with rebar stuck down the middle?) from one random place in the backyard to another. This was sunny California, and black widows love love LOVE the warmth of baking brick with dark holes in the middle of each (for the rebar). Tons of black widows.
Did I mention he saw no need to give us gloves?
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Er, this is what I've been up to (book).
Oh, that you would rend the heavens and come down!
Posts: 20059 | From: off in left field somewhere | Registered: Feb 2004
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Kelly Alves
Bunny with an axe
# 2522
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Posted
Those kind of bricks were where a bug loving kid went looking for roly- poly bugs in the damp, foggy North. But yeah, make sure to avoid the widows.
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I cannot expect people to believe “
Jesus loves me, this I know” of they don’t believe “Kelly loves me, this I know.”
Kelly Alves, somewhere around 2003.
Posts: 35076 | From: Pura Californiana | Registered: Mar 2002
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ArachnidinElmet
Shipmate
# 17346
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Posted
Arachnids cute? Aye, go on, you've sold me
In other news, aren't spiderwebs chuffing beautiful?
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'If a pleasant, straight-forward life is not possible then one must try to wriggle through by subtle manoeuvres' - Kafka
Posts: 1887 | From: the rhubarb triangle | Registered: Sep 2012
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Ariel
Shipmate
# 58
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Posted
Not when they're on the wing mirrors of my car they're not. I've got a particularly persistent and enthusiastic spider in the left wing mirror this year, doing the arachnid equivalent of 6-ply webs.
Posts: 25445 | Registered: May 2001
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Lamb Chopped
Ship's kebab
# 5528
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Posted
We had a particularly ambitious one last year. It wove a web over the whole front steps (main entrance to the house). What's really scary is, when its intended prey broke through it (carrying grocery bags and such), it tried again the next day. And the next. ![[Eek!]](eek.gif)
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Er, this is what I've been up to (book).
Oh, that you would rend the heavens and come down!
Posts: 20059 | From: off in left field somewhere | Registered: Feb 2004
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lilBuddha
Shipmate
# 14333
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Posted
quote:
Originally posted by Curiosity killed ...:
I think they are awesome too - so much so that I follow a couple of people on Flickr who take pictures like this and this of spiders.
Those are lovely, no matter what these sissies say.
quote:
Originally posted by LeRoc:
quote:
Kelly Alves: LeRoc-- morbid curiosity-- what kind of spider was it?
To be honest I don't know, it moved away very fast. It was big and black. My Brazilian friends called it a viúva negra, which translates as black widow, but I'm not sure if this was accurate.
Black Widow. Wikipedia doesn't list them in Brazil, but the spiders don't necessarily know this.
quote:
Originally posted by jedijudy:
And banana spiders have pretty colors, even if their huge size kind of creeps me out!
You mean these? lovely colours.
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I put on my rockin' shoes in the morning
Hallellou, hallellou
Posts: 17627 | From: the round earth's imagined corners | Registered: Dec 2008
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Banner Lady
Ship's Ensign
# 10505
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Posted
Big spiders kinda cancel out the cute factor. Would anyone ever find the Chinese bird spider, the Australian mouse spider or the Arabian camel spider cute?
I think orb weavers are incredibly beautiful. But having walked between mango trees where the webs would be 4 to 5 metres across and the gorgeous creature sitting in the middle was easily the size of an adult hand, 'cute' would not be the adjective that came to mind. 'Awesome' is more like it.
Walking into a web is not pleasant, but the spider knows how big the creature bumbling into it must be by the vibration or tear of the anchor threads. As Kelly says, they have an aversion to us - probably because we are much more able to kill them than they us.
Just think how many more flies and mites we would have to put up with if we didn't have them. ALL babies are pretty cute. Unless there are hundreds of them at once.
Replacing the battery on the kitchen clock at our place recently caused the opening of a huntsman sac underneath it. The eruption of little spiders running everywhere had both TP and I reaching for the insect spray.
I'm sure a few got away, and I am okay about that. But I am not prepared to give house room to hundreds of the things no matter how cute baby huntsman spiders look.
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Women in the church are not a problem to be solved, but a mystery to be enjoyed.
Posts: 7080 | From: Canberra Australia | Registered: Oct 2005
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Banner Lady
Ship's Ensign
# 10505
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Posted
Baby diving tarantulas would probably look pretty cute covered in air bubbles.
They discovered a new cave dwelling ghost spider in Tasmania recently too. A remnant of prehistory? We have lots of spiders in Australia. Making peace with spiderdom is probably one reason why most Australians have a fairly laid back attitude to the world. Still not sure we think of spiders as cute, though.
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Women in the church are not a problem to be solved, but a mystery to be enjoyed.
Posts: 7080 | From: Canberra Australia | Registered: Oct 2005
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Kelly Alves
Bunny with an axe
# 2522
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Posted
I actually was hoping the Ozmates would chime in on this one. I am sure you all have stories.
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I cannot expect people to believe “
Jesus loves me, this I know” of they don’t believe “Kelly loves me, this I know.”
Kelly Alves, somewhere around 2003.
Posts: 35076 | From: Pura Californiana | Registered: Mar 2002
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lilBuddha
Shipmate
# 14333
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Posted
quote:
Originally posted by Kelly Alves:
I actually was hoping the Ozmates would chime in on this one. I am sure you all have stories.
Everything is deadly down there, so mere spiders might not hold the same fascination.
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I put on my rockin' shoes in the morning
Hallellou, hallellou
Posts: 17627 | From: the round earth's imagined corners | Registered: Dec 2008
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Banner Lady
Ship's Ensign
# 10505
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Posted
Yes, yes we do. Where to begin?
Most recent spider experience was driving home from interstate a few days ago when I noticed a small spider (thumbnail size) running in frantic circles on my dashboard. Before I could blink it had gone up the driver's side window, so naturally I hit the button to open the window. Being midwinter here, the temperature outside was freezing - not very tempting for a spider, and I couldn't leave the window open for long.
A few minutes later, window now shut, and me driving at 110kms/hr the spider suddenly drops on a thread above the steering wheel. So I karate chopped the thread leaving it to plummet to the murky depths of the car floor. I did feel it scuttle across my shoe but where to after that I neither knew nor cared. Could be still in the car making a new home for itself for all I know.
I shall have to name it if I see it again. 'Fast Freddy' has a good ring to it. Naming them does help to establish a better inter-species relationship, we have found.
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Women in the church are not a problem to be solved, but a mystery to be enjoyed.
Posts: 7080 | From: Canberra Australia | Registered: Oct 2005
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Banner Lady
Ship's Ensign
# 10505
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Posted
Correction: not a ghost spider, but a giant cave spider.
Serious props to people who do this kind of thing for the love of it. Their brains are obviously wired way differently to most of us.
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Women in the church are not a problem to be solved, but a mystery to be enjoyed.
Posts: 7080 | From: Canberra Australia | Registered: Oct 2005
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Gee D
Shipmate
# 13815
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Posted
quote:
Originally posted by Kelly Alves:
And I live among the Black Widows. No kidding. They thrive in my neighborhood, in the sparse bits of woodland we have in between houses, and our house has quite a nest of them in the darker corners of the basement and the crawlspace under the house.
Your Black Widows are very similar to our Redbacks referred to by Athrawes. One of their dwellings is allegedly under the seats in outdoor toilets, and that adds to the piquancy of any bite. The bite can be fatal.
Most certainly fatal are the bites of
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Australian_funnel-web_spider Sydney funnel web spiders* and where we live is their natural habitat. A favourite trick of theirs is to swim in your pool, where they can live underwater for a couple of days. The usual way to kill them in the pool is to dump a cup of dry chlorine on them and leave a half hour.
Fortunately an anti-venene has been developed and has proven to be very effective. If you find one, you're supposed to try to catch it in a jar, which you then whip to the nearest hospital. The laboratory collects them regularly and milks them for the venom, from which the anti-venene is processed. Catching has its own tricks. A favourite is to spray them with cheap hairspray to immobilise them, invert a jar over them slide a sheet of cardboard under and invert the lot. Then screw the lid onto the jar asap. Wearing leather gloves is a Good Idea.
Most animals are unaffected by the venom. It's only humans and a couple of closely related primates which are affected. Blue tongue lizards eat them, another good reason to have blue tongues in your garden.
*Dear Hosts, I can't understand the new URL system, so could you please both correct this link and PM me the instructions.
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Not every Anglican in Sydney is Sydney Anglican
Posts: 7028 | From: Warrawee NSW Australia | Registered: Jun 2008
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Kelly Alves
Bunny with an axe
# 2522
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Posted
quote:
Originally posted by Gee D:
Catching has its own tricks. A favourite is to spray them with cheap hairspray to immobilise them, invert a jar over them slide a sheet of cardboard under and invert the lot. Then screw the lid onto the jar asap. Wearing leather gloves is a Good Idea.
Can of hairspray plus a Zippo sounds like a good idea, too.
![[Ultra confused]](graemlins/confused2.gif)
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I cannot expect people to believe “
Jesus loves me, this I know” of they don’t believe “Kelly loves me, this I know.”
Kelly Alves, somewhere around 2003.
Posts: 35076 | From: Pura Californiana | Registered: Mar 2002
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Lothlorien
Ship's Grandma
# 4927
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Posted
Kelly, I think Gee D is describing catching them so venom can be milked. They need to be alive, not incinerated.
At our bush 40 acres at Wollombi we had enormous huntsman spiders. Great for keeping insect population down but not attractive. The family paid little attention to them, but visitors were often freaked out by them. Lots of other insects and similar. Green and gold millipedes as thick as a man's thumb, beetles with amazing iridescent patches, flies which heeded smaller flies int o a corner and ate the, huge mosquitoes.. Snakes too and goannas.
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Buy a bale. Help our Aussie rural communities and farmers. Another great cause needing support The High Country Patrol.
Posts: 9745 | From: girt by sea | Registered: Aug 2003
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Kelly Alves
Bunny with an axe
# 2522
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Posted
Oh, ok. I was reacting viscerally.
Coincidentally, I just ran across an Australian home improvement show while channel surfing. It was, um, different than US shows of that nature.
" A grape arbor will look lovely here, and the modest patio will be remodeled to include a deck and a Jacuzzi tub, but of course the top priority will be to control the population of highly venomous snakes nested in the grass..."
The millipedes sound kind of pretty. Are they safe to accommodate in your backyard?
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I cannot expect people to believe “
Jesus loves me, this I know” of they don’t believe “Kelly loves me, this I know.”
Kelly Alves, somewhere around 2003.
Posts: 35076 | From: Pura Californiana | Registered: Mar 2002
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Lothlorien
Ship's Grandma
# 4927
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Posted
These were in the bush and mostly under large rocks. As I said,about as thick as a man's thumb and about a handspan in length. Alternating green and gold segments.
We worked on the principle that we were in a different territory to ours. Live and let live for the most part. A huntsman in the car was killed, as was one snake when we had lots of children coming to visit and it would not move away. It is actually illegal to kill snakes here, more observed in the breach than the observance. We killed one in several years and were careful around the others. Red bellied blacks, lots of browns and some death adders. I kept a specific medical kit purely for snake bites so we all knew where it was. It was never used.
We had one of the big blue lights which attracted insects and electrocuted them. That stayed on all night to control mosquitoes.
Many properties in snake infested areas, e.g. south of Banner Lady in bushy areas, spray for snakes. Strongly scented oils, even lavender, are sprayed regularly. Apparently the snakes don't like the smell. Most who use this say the method works.
[ 21. June 2015, 06:37: Message edited by: Lothlorien ]
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Buy a bale. Help our Aussie rural communities and farmers. Another great cause needing support The High Country Patrol.
Posts: 9745 | From: girt by sea | Registered: Aug 2003
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Kelly Alves
Bunny with an axe
# 2522
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Posted
That is a handy allergy!
We have mosquito issues in my area-- I will have to look into those big blue lights.
[ 21. June 2015, 06:51: Message edited by: Kelly Alves ]
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I cannot expect people to believe “
Jesus loves me, this I know” of they don’t believe “Kelly loves me, this I know.”
Kelly Alves, somewhere around 2003.
Posts: 35076 | From: Pura Californiana | Registered: Mar 2002
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Athrawes
Ship's parrot
# 9594
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Posted
My dad, while wearing thongs (flip flops) in the garden, had a funnel web run over his feet. He went white and froze. Thankfully, it wasn't hungry...
We lived on the back of a national park at the time, so I became very adept at catching and removing huntsmen. They are huge and hairy, but not a problem. The redbacks are similarly not a problem - leave them alone and they'll leave you alone. But black house spiders are *nasty*. One bit me several times, through thick jeans, while I was cleaning out an aviary, and I ended up in hospital for most of the day while they tried to do something about the pain and swelling. I hate to think what they'd be like with a full strength bite. From then on, any black spider in my house is committing suicide.
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Explaining why is going to need a moment, since along the way we must take in the Ancient Greeks, the study of birds, witchcraft, 19thC Vaudeville and the history of baseball. Michael Quinion.
Posts: 2966 | From: somewhere with a book shop | Registered: Jun 2005
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Mili
Shipmate
# 3254
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Posted
Was the spider that bit you a Whitetail spider Awthrawes? My mum used to have a 'pet' black window spider that she wouldn't kill or put outside and it just stayed in it's web in the corner. White tails wander around hunting insects and like living in houses, especially in your bed or underwear drawer and have a nasty bite. I saw one under my bed recently, but was too scared to do anything about it and am ignoring it in the hope it goes away and dies somewhere. I don't like to spray poisons in my house because I have pet budgies.
I like huntsmans, though not when they jump out or chase you. Redbacks I do not like, and unlike black widow spiders they can live in your house. The worst one I found was a fully grown female in my letterbox. I hate to think how many times I reached into the box for letters before finding her. I usually live and let live, but she had to die. Recently I saw a beautiful beetle on a blade of grass near my letterbox (a box built into the brick wall at the front of my garden). As I looked closer I noticed it had strange feelers that were moving in an odd way. I looked closer and it was a dead beetle with a smallish redback on its head! I threw a rock at it and it ran off, hopefully not into my letterbox.
If you have read the furry creatures thread in All Saints you will know my sister's cat Meeka was recently bitten by a snake or spider and attacked by a dog. So I am not a fan of venomous animals at the moment. Thankfully he is alive though can barely walk straight and has a dilated pupil in one eye, though hopefully he will improve in health in time. It mustn't have been too bad a bite as he survived three days lost without treatment before dragging himself home.
To keep with the theme of the thread, here is why huntsmans are cute
Posts: 1015 | From: Melbourne, Australia | Registered: Aug 2002
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Kelly Alves
Bunny with an axe
# 2522
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Posted
Holy shit, that's big! ( but cute. I would play with it.)
I find my lack of arachnophobia challenged by stories of jumping. That would freak me out. I am content to live in the chilly North, where we grow our spiders relatively small and definitely shy.
[ 21. June 2015, 17:18: Message edited by: Kelly Alves ]
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I cannot expect people to believe “
Jesus loves me, this I know” of they don’t believe “Kelly loves me, this I know.”
Kelly Alves, somewhere around 2003.
Posts: 35076 | From: Pura Californiana | Registered: Mar 2002
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