Big Fugly spider wtf

[KX5JT]

Yeah and most taruntulas are harmless too.  It's funny how nature will make something look really scary as it's only real defense.  The ones are diminuitive and often hiding under peices of wood or what not are the ones to watch out for!  We have a lot of black widows out here in the south but they are really not agressive.  The brown recluse is the one that has caused more problems with people around here.

[steve_qix]

There babies live under our (and probably everyone else's) dock at our lake place.  They are called "Fishing Spiders" because they kill small fish that come near to the surface.  They can also breathe underwater for up to 15 minutes by using trapped air bubbles that attach to their bodies.  These spiders are very scary looking, but are not dangerous to humans.

[WQ9E]

Nice pet Steve

I had a bit of spider phobia as a kid.  When I was 5 I went to a birthday party at the old Pontchartrain Beach amusement park (near New Orleans) and the haunted house was the type that you rode through in a little car.  Inside the spook house everything was spider webbed and when I tried to avoid them by ducking into the car I found out it had been festooned with spider webs also   I wasn't a happy kid!

Now spiders don't bother me much although I still grow tired of the webbing.  During a recent hiking trip to the Smokies it was obvious that I was the first tall person to use a number of the trails early in the morning.  But I had a little jumping spider living in my PC during my doctoral student days and I considered it to be a pet AND good luck charm.

[steve_qix]

Think your spiders are gross - check THIS!!   

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_EZ_vI7cWAI

[K1JJ]

This brown recluse bite goes beyond belief...

Have a nice lunch.

T

[W1RKW]

My mother was bitten on the large toe by a brown recluse about 15 years ago.  She was walking in the backyard in sandles.  Took a day or 2 for the toxin to do its work. The toe swelled and kept swelling and started turning purple.  An ER visit determined it was a BR bite.  She suffered through several skin peels and a minor surgery.  Any later she would have lost the toe.  

I don't know if anyone else has this but if I walk through a spider silk string or even certain webs like cob webs I breakout into hives.  Some don't bother me but others do.  I haven't figured out which species irritates my skin.

[K1JJ]

Spider webs:  I read that a 1" diameter rope made of spiderweb strand is strong enuff to stop a 747 in mid flight.  Interesting that we still don't know how to artificially manufacture it.


Speaking of insects - today I took Yaz for a walk. He took care of business on a stop sign rail. Immediately out popped a swam of yellow jackets that were living in the ground at the base. They were dressed to kill and a few landed on his back. It was quite a scramble to clear them off and run.

Evidently they don't like the smell of o'line too much.

T

[Steve - K4HX]

Or maybe they don't like being peed on. Most people don't. 

Too bad we can't make artificial spider web rope. It would solve our antenna support and tower guy problems.

[Todd, KA1KAQ]

And you wouldn't even need to tie them off, just stick it to a branch and voila! Instant support.

Immediately out popped a swam of yellow jackets that were living in the ground at the base. T

hnyellowjackets.

[WU2D]

Those big garden spiders are cool and very much appreciated in any garden just like the little common garter snakes here in NH that are also coded yellow and brown.

The most critically endangered animal in New Hampshire with only one population left in the state is the Timber Rattlesnake, a heavy black viper. The timber rattlesnake is the only snake in NH with vertical pupils. Rock crevices are used for shelter.

[steve_qix]

Those big garden spiders are cool and very much appreciated in any garden just like the little common garter snakes here in NH that are also coded yellow and brown.

The most critically endangered animal in New Hampshire with only one population left in the state is the Timber Rattlesnake, a heavy black viper. The timber rattlesnake is the only snake in NH with vertical pupils. Rock crevices are used for shelter.

Yup!  Timber Rattlers used to live on Rattlesnake Island in New Hampshire (www.rattlesnakeisland.net), which is where the island got its name.  People went so far as to burn the island over (back before anyone had a house there), and it didn't work - the snakes crawled deep into the rock crevasses that dominate the slopes of the island.  They brought hogs over (apparently hogs go after rattlesnakes), and this along with some professional snake hunters, finally eliminated the rattlesnakes from the island.  None have been seen since the late 1940s.

Personally, I'm glad they're gone from the island!

Regards,

Steve

[W2VW]

Most people don't. 

 

How do you know this??