Author Topic: Arachnophobes view at your own risk (Read 21270 times)

RocketMan · « **on:** September 02, 2011, 03:17:08 PM »

I was pulling some electronic components out of a storage cabinet for a project when I heard a noise down to my left. This little guy was on the wall.

The quarter next to the glass provides scale.
Certainly not the largest spider around, but it is the biggest one I've seen in my garage to date.

wmenorr67 · « **Reply #1 on:** September 02, 2011, 03:20:51 PM »

Brown Recluse?

grampster · « **Reply #2 on:** September 02, 2011, 03:40:37 PM »

Kill it! Stomp it! Smash it! Nuke it from orbit!! Det cord around the glass!! Then burn it! Yaaaagghhhh.

Jamisjockey · « **Reply #3 on:** September 02, 2011, 03:56:15 PM »

Sweet flaming baby xenu on a pogo stick where in the *expletive deleted*ck do you live that you get spiders that size?

RocketMan · « **Reply #4 on:** September 02, 2011, 04:08:29 PM »

Quote from: wmenorr67 on September 02, 2011, 03:20:51 PM

Brown Recluse?

Nope. Too big, wrong markings, too furry, etc.
It looks like a giant house spider (Tegenaria gigantea), or maybe a 'Hobo' (Tegenaria agrestis). Both are large and the markings are similar. They were imported from Europe some time in the past, where they are considered harmless. However, Hobos have a bad rep in the Northwest, but many say it's undeserved. Lots of discussion back and forth about it.

RocketMan · « **Reply #5 on:** September 02, 2011, 04:09:36 PM »

Quote from: JamisJockey on September 02, 2011, 03:56:15 PM

Sweet flaming baby xenu on a pogo stick where in the *expletive deleted* do you live that you get spiders that size?

Lebanon, Oregon. Those are pretty common in the Northwest, although that one is a rather large specimen.

Fly320s · « **Reply #6 on:** September 02, 2011, 04:23:24 PM »

Any spider that you can hear moving is too big.

AmbulanceDriver · « **Reply #7 on:** September 02, 2011, 05:12:06 PM »

dammit! someone come over with a giant spatula to peel me off the ceiling please! the only reason I can still type is because I happened to have my hands on the keyboard and the panicked clutching took it with me.....

Harold Tuttle · « **Reply #8 on:** September 02, 2011, 05:16:49 PM »

8 LEGGED FREAKS!!!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cAO-sbpW6YM

vaskidmark · « **Reply #9 on:** September 02, 2011, 05:19:25 PM »

Kitty! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RZzv4TVHw4c

stay safe.

lee n. field · « **Reply #10 on:** September 02, 2011, 05:39:58 PM »

Quote from: Fly320s on September 02, 2011, 04:23:24 PM

Any spider that you can hear moving is too big.

+1

birdman · « **Reply #11 on:** September 02, 2011, 06:10:45 PM »

Awww, what a little guy. There are some wolf spiders down here who would love to meet him.

RoadKingLarry · « **Reply #12 on:** September 02, 2011, 06:52:40 PM »

See a few of these guys every year

I killed a big honking Black Widow 2 days ago while sorting a stack of lumber. Should of took a picture first but reflexes took over.

Jamisjockey · « **Reply #13 on:** September 02, 2011, 07:02:12 PM »

Quote from: Fly320s on September 02, 2011, 04:23:24 PM

Any spider that you can hear moving is too big.

QFT. Around here we don't have anything that big!

Regolith · « **Reply #14 on:** September 02, 2011, 07:33:46 PM »

We get wolf spiders down here that are that big; sometimes bigger. Black widows too, though we seem to have killed them off. I've been doing a lot of cleaning and throwing stuff away out in the garage and the shed and I've yet to see a black widow, which is a bit odd, since this place used to be practically infested with them. I did see something that looked like a black widow, but it was tan; I think it was just a house spider. Killed it anyway, just to be sure.

RocketMan · « **Reply #15 on:** September 02, 2011, 07:53:35 PM »

We see pretty big wolf spiders here from time to time. I've found a few in my garage and around the foundation of my house. In fact, that's what I thought this one was until I got a closer look at him.
We don't see too many black widows, fortunately. I think I've seen maybe one or two in the garage in the five years since we've been here.
Keep in mind that some juvenile black widows are not black, instead being mostly white with black spots on the body. They do become completely black with the red hourglass on the belly as they mature. Saw a lot of those in Colorado many years ago, did not know what they were until I did some research.

Regolith · « **Reply #16 on:** September 02, 2011, 08:15:56 PM »

Quote from: RocketMan on September 02, 2011, 07:53:35 PM

Keep in mind that some juvenile black widows are not black, instead being mostly white with black spots on the body. They do become completely black with the red hourglass on the belly as they mature. Saw a lot of those in Colorado many years ago, did not know what they were until I did some research.

Could have been. After you mentioned that, I looked up pictures of black widows on Google. The males sometimes look like smaller, tan females, so it could have been a male as well.

I've also noticed that the ones around here don't get as fat as other widows. Ours tend to be much more lanky. Must be from the low humidity and heat, because they sure as hell aren't lacking prey...

Either way, it's passed on. That spider is no more. It has ceased to be. It's expired and gone to meet its maker. It's a stiff! Bereft of life, it rests in peace. If I hadn't nailed it with a piece of wood it'd be pushing up the daisies. Its metabolic processes are now history. It's off the twig. It's kicked the bucket, it's shuffled off its mortal coil, run down the curtain and joined the bleedin' choir invisibile. It is an ex-spider.

BlueStarLizzard · « **Reply #17 on:** September 02, 2011, 08:22:28 PM »

*shudder* not a fan of spiders.

I killed what I beleive was a black widow the other day at the farm (stomped it but good)

I'vev never seen one before, but it was solid black with a bright red marking.

We get a lot of wolf spiders and dandy longlegs. I kill the wolf spiders, I let the dandies live as long asthey don't walk on me..

RocketMan · « **Reply #18 on:** September 02, 2011, 08:33:58 PM »

Daddy longlegs are not venomous, lacking venom glands. Their "fangs" are actually a very small type of grasping claw, according to Wiki.

Jamisjockey · « **Reply #19 on:** September 02, 2011, 09:25:52 PM »

Longlegs aren't spiders, either.

What is that ugly *expletive deleted*ing thing, by the way, and why did you not incinterate it on sight?

Larry Ashcraft · « **Reply #20 on:** September 02, 2011, 09:45:08 PM »

Oh come on.

There was a tarantula crawling on the lawn earlier this afternoon. He was the size of my hand, almost. He was looking for girl tarantulas, so he wasn't interested in me. I pretty much leave em be.

Quote

dandy longlegs

No dandy spiders around here, ours are daddy longlegs.

RocketMan · « **Reply #21 on:** September 02, 2011, 10:01:53 PM »

Quote from: JamisJockey on September 02, 2011, 09:25:52 PM

Longlegs aren't spiders, either.

True, although they are arachnids.

Quote

What is that ugly *expletive deleted*ing thing, by the way, and why did you not incinterate it on sight?

See post #4 for what they are. I'm not arachnophobic, and kind of like having them around to keep undesirable bugs in check, so no desire to squash'em. Unless they are black widows or brown recluses, then they are toast.

Never seen any tarantulas around these parts that I recall. Too bad, they're neat spiders. Saw a few in SoCal at Stumps and in AZ years ago when I lived there.
Saw one in a gas station restroom on the floor between the toilet I was squatting on and the wall. That was many moons ago, so long ago I forgot where it was. I was a kid traveling with my Dad on business that summer. Idaho, maybe? It was just sitting there, minding it's own business. So I did mine and left.

Jamisjockey · « **Reply #22 on:** September 02, 2011, 10:24:17 PM »

Tarantula story:
Barracks in Yuma, we had a commons area on the second deck, with several pool tables, washer/driers, and TVs. Place to hang out. Several of us were doing just that when one of the guys came back from a det to El Centro. In a coffee can, he had one of the biggest damn tarantulas I've ever seen. So they toss it on the pool table. Its agitated, but not too bad. Then, one of the guys from ARFF starts messing with it. Over and over. Its pissed. Standing up on its back legs with its front legs and fangs up. Needless to say, fire fighter boy is drunk.
He screws with the spider one last time and it sinks its fangs into the meat of his hand between the thumb and forefinger.

He screamed like a little girl. We had a mock MOH ceremony for the spider. Good times.

Larry Ashcraft · « **Reply #23 on:** September 02, 2011, 10:31:28 PM »

Quote

He screws with the spider one last time and it sinks its fangs into the meat of his hand between the thumb and forefinger.

He deserved it, scare the spider enough, and he will defend himself. That seems like a concept that would be understood here, no?

Harold Tuttle · « **Reply #24 on:** September 02, 2011, 11:03:51 PM »

News:

Author Topic: Arachnophobes view at your own risk (Read 21270 times)