Uhm, actually, what you photographed there wasn't WAR, but LOVE...well, the spider version of love anyway! That smaller reddish-colored spider is a male Common Orb Weaver(Araneus diadematus), and that big fat brown one is the female! They were MATING, not fighting! Of course, she most likely did wind up eating him after he'd accomplished what he'd set out to do, which is why she returned, and he was a no-show!

pitbulllady

spidey smut...wonderful

Betcha never thought you'd be seeing THAT on a Foster's Home forum, now did you?

pitbulllady

Spider lovers should love this:

http://www.livescience.com/animalwor...t_spiders.html

I'd never kept Whipscorpions together before(and this article is about Tailless Whipscorpions, which look like something H.R. Geiger would have thought up), but I have observed such interactions among Kukulcania hibernalis, or Black Crevice Spiders, many times. They live in colonies, and I've actually seen several females using what can only be described as "pack' behavior to take down really large insects, including a big Chinese Mantis. Some tarantulas in the genus Pamphoboteus will also do this, and have actually been documented ganging up on and killing half-grown chickens, earning them the local nickname of "Chicken Spiders"! I've seen my own tarantulas pick up an empty water dish in their fangs and strut around with it until they got my attention-and got the water dish re-filled-so there seems to be a bit more to the arachnid brain that most people previously thought!

pitbulllady

I have seen a similar scene in my grandma's garden, too... the female ended up chasing the male one away, but he kept on going back for like, days... didn't see how it ended, though... anyway I have read so much about how they try to mate, and it was so wonderful to see it live, I mean, how the male one started to pick at the female's web until she noticed! It was great to watch. :)

Drastic fears call for drastic measures...

http://tn3-1.deviantart.com/fs37/300...omalhaut48.jpg

Ay ay ay, I don't know if I'd have the courage to do that. Some guts you've got then, Fomal. Good for you! :)

I don't think I'd call myself an arachnophobe as I'm not really scared of them, I just don't like them all that much, and if one startles me I can have a near heart attack.

I remember once when I was 9 or 10, I was in bed and just about to doze off, when I felt something tickle my arm. I opened my eyes to see, in the dim light of my bedroom, a quarter sized spider crawling over my bare arm. Yeah, I nearly had a heart attack. There's few things as unpleasant as being aroused from slumber to not only see but feel a creature you know could have a harmful bite crawling on you. I remember throwing my covers over it, hoping to trap it there long enough for me to run to the restroom and get some tissue. I don't remember if I had plans to kill it or release it out my window, although I have to admit after being frightened to such an extent, I was probably planning on killing it so I wouldn't have to worry about waking up to find it touching me again. When I got back from the bathroom it was gone. :macwor: I then remember not sleeping much that night.

Another memory of spiders was when I was 11 and my family was camping in Colorado. There was a giant spider living in the ladies restroom at the campground. Seriously, I didn't even know such big spiders were in the US, I'm wondering if it was an escaped pet. It must have been 7-8 inches long. And yes, it was real and alive, I saw it walking. I was so creeped out by it I didn't want to go to the restroom after dark, and when I went during the day, I made sure I found where it was before I went about my business- always on the opposite side of the building if I could help it. It liked to hide behind the toilets, in the corner under the sinks and sometimes in the showers. It was light brown, thin and virtually hairless, unlike a tarantula which are stocky and covered in hair. I have no idea what kind it was, but it was big.

And yet another memory took place later that year, after my 12th birthday, when I was on a campout/field trip with my school. My friends and I were gathered around the campfire eating when I saw something move from behind one of my best friends. I looked closer and out from the shadows marched a tarantula. I screamed, and gave everyone else a heart attack. And again, the reason for my scream was merely because it startled me and I didn't like that in the least. It must have been drawn to the fire by the heat because it marched right into the firepit. :o We saw a lot of dead tarantulas while on the outing too, after getting caught by birds or raccoons or something. They were all over the place in that park. I only saw two live ones, though. I didn't scream when I saw the other one because it didn't startle me so bad.

Now, I dislike spiders I suppose, but I respect them, and they can make cool pets. I greatly admire the beautiful webs they weave, and the beautiful colors they can be too. And if a small one crawls on me, I'll let it explore a little before letting it go outside somewhere. It's mostly just the big ones that I don't like, I guess, and I never like them startling me, which they seem to be very good at doing. But I'm not one to heartlessly kill them just because I don't like them. That's just plain mean. :sadbendy: They eat mosquitoes. Mosquitoes carry West Nile and Malaria. So spiders are our friends. :)

Scorpions though, no. Don't ask. I'm terrified to the depths of my soul of those things. No exceptions.

Thank you (and it's Fomal, without the R, I know I keep on ranting about this...), umm, the caretaker told me it couldn't bite, and it was tame. It was really soft and nice to touch, btw.

...live tarantulas? Giant spiders...? Do I really want to go to the US?

You know what is weird? The kind of spider I am the most afraid of are actually those horrid long-legged *things* we can see in our homes. I don't like those that have either disproportionately long legs, or too large abdomens, measured to the rest of their body. A tarantula or cross-spider at least (most of the time) looks like a spider, not a heap of legs or a huge ball with some little thingies.

Oops. So sorry Fomal. :oops: I fixed it. :)

We certainly have wild tarantulas here in the southern plains and deserts, and scorpions too. *shudders* But that one living in the ladies restroom I'm almost certain was an escaped pet, because I don't think any of our local spiders get that big. And even if by chance there is a species or two that gets up to 8 inches long, I doubt they'd be in the mountains or even high plains of Colorado, where it gets very cold in the winter.

Are you talking about "Daddy Longlegs"? Yeah, they're kind of creepy. And although I don't dislike them as much as others, after hearing that they have one of the most poisonous bites of any other spider in the world, I'm a little intimidated by them. Even if their mouths are too small to bite a human, I keep thinking there could be some way that little bugger can inject its venom into me. :macwor:

Actually, that rumor about "Daddy Long Legs" having the most-powerful venom, but being unable to bite a human, is a pure Urban Legend. Here in the US, "Daddy Long-Legs" is a common name used to describe Harvestmen, which are arachnids, but are more closely related to mites than to spiders. Harvestmen are vegetarians; they have no fangs, no venom, no silk, and of course, don't bite. In Australia, where this myth originated, the term "Daddy Long Legs" is applied to a true non-native spider, Pholcus phalangiodies, which we call "Cellar Spiders" here in the US. They DO have venom, and probably COULD bite us if they wanted to, since they are closely related to the infamous Brown Recluse, but they just aren't aggressive at all. Dr. Brian Frye, an Australian venom researcher, tested their venom, and found it was far, far from being close to the most-potent. To further illustrate how common names of animals can be misleading, in Europe, "Daddy Long Legs" refers to a Crane Fly!

pitbulllady

Ah, so the rumor about Daddy Long Legs only applies in AU, and even then, the venom isn't the most dangerous around. That's good to know. And it's actually not even spider? Interesting. I learn something new every day. Thank you PBL! :)

The "Daddy Long-Legs" here in the US aren't spiders, and the ones in Europe aren't even arachnids, but insects, what WE call a "Mosquito(or "skeeter") Hawk" here in the US, since they look like huge, leggy mosquitoes, and actually hunt the little(or not-so-little)vampires and eat them. The "Daddy Long-Legs" in Australia IS a spider, but a harmless one, and not because it can't bite, either. It can sure kill another much-larger spider, like a Wolf Spider, and its fangs are actually quite impressive, so I'm sure it would have no trouble biting a human IF it wanted to, that is. I've held large specimens cupped in my hand, without being bitten, and if a spider had a good reason to bite, that would probably be it, yet I've never had one bite or even give a threat display.

pitbulllady

Ah, yes, the long legs rumors...
They're not true, at least in US.
Mythbusters tested it once, I remember that.

I believe you're right! I had almost forgotten that, shame on me! If all else fails, you can always count on good ole' Adam and Jamey! If more of my Science students had cable/satellite, I'd make watching "Mythbusters" a requirement to pass my class! That's my biggest obstacle-getting students to overcome the generational myths and wives' tales that they've grown up with...and their parents, grandparents an great-grandparents grew up with...just long enough to get them to participate in class. They don't want to believe ME; I'm not on television, after all.

pitbulllady

I don't like particularly spiders, I'll take them outside and let them free as often as I can if I find them in the house, but I think a lot of fears about spiders are valid. Not saying that it's okay to smash them and rip their legs off and whatnot, I just think it's normal and perfectly acceptable to dislike their presence, JMO of course :)

Why would it be "normal" and "perfectly acceptable" to dislike the presence of something that could not hurt you? Would it be normal to dislike the presence of a bunny rabbit, or a butterfly? Bunnies can hurt you worse than most spiders can, take it from me. Out of some 34,000 known species of spider, only 12, worldwide, pose any threat to humans in terms of having venom that is medically significant to us. That's not a lot, not really a justification for disliking them, nor enough to validate fear of spiders in general. Spiders devour 60 times more insects that all other insect-eating animals combined, which is significant considering how many insect species compete with US for food resources, or carry diseases that can sicken and kill us, and that benefit far, far outweighs any threat that a tiny minority of spiders actually pose to humans. Far from disliking their presence, I encourage and enjoy the presence of anything that will eat mosquitoes, flies and Fire Ants, without posing any threat to me at all. I do have to admit, though, that I can better accept people who run screaming like Eduardo from things that scare them, rather than feeling compelled to kill everything that scares them to try to prove they're not scared, and then boast about it later as though they've saved the world, or worse yet, post pics of the dead animal they just bravely vanquished on the internet, as though seeking a reward.

pitbulllady

Well, yeah, spiders could hurt you. Google spider bite (I would advise most of those people in the pictures to go to the doctor sooner buuut whatever). I think it's just normal human instinct to avoid spiders rather than gladly accept their presence, and that normal human instinct should not be mocked. My dogs will get spooked at toads and large beetles. They don't know if they can or can't hurt you, all they know is that they should stay away and they approach very cautiously. Are they just 'stupid dogs' for avoiding something that is pretty much harmless, according to statistics? Course not! Just like I think you mentioned in a post a long time ago, there were people from another country (I'll hazard a guess at Mexico or somewhere thereabouts but I'm not sure) who were afraid of spiders. That instinct and knowledge that spiders can be harmful is what keeps them and their kids safe and I sure as heck wouldn't tell them they're wrong for doing that.

I think it's a little silly to be afraid of something only if it can cause a huge amount of damage or kill you. I'm not only cautious about horses because they can kill you, in fact they hurt people a lot more than they kill. They can still bruise you, break bones, crush you, break the skin...and I don't want that to happen. I also don't know much about horses, just like I don't know much about spiders so I would rather stay away with a little fear rather than learn all about all of them and which ones to fear and which ones are safe. There are a lot more concerns in my life, and I'm sure other peoples lives, than spiders, so a safe alternative would be just to avoid them alltogether. Like I said, I don't think it's right to smash them or torment them or kill them just for being in your house, I'll escort them outside with a handy dandy piece of paper and a cup or magazine, and bid them farewell and good luck finding a home or reuniting with the kids, but I don't think fear of spiders should be seen as an act of stupidity.

Spider bites suck, too. I get nasty reactions to a lot of other bites of the crawly, 6+ legged variety.

ETA: I'm with you with the people posting pictures/videos of stuff like that, it's pretty disgusting and I really don't know what people do it for, such as the person throwing a puppy off of a cliff or videos of people tormenting snakes and using shovels to kill them, etc. :(

Googling "spider bite" is NOT a very accurate way to determine if spiders in general are or are not harmful. UNLESS you actually SEE and feel a spider bite you, and then experience an obvious reaction at the exact same spot where the bite occurred, it's impossible to make a determination of "spider bite" for a skin lesion/sore. "Spider bite" has become a medical euphemism for "I have no idea what's really wrong with you, what caused that wound, or how to treat it, so I'm going to blame a spider". Doctors are notorious for making that determination, even blaming spider species which aren't found anywhere NEAR where the alleged victim lives, when in fact, many, many different factors, most of them not animal-related, can result in some pretty horrific skin lesions, including MRSA, ingrown hairs, or embedded small foreign objects or even materials like fibers from clothing that the body reacts to. Many of the so-called "spider bite" pics circulating all over the internet are actually bites from venomous snakes, not spiders. Like I said, out of 34,000 known species of spider, only 12 are known to have any medical significance at all, which is a very tiny minority, therefore the chances of encountering one that actually is capable of hurting a person is rather slim, and slimmer still are the chances of actually being bitten. I keep and have caught several Black Widows, which ARE medically-significant, yet I've never been bitten or had one even try to bite. Given the sheer numbers of spiders, and the relative few cases of verifiable human envenomations, the fear of spiders is still far, far out of proportion to the actual risk. Spiders cannot be compared to biting insects since such insects DO intentionally "go after" people to bite them, since such insects feed on blood and see us as part of their food supply, whereas spider bites are 100% defensive and are delivered as a last resort, because the spider's life is in imminent danger.

pitbulllady

You know, I still haven't been able to totally conquer my fear of spiders, but I held a rose hair tarantula on Tuesday while I was at work (I work at a pet store), and I have to say...I'm totally in love. I had the same rose hair out with me for a while today while I was at work, and she's such a little sweetie! I want to buy her so much! I may just have to get her.:P

You actully handle a spider? I'm dead afraid of those, I'll NEVER touch one.

Peace and Love: J.M Manucy aka iluvBlooQKazoo

Tarantula's really aren't that bad. I'll tell the truth, I was dead afraid to even touch her. But after holding her, she didnt even feel like a spider. More like a fuzzy little...something, I don't know.:P

Oh man - I was going through my kitchen cupboard today and I discovered that a couple of spiders had taken up residence in this packet of curly straws for god knows how long. I think one of them may have been dead - it was kind of hard to decipher whether it was actually moving or just being knocked around my movement of the straws when I picked up the packet. After I'd emptied the spiders outside, I kind of had to get rid of the straws, though this had less to do with the spiders than it did the fact that they appeared to be going mouldy anyway. Something tells me that they hadn't been properly washed in a long time.

I handle both tarantulas and "true" spiders on a regular basis. I've got a greater risk of being mauled by one of my house cats than being seriously injured by one of my spiders. Even Black Widows are not aggressive, and yes, I've got several of those, too. It's when people put the spider in a situation, often unknowingly, where the animal has to bite to avoid being squashed, that people wind up being envenomated, but few spiders are capable of really causing a serious reaction, anyway.

Tarantulas are very soft and furry. They don't feel like any other furry, aka mammalian, animal, though, but more like a stuffed plush toy. Other spiders can feel pretty neat, too; Golden Argiopes feel like velvet.

pitbulllady

I'll still never touch a spider of any kind even if you try to pay me, I still won't, but you know thats just me, I'm actully afraid of more then one thing. Like, for instants, the dark, I've no clue what's in it and I don't EVER want to know.

Peace and Love: J.M Manucy aka iluvBlooQKazoo

Tarantulas are really cute. I loved holding the one I posted a few pages ago; it was like velvet, but it had some weight, too - I'm still afraid of Black Widows and those long-legged thingies, though I have no idea why about the latter.

But thats you, you can handle spiders, well tarantulas. I can't I'm scared it'll bite me or something, I won't even handle a snake I'll pet them though but it creeps me out. My older brother has one in a fish tank (a snake).

Peace and Love: J.M Manucy aka iluvBlooQKazoo

Spider USED to creep me out, too, but I was determined not to let a fear get the better of me. I could not justify defending snakes against the many wives' tales and myths and outright stupid reasons people were afraid of THEM, when I myself was falling victim to the same sort of idiocy when it came to spiders, nor could I mentally justify trying to convince people that all Pit Bull-type dogs weren't the demonic, savage unpredictable killers so many had been taught they were, if I believed that about a little spider. I met my fears head-on, by accepting a free Rose-haired tarantula that a fellow teacher offered me, several years ago, after her son got married and moved out, leaving his former pet behind. I also got myself a digital camera, and I started taking pictures, not just of that spider, but of spiders outside and inside the house. I started observing them closely, and trying to find out more about them. I got more tarantulas...and more tarantulas...and more. Fear turned into fascination, which turned into some sort of affection, as I realized that 99% of what I'd thought I "knew" about spiders was bull-droppings! I realized that even the ones which WERE capable of seriously injuring or even killing me, which are very, very few and far between, had no desire at all to do so, since they could not EAT me. I knew that having a great fear of something that for the most part cannot harm me at all was pointless and waste of time and emotional energy, and as someone who is getting "up there" in years, I certainly did not want to waste what time I had left being all stressed out and scared of something that could not harm me, not when there are sure plenty of really scary things out there which CAN. I'd strongly recommend anyone do the same, before a fear becomes a true phobia-a mental illness which can severely cripple a person, emotionally and even physically, putting themselves and others around them in far greater danger than the actual subject of the phobia itself ever could.

pitbulllady

Yeah, I get what your going at but I can't get over it that easyly though, I don't mind fake ones or ones that are dead its just the way they move that freaks me out. I did kill four of them last night while cleaning my room, but it kinda scared me, I had a bad exsperince when I was younger.

Peace and Love: J.M Manucy aka iluvBlooQKazoo