[Hermitt]

Quote:

Originally Posted by VR6ofpain /img/forum/go_quote.gif The last place I lived at had black widows all over. I used to find them inside, in the closet and corners. The outside was ridiculous, literally close to 20 when I first moved in. Luckly I'd go on 'rampages' at night with a flashlight and a stick. I swear people probably thought I was killing an animal as I yelled killed them. You kind of had to yell as you smashed this fat jet black thing with a big red hour glass. I kicked @$$ one night and killed a good 10 of them before I went in for a beer. I think I kind of got a population control going on, since I never found more than 1 or 2 after that. Bastards.

There's definately no shortage of Black Widows here in Calif. They're freekin' everywhere. Especially when you have to crawl a house to do some repair work

 

[Ingo]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Hermitt /img/forum/go_quote.gif There's definately no shortage of Black Widows here in Calif. They're freekin' everywhere. Especially when you have to crawl a house to do some repair work

They're quite a prolific species. I haven't been anywhere that didn't have black widows (I have never been outside North America).

One morning, back when I was in highschool, I had just finished getting ready for church on a Sunday morning and I had just done my hair with hair gel. I was falling asleep in our recliner chair waiting for the rest of my family to finish getting ready. Well, I woke up to the feeling of tiny feet walking aross my scalp. The first thing I did was panic and smashed it down on to the top of my head. That wasn't the greatest idea. As soon as my hand hit my head I felt extreme pain. Like a beesting but about 10x as intense. I couldn't even open my eyes to find my attacker. About a minute later after I became used to the pain, I opened my eyes and started looking on the carpet for whatever had stung or bitten me. It took me a few seconds to see it, but it was a fairly small (about the size of a quarter with it's legs spread out) black widow. Astonishingly, the bite only hurt for about 3 hours and there was no lasting swelling or discoloration. I guess because of the size of the black widow and the location of the bite that it just wasn't all that potent. It did cause me to have trouble sleeping for the next week or so.

A couple months ago I was bitten on the foot by what I assume was a spider while I was sleeping. I woke up with a sharp pain on my long toe of my right foot. Immeadiately I went to the bathroom to see what had happened. There were two very small, red puncture wounds about 2mm apart. I guess it could have been something other than a spider, but it seems logical that was the case.

 

[Elec]

I found this "little" guy on my wall last summer.

To give you an idea of scale, his body was about the size of a dime but the legs were quite long and he was probably a good 6 inches or so from tip to tip. He seemed harmless, and I scooped him up and tossed him outside. I don't like squashing living things, although I make an exception for mosquitoes.

 

[Ingo]

Quote:

Originally Posted by hempcamp /img/forum/go_quote.gif We had these, aka Wind Scorpions and Camel Spiders, in Mali. Some of them were unbelievably huge (like the size of a large shoe) and some incredibly tiny (but fast!). Terrifying to come across at night but not as bad as the darned scorpions. --Chris

We also have those "Wind Scorpions" or "Camel Spiders" in Arizona. They're really neat to mess around with. They're so dang fast. I haven't seen another bug move so fast on the ground. We actually call them 'Solpugids" here.

Here's a pic of what our local species look like.

Were there dangerous species of Scorpions in Mali? There are a few species of scorpions here in Arizona but only one of them is even remotely dangerous. Oddly enough the one that has caused deaths among the young and elderly is a tiny species called the "Bark Scorpion". They're never bigger than 1/2".

 

[DSlayerZX]

I remember, at 8 years old... when I was watching Peter Pan or some Disney movie, I suddenly spotted a huge spider on the wall next to the TV. The spider was as bigger than my 8 years-old-open-hand.

Well... my dad killed it with chemical instantly after we spotted it XD

 

[Inkmo]

When I was living in Japan, I learned that they have rather large, harmless spiders that come in for the warmth during the winter. I learned this, though, only after coming face to face with one while I was in the shower. I just looked up, and there the sucker was next to my head. on the wall. Very scary being locked in a small room naked with such a beast. it was about half the size of my fist.. maybe about as big as my cellphone actually. Speaking of which, I think I have a picture of 'im somewhere....

Other than that, an ex-girlfriend brought over a wild tarantula she caught at a friend's house one night. was pretty neat.

 

[laxx]

I have no problems with spiders until they get to this size...

 

[Zenja]

I've had quite a few great laughs from some of the responses in this thread. Keep going

I don't really see why people consider spiders disgusting. They look clean, and if they have hair, they don't seem disgusting at all to me. They're cool too. I don't think we have anything dangerous around here.

 

[redshifter]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Zenja /img/forum/go_quote.gif I've had quite a few great laughs from some of the responses in this thread. Keep going I don't really see why people consider spiders disgusting. They look clean, and if they have hair, they don't seem disgusting at all to me. They're cool too. I don't think we have anything dangerous around here.

i agree. i do not understand the knee-jerk "AH A SPIDER KILL KILL TORTURE RAPE!" attitude. most spiders are harmless, and serve a good purpose in the home.

if you are worried about poisonous spiders, take ten minutes to learn what kind of poisonous spiders live in you area, and what they look like, and if they prefer to build webs low or high, the shape of the web, etc. then you will know for sure what you are dealing with, and can leave the harmless ones alone.

 

[The Monkey]

They have too many legs.

 

[uraflit]

they just look nasty to me.

sure, i agree they are cool looking animals and everything, but only when viewed through a computer monitor or behind 6" bulletproof plexiglass

i'm afraid of them and all, but i still kill them myself when need be

 

[hYdrociTy]

YOU GUYS ARE MEEEAN!!! T_____T

stupid curiosity piqued this little arachnophobe to click..

 

[Ampl1tude]

Quote:

Originally Posted by laxx /img/forum/go_quote.gif I have no problems with spiders until they get to this size...

What the hell is that?

Is that 2 spiders? Or is it just one huge one?

 

[laxx]

2 Camel Spiders. =[

 

[SweetAdeline]

This thread made me come to the conclusion that all the money in the world couldn't get me to move to Australia.