Damn I wish I owned a digital camera. Reading through this thread last night, I suddenly remembered this spider I spotted on the fence a few days back. It's only about the size of my little finger nail but really impressive. Black with a pattern of pale yellow spots on its back and reddish brown spots on the under side. And it's got thorns protruding from all over it's back. Don't know whether it's trying to look like something else or just scary.
But get this. When I was out in the yard just now I've noticed that several of the main structural threads of its orb web are attached to the electrified wire at the top of the fence (no I don't live in Stalag 13 - it keeps the cows out).
I guess silk isn't a great conductor and I know spiders can "throw" web strands but I would have thought it would have had to go up onto the electric wire at some stage in the web spinning process.
Could it "feel" the current and know to avoid it? I can't believe it could survive touching it. It'll give a human a hefty jolt. I'm sure a spider would be fried.
Anyway, it's doing very well for itself in the food department. A veritable smorgasbord of spider delights trapped in there.
I'd love to see that spider - especially since it's so tiny. Horns all over its back? wow. I can very well imagine that he DOES 'feel' the current - I mean, web spiders' whole survival sensory-system is set up on the basis of feeling the slightest vibration, right? So it makes sense.
In fact, on chilly days, I bet getting close to the wire gives your spider enough stimulating vibrations to function like four cups'a coffee. heh
That brings up something I've thought about from time to time:
Would it be more humane to catch the spider and take it outside? It can obviously survive in here, but it won't get the chance to reproduce.
I guess since it presumably came in of it's own choice I'll keep it here.
J
Hi Jeff -
I had a black widow in a web in a corner of the garage. I just couldn't leave it there to hatch out a zillion babies, so I captured her in a large glass jar, drove her in the car a few blocks to a vacant lot, and found a dark place where she could build a web and start life afresh. I know that may seem crazy, but I didn't want her in the garden either, because the neighbor's cat always hung out in my yard, and I didn't want him getting stung.
As it was, that cat was poisoned by an animal-hater neighbor two houses down. This neighbor HATED for any animals to be in his yard. He assumed this yellow cat was mine, since it was always sitting in a shady, grassy spot in my front yard on hot days. So he got an empty tuna can, filled it with anti-freeze, and put it under my bushes for the cat to drink. I didn't notice the can in time.
This once-healthy tomcat suddenly became skeletal-looking, and appeared horribly ill and ravaged; but his constitution was so strong that he was still hanging in there, spending time in my yard. After awhile, I didn't see him anymore. Turned out he was my next door neighbor's cat, and he was like 18 years old and going strong, *before* the guy two doors down poisoned him.
What makes me terribly sad is the agony and suffering that cat must have endured before he died.
I had a black widow in a web in a corner of the garage. I just couldn't leave it there to hatch out a zillion babies, so I captured her in a large glass jar, drove her in the car a few blocks to a large vacant lot, and found a dark place where she could build a web and start life afresh. I know that may seem crazy, but I didn't want her in the garden either, because the neighbor's cat always hung out in my yard, and I didn't want him getting stung.
As it was, that cat was poisoned by an animal-hater neighbor two houses down. This neighbor HATED for any animals to be in his yard. He assumed this yellow cat was mine, since it was always sitting in a shady, grassy spot in my front yard on hot days. So he got an empty tuna can, filled it with anti-freeze, and put it under my bushes for the cat to drink. I didn't notice the can in time.
This once-healthy tomcat suddenly became skeletal-looking, and looked horribly ill and ravaged; but his constitution was so strong that he was still hanging in there, spending time in my yard. After awhile, I didn't see him anymore. Turned out he was my next door neighbor's cat, and he was like 18 years old and going strong, *before* the guy two doors down poisoned him.
What makes me terribly sad is the agony and suffering that cat must have endured before he died.
One of the reasons i'm against gun ownership is that in a situation like this i would b very capable of shooting that dumb ass next door neighbor, no regrets whatsoever.
That and the whole 8 eyes thing, that really gets to me.
Hi WR -
Back when my ex was traveling in Asia, at one point he was staying in a primitive sort of 'tent resort'. He got all undressed to bathe, and just as he was stepping into the shower, his eye caught a glimpse of the gigantic tropical spider that was sitting on the drain. It was the size of a man's out-stretched hand and fingers.
He went flying naked outside the tent into the outdoor assembly area, undoubtedly shrieking in a "female-sees-a-mouse" sort of a way. hahaha. wish I could have been there to see that: a guy who thought nothing of handling rattlers, coral snakes, cobras, etc., running and screaming bloody murder from a stationary spider. (though, granted, the spider *was* truly enormous )
On the topic of insects and spiders and marijuana. . .
last night at like 3 in the morning i wandered into my room from the porch with a buncha friends. and this is what is on the bed:
ewwww. it took us like 5 minutes to catch the fucker. it was mad fast. we flushed it down the toilet. that was so gross. but it made us laugh for like ever.
On the topic of insects and spiders and marijuana. . .
last night at like 3 in the morning i wandered into my room from the porch with a buncha friends. and this is what is on the bed:
ewwww. it took us like 5 minutes to catch the fucker. it was mad fast. we flushed it down the toilet. that was so gross. but it made us laugh for like ever.
Those things are SICK! They popped up all the time in my room back when I was living on the east coast. Ick - Gave me shivers every time I saw one. That picture totally does them justice - it's pretty much actual size of the ones I found. Does anyone know what they are? Centipedes? Spider-things? Just plain scary?
I had a black widow in a web in a corner of the garage. I just couldn't leave it there to hatch out a zillion babies, so I captured her in a large glass jar, drove her in the car a few blocks to a vacant lot, and found a dark place where she could build a web and start life afresh. I know that may seem crazy, but I didn't want her in the garden either, because the neighbor's cat always hung out in my yard, and I didn't want him getting stung.
As it was, that cat was poisoned by an animal-hater neighbor two houses down. This neighbor HATED for any animals to be in his yard. He assumed this yellow cat was mine, since it was always sitting in a shady, grassy spot in my front yard on hot days. So he got an empty tuna can, filled it with anti-freeze, and put it under my bushes for the cat to drink. I didn't notice the can in time.
This once-healthy tomcat suddenly became skeletal-looking, and appeared horribly ill and ravaged; but his constitution was so strong that he was still hanging in there, spending time in my yard. After awhile, I didn't see him anymore. Turned out he was my next door neighbor's cat, and he was like 18 years old and going strong, *before* the guy two doors down poisoned him.
What makes me terribly sad is the agony and suffering that cat must have endured before he died.
Man, that is sooooo Evil - I hate that sort of thing.
Animal cruelty is kind of a weird thing sometimes - I mean, trying to take out the cat with anti-freeze is pretty grim. But the post earlier from curiousuburb about NASA testing on spiders doesn't seem as harsh. I think there seems to be a move away from experimenting on small fluffy rabbits and stuff and more toward spiders and insects. Probably supposed to be more PC or something \ But then again, Nasa's spiders did get free drugs!
I was away at the weekend and (s)he seems to either be in hiding or has moved on to summier climes. Will find out tonight...
Spiders really scare me usually - this one is just about tolerable on the fear:size scale. So letting him stay has been a bit of an effort on my part- usually I relocate the smaller ones or, I'm ashamed to say, kill the bigger ones I feel quite lucky though listening to some of you folks with black widows and brown recluses lurking around the home - at least here in the UK all our spiders are pretty harmless
I have this really strong memory (a bit Blade Runnerish) of a fight i saw once between a wasp and a spider. The wasp had got caught in the web and was pretty badly stuck and was struggling like mad to break free. The spider was very crafty though and nipped in for a quick sting and then retreated for a bit. Since the spider was so much smaller than the wasp, it made several attacks. The wasp was starting to slow down a bit and was trying to sting the spider but was too badly caught. After a few more attacks from the spider, the venom must have been starting to kick-in quite badly so the wasp tried to kill itself with it's own sting.
Just imagine being that wasp - the spider is too small to paralyse you in one go, so it makes several attacks on you. What a slow way to go...
One of the weirdest / surreal things I've ever seen!
Comments
Originally posted by crazychester
Damn I wish I owned a digital camera. Reading through this thread last night, I suddenly remembered this spider I spotted on the fence a few days back. It's only about the size of my little finger nail but really impressive. Black with a pattern of pale yellow spots on its back and reddish brown spots on the under side. And it's got thorns protruding from all over it's back. Don't know whether it's trying to look like something else or just scary.
But get this. When I was out in the yard just now I've noticed that several of the main structural threads of its orb web are attached to the electrified wire at the top of the fence (no I don't live in Stalag 13 - it keeps the cows out).
I guess silk isn't a great conductor and I know spiders can "throw" web strands but I would have thought it would have had to go up onto the electric wire at some stage in the web spinning process.
Could it "feel" the current and know to avoid it? I can't believe it could survive touching it. It'll give a human a hefty jolt. I'm sure a spider would be fried.
Anyway, it's doing very well for itself in the food department. A veritable smorgasbord of spider delights trapped in there.
I'd love to see that spider - especially since it's so tiny. Horns all over its back? wow. I can very well imagine that he DOES 'feel' the current - I mean, web spiders' whole survival sensory-system is set up on the basis of feeling the slightest vibration, right? So it makes sense.
In fact, on chilly days, I bet getting close to the wire gives your spider enough stimulating vibrations to function like four cups'a coffee.
Originally posted by jeffyboy
That brings up something I've thought about from time to time:
Would it be more humane to catch the spider and take it outside? It can obviously survive in here, but it won't get the chance to reproduce.
I guess since it presumably came in of it's own choice I'll keep it here.
J
Hi Jeff -
I had a black widow in a web in a corner of the garage. I just couldn't leave it there to hatch out a zillion babies, so I captured her in a large glass jar, drove her in the car a few blocks to a vacant lot, and found a dark place where she could build a web and start life afresh. I know that may seem crazy, but I didn't want her in the garden either, because the neighbor's cat always hung out in my yard, and I didn't want him getting stung.
As it was, that cat was poisoned by an animal-hater neighbor two houses down. This neighbor HATED for any animals to be in his yard. He assumed this yellow cat was mine, since it was always sitting in a shady, grassy spot in my front yard on hot days. So he got an empty tuna can, filled it with anti-freeze, and put it under my bushes for the cat to drink. I didn't notice the can in time.
This once-healthy tomcat suddenly became skeletal-looking, and appeared horribly ill and ravaged; but his constitution was so strong that he was still hanging in there, spending time in my yard. After awhile, I didn't see him anymore. Turned out he was my next door neighbor's cat, and he was like 18 years old and going strong, *before* the guy two doors down poisoned him.
What makes me terribly sad is the agony and suffering that cat must have endured before he died.
Originally posted by Carol A
Hi Jeff -
I had a black widow in a web in a corner of the garage. I just couldn't leave it there to hatch out a zillion babies, so I captured her in a large glass jar, drove her in the car a few blocks to a large vacant lot, and found a dark place where she could build a web and start life afresh. I know that may seem crazy, but I didn't want her in the garden either, because the neighbor's cat always hung out in my yard, and I didn't want him getting stung.
As it was, that cat was poisoned by an animal-hater neighbor two houses down. This neighbor HATED for any animals to be in his yard. He assumed this yellow cat was mine, since it was always sitting in a shady, grassy spot in my front yard on hot days. So he got an empty tuna can, filled it with anti-freeze, and put it under my bushes for the cat to drink. I didn't notice the can in time.
This once-healthy tomcat suddenly became skeletal-looking, and looked horribly ill and ravaged; but his constitution was so strong that he was still hanging in there, spending time in my yard. After awhile, I didn't see him anymore. Turned out he was my next door neighbor's cat, and he was like 18 years old and going strong, *before* the guy two doors down poisoned him.
What makes me terribly sad is the agony and suffering that cat must have endured before he died.
One of the reasons i'm against gun ownership is that in a situation like this i would b very capable of shooting that dumb ass next door neighbor, no regrets whatsoever.
Originally posted by faust9
HEY, do we have any White Castle burgers?
Reminds me of the time.....
....oh well, nevermind.....
Originally posted by Wrong Robot
That and the whole 8 eyes thing, that really gets to me.
Hi WR -
Back when my ex was traveling in Asia, at one point he was staying in a primitive sort of 'tent resort'. He got all undressed to bathe, and just as he was stepping into the shower, his eye caught a glimpse of the gigantic tropical spider that was sitting on the drain. It was the size of a man's out-stretched hand and fingers.
He went flying naked outside the tent into the outdoor assembly area, undoubtedly shrieking in a "female-sees-a-mouse" sort of a way. hahaha. wish I could have been there to see that: a guy who thought nothing of handling rattlers, coral snakes, cobras, etc., running and screaming bloody murder from a stationary spider.
On the topic of insects and spiders and marijuana. . .
last night at like 3 in the morning i wandered into my room from the porch with a buncha friends. and this is what is on the bed:
ewwww. it took us like 5 minutes to catch the fucker. it was mad fast. we flushed it down the toilet. that was so gross. but it made us laugh for like ever.
Originally posted by xionja
Whoa this thread has good timing.
On the topic of insects and spiders and marijuana. . .
last night at like 3 in the morning i wandered into my room from the porch with a buncha friends. and this is what is on the bed:
ewwww. it took us like 5 minutes to catch the fucker. it was mad fast. we flushed it down the toilet. that was so gross. but it made us laugh for like ever.
Those things are SICK! They popped up all the time in my room back when I was living on the east coast. Ick - Gave me shivers every time I saw one. That picture totally does them justice - it's pretty much actual size of the ones I found. Does anyone know what they are? Centipedes? Spider-things? Just plain scary?
Originally posted by Carol A
Hi Jeff -
I had a black widow in a web in a corner of the garage. I just couldn't leave it there to hatch out a zillion babies, so I captured her in a large glass jar, drove her in the car a few blocks to a vacant lot, and found a dark place where she could build a web and start life afresh. I know that may seem crazy, but I didn't want her in the garden either, because the neighbor's cat always hung out in my yard, and I didn't want him getting stung.
As it was, that cat was poisoned by an animal-hater neighbor two houses down. This neighbor HATED for any animals to be in his yard. He assumed this yellow cat was mine, since it was always sitting in a shady, grassy spot in my front yard on hot days. So he got an empty tuna can, filled it with anti-freeze, and put it under my bushes for the cat to drink. I didn't notice the can in time.
This once-healthy tomcat suddenly became skeletal-looking, and appeared horribly ill and ravaged; but his constitution was so strong that he was still hanging in there, spending time in my yard. After awhile, I didn't see him anymore. Turned out he was my next door neighbor's cat, and he was like 18 years old and going strong, *before* the guy two doors down poisoned him.
What makes me terribly sad is the agony and suffering that cat must have endured before he died.
Man, that is sooooo Evil - I hate that sort of thing.
Animal cruelty is kind of a weird thing sometimes - I mean, trying to take out the cat with anti-freeze is pretty grim. But the post earlier from curiousuburb about NASA testing on spiders doesn't seem as harsh. I think there seems to be a move away from experimenting on small fluffy rabbits and stuff and more toward spiders and insects. Probably supposed to be more PC or something
Spiders really scare me usually - this one is just about tolerable on the fear:size scale. So letting him stay has been a bit of an effort on my part- usually I relocate the smaller ones or, I'm ashamed to say, kill the bigger ones
I have this really strong memory (a bit Blade Runnerish) of a fight i saw once between a wasp and a spider. The wasp had got caught in the web and was pretty badly stuck and was struggling like mad to break free. The spider was very crafty though and nipped in for a quick sting and then retreated for a bit. Since the spider was so much smaller than the wasp, it made several attacks. The wasp was starting to slow down a bit and was trying to sting the spider but was too badly caught. After a few more attacks from the spider, the venom must have been starting to kick-in quite badly so the wasp tried to kill itself with it's own sting.
Just imagine being that wasp - the spider is too small to paralyse you in one go, so it makes several attacks on you. What a slow way to go...
One of the weirdest / surreal things I've ever seen!