An eight legged friend who lives in my tub.

[pitbulllady]

Originally Posted by kaytea

does washington state get Recluse spiders?

Nope, but you DO have the Western Black Widow(Latrodactus mactans hesperus)and an imported European species, called a "Hobo Spider"(Tegenaria agriestis), both of which can be quite nasty. The Hobo Spider's bite can cause a similar necrotic lesion as that of the Brown Recluse, just not quite as bad, and it does heal faster, but still doesn't sound like much fun at all. Hobo Spider males tend to be a bit aggressive, too, and are more likely to bite in the first place than either a Black Widow or a Brown Recluse, both of which will avoid biting if they possibly can. Fortunately, Washington state also has yet-another imported Tegenaria species, T. gigantea, which can get quite large, and is a ruthless killer of its smaller, more venomous(to humans)relative.

pitbulllady

[Tonya]

Uh ohhh..... I did something bad and I didin't mean too!
Okay what happened was, I tried to shuffle the spider on a piece of cardboard to put in in a jar. Well, it freaked out, ran toward under the mopbucket and died. I was really gentle, but I thinkI scared my Little Guy to death! *is sad* Aw, now I feel really bad.... I was thinking about keeping it atleast for a little while and feeding it ladybugs-we have way to many hanging around our house. But...I scared him to death.... He must've been really timid. My Little Guy has gone to a better place.
I don't know what I did wrong.

[pitbulllady]

Originally Posted by Tonya

Uh ohhh..... I did something bad and I didin't mean too!
Okay what happened was, I tried to shuffle the spider on a piece of cardboard to put in in a jar. Well, it freaked out, ran toward under the mopbucket and died. I was really gentle, but I thinkI scared my Little Guy to death! *is sad* Aw, now I feel really bad.... I was thinking about keeping it atleast for a little while and feeding it ladybugs-we have way to many hanging around our house. But...I scared him to death.... He must've been really timid. My Little Guy has gone to a better place.
I don't know what I did wrong.

You might not have done anything wrong, many spider species are masters of "playing 'possum"! Black Widows, Common House Spiders, Black House Spiders, and many others will very convincingly play dead, since birds and lizards are among their main predators, and both are highly stimulated to attack by MOVEMENT. Most lizards that eat spiders won't eat one that's already dead, so the ruse works. Here is a big female Black House Spider(Kukulcania hibernalis) that I caught at school last year curling up and trying to convince me that she was dead. She was just fine, believe me; as soon as I placed her on my hand, out of that plastic cup, she took off like her heels were on fire and her butt was catchin'!



pitbulllady

[kaytea]

Originally Posted by pitbulllady

Nope, but you DO have the Western Black Widow(Latrodactus mactans hesperus)and an imported European species, called a "Hobo Spider"(Tegenaria agriestis), both of which can be quite nasty. The Hobo Spider's bite can cause a similar necrotic lesion as that of the Brown Recluse, just not quite as bad, and it does heal faster, but still doesn't sound like much fun at all. Hobo Spider males tend to be a bit aggressive, too, and are more likely to bite in the first place than either a Black Widow or a Brown Recluse, both of which will avoid biting if they possibly can. Fortunately, Washington state also has yet-another imported Tegenaria species, T. gigantea, which can get quite large, and is a ruthless killer of its smaller, more venomous(to humans)relative.

pitbulllady

oh okay ^_^
thanks for the info

[Tonya]

Well, my spider "played dead" waaaaay earlier today, like around 11 or 12 o'clock, and it's going on 10 now and it still hasen't moved. Y'know, I even gently nudged him with a hanger and the darn little thing is still "playing dead"!-that is if he's been playing that long.
Thanks so much for the advice pbl .
Nine and a half hours playing dead is kinda long though... But this is my first spider, I'm a nervous parent haha !

[koosie]

Originally Posted by pitbulllady

Yeah, I guess in a way, it does!

By the way, what do humans, chimpanzees, Bottlenosed dolphins, gorillas, orangutans, orcas, African Gray Parrots and Jumping spiders have in common?

Hint: It's something quite unique and special in all the Animal Kingdom, something not shared with most other animals, including our familiar dogs and cats. The Jumping spiders are the only invertebrates to exhibit this, which makes them even more unique and special.


pitbulllady

Originally Posted by Sparky

Is it like, self-recognition? Being able to look in a reflective surface and know that it's yourself? And I know that jumping spiders (or at least some/one species) exhibit the ability to memorise prey items, does it have to do with that?

Fascinating! ..and Elephants apparently.