| View previous topic :: View next topic |
| Author |
Message |
Anome_ Faceless Man
Great Old One Joined: 23 May 2002 Total posts: 5377 Location: Left, and to the back. Age: 45 Gender: Male |
 Posted: 01-09-2011 23:36 Post subject: |
 |
|
|
| Quote: | | Mine is called Rolling Pin, he even has his own song to the tune of The Internationale: "Oh Rolling Pin, Oh Rolling Pin, please go away, you can't come in." |
That looks more like it goes to O Tanenbaum (or The Red Flag, if you prefer) than The Internationale.
I prefer the original setting for The Red Flag, myself. To the tune of The White Cockade. Although O Tanenbaum is easier to sing secretly at Christmas Carol services. |
|
| Back to top |
|
 |
| CarlosTheDJ Dazed and confused for so long its not true
Great Old One Joined: 01 Feb 2007 Total posts: 1927 Location: Sussex Age: 37 Gender: Male |
| Posted: 02-09-2011 19:01 Post subject: |
|
|
|
We had a spider that was too big to fit under a pint glass!
It was about ten years ago, in a basement flat in Brighton. |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
| eyepod enhanced in post-production
Joined: 04 Jan 2004 Total posts: 218 Gender: Unknown |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
| Mythopoeika Boring petty conservative
Joined: 18 Sep 2001 Total posts: 9109 Location: Not far from Bedford Gender: Unknown |
| Posted: 03-09-2011 20:34 Post subject: |
|
|
|
 |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
| disgruntledgoth Great Old One Joined: 15 Jul 2005 Total posts: 350 Age: 25 Gender: Male |
| Posted: 13-09-2011 15:40 Post subject: |
|
|
|
I love spiders! I have 4 taranulas and one false widow at the minute  |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
| rynner2 What a Cad!
Great Old One Joined: 13 Dec 2008 Total posts: 21362 Location: Under the moon Gender: Male |
| Posted: 17-09-2011 13:12 Post subject: |
|
|
|
'It came with my online shopping': Mystery shopper hands in large hairy tarantula to Chessington Zoo
By Daily Mail Reporter
Last updated at 12:15 PM on 17th September 2011
There is always the risk of not knowing exactly what you will get when once you have ordered something online.
But the last thing you would expect to find scuttling around among your goods is a large, hairy tarantula, which is what happened to one mystery shopper. 
Horrified by the fearsome looking creature, the middle-aged woman immediately took it to Chessington Zoo, south-west London, where she handed it over.
'She didn't want to leave any details. She said she'd bought something online, and when it arrived she'd spotted something in the bottom of the box, and she didn't want to keep it,' said Rob Ward, one of the zoo's spider experts, to the Independent.
He said the woman wouldn't say what she ordered or where it came from but several months later staff are still baffled as to what type of species it is. 'It's very fast, it's very aggressive, and it's very big,' he said.
It is thought the creature could be a type of African baboon spider, of which there are at least 49, with around 900 different types of tarantula.
The spiders feed on lizards, small mammals and crickets in the wild but the one being kept at the zoo is being fed on insects.
It spends most of its time hiding away in its enclosure, a large sweet jar in an office where staff work, but sometimes gets a little adventurous and gives workers the run around.
Mr Ward said that it is only handled with gloves, because it might be poisonous, which makes it harder to find out the sex because they are prevented from manipulating it in such a way to find out.
Tests can be performed to find out the exact type and where it is likely to have lived in the past but this can only be done once it has died.
It is only thought to be a couple of years old and currently spends most of its day building a web around some sticks.
Staff have decided not to put it on display, mainly because they are unsure of what it is and wouldn't know how to label it. They also haven't decided on an appropriate name for it.
Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2038476/It-came-online-shopping-Mystery-shopper-hands-large-hairy-tarantula-Chessington-Zoo.html#ixzz1YD8ek6Y2 |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
| Mythopoeika Boring petty conservative
Joined: 18 Sep 2001 Total posts: 9109 Location: Not far from Bedford Gender: Unknown |
| Posted: 17-09-2011 15:54 Post subject: |
|
|
|
It's most strange that they haven't been able to identify it.
The bit I don't understand is this:
| Quote: | Mr Ward said that it is only handled with gloves, because it might be poisonous, which makes it harder to find out the sex because they are prevented from manipulating it in such a way to find out.
Tests can be performed to find out the exact type and where it is likely to have lived in the past but this can only be done once it has died. |
Why does it have to be dead before they can identify its species? |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
| Pietro_Mercurios Heuristically Challenged
Gender: Unknown |
| Posted: 17-09-2011 17:57 Post subject: |
|
|
|
| Mythopoeika wrote: | It's most strange that they haven't been able to identify it.
The bit I don't understand is this:
| Quote: | Mr Ward said that it is only handled with gloves, because it might be poisonous, which makes it harder to find out the sex because they are prevented from manipulating it in such a way to find out.
Tests can be performed to find out the exact type and where it is likely to have lived in the past but this can only be done once it has died. |
Why does it have to be dead before they can identify its species? |
They probably have to perform a vivisection on it, to find out what bits they have and where they go.
Moved from Chat to The Human Condition.
P_M |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
| disgruntledgoth Great Old One Joined: 15 Jul 2005 Total posts: 350 Age: 25 Gender: Male |
| Posted: 18-09-2011 16:42 Post subject: |
|
|
|
| because a lot of species look superficially similar, and sometimes the only way to work out species is via the structures inside the legs, the fangs, and even down to the profile of the bristles on them |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
| Mal_Content Great Old One Joined: 03 Jul 2009 Total posts: 779 Gender: Unknown |
| Posted: 19-09-2011 12:41 Post subject: |
|
|
|
seems to be a lot of spiders around indoors atm.
have put 5 out (using jam jar method) in past week or so.
last one was walking over me so he just had to go |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
| LordRsmacker Great Old One Joined: 01 May 2006 Total posts: 490 Location: Warwicks. Gender: Male |
| Posted: 05-10-2011 20:21 Post subject: |
|
|
|
| Pietro_Mercurios wrote: |
They probably have to perform a vivisection on it, to find out what bits they have and where they go. |
They'd certainly be looking at putting bits of it back together if it crawled out of my shopping, I'd clog it (after shitting my strides).
My parents were in their lounge the other night and said a MASSIVE spider emerged and after every few steps would leap up in the air. WTF? Apparently it was like it was on springs. How big was it? Well, they couldn't actually tell me, they had both left the room at that point, each fighting to be the first out of the door (and both beaten to it by the dog who took one look at the beast and abandoned them to their fate. This being the dog that will kill anything that crawls, slithers, hops or flaps into range. If she was having none of it, it must have been pretty scary...)
I might as well confess to being scared by a fluffy kitten the other week too, whilst camping in the South of France, because I thought it was a spider. Lemme explain:
It was the end of the day, the sun was sinking fast, I was sitting cooking my tea, when I saw something move out of the corner of my eye...SPIDER!!!! Nope, not so, it was a bastard kitten, black as night, but the bloody thing was walking in such a way that it appeared in the corner of my eye, just like a big black hairy spider, it was sort of walking like a newborn foal, all exaggerated steps, each leg brought up high and set down gingerly. Most disturbing, especially as I spilled my tea.
I hate spiders. (And very young black kittens) |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
| Pietro_Mercurios Heuristically Challenged
Gender: Unknown |
| Posted: 05-10-2011 20:34 Post subject: |
|
|
|
How very timely. Just read this story.
| Quote: | http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-beds-bucks-herts-15182118
Venomous spider's nest found in Buckinghamshire garden
BBC online. 5 October 2011
The nest of a biting venomous spider has been found in a Buckinghamshire garden and council officers have warned residents to be on the alert for more.
Milton Keynes pest controllers have dealt with the nest of a false widow spider but believe there may be others.
The nest was found in Bletchley and officers warn the spiders give a bite which is not lethal but is painful.
They are closely related to the black widow, Liam Mooney from Milton Keynes trading standards said.
"They won't kill you but one person's already had to go to hospital with symptoms including chest pain, nausea and vomiting."
The small spiders are related to the black widow and look similar to them but do not have the distinctive red spot.
Specialised insecticides
"Often in nature small things like these spiders carry a powerful punch and people should take precautions if they suffer a bite and go to hospital if they experience severe local pain, chest pains or nausea," Mr Mooney said.
"The nest in Bletchley was behind a wooden panel and that's the kind of environment these spiders like - or where there are old logs, leaves or damp places."
The spiders are believed to have travelled to England on a boat and were first recorded more than 100 years ago in the South West.
"They are making their way eastwards as the weather gets better," Mr Mooney said.
"The large cotton wool structure found at the nest site is full of eggs so there may be a lot of spiders in the vicinity so people should be on the alert especially if they have children or pets."
The pest control team used specialised insecticides not available to the public to deal with the nest.
"The spiders have larger fangs than other species and venom behind them. The bite is worse than a wasp sting and instant," Mr Mooney said.
He said anyone who suspects they may have a nest should contact Milton Keynes trading standards pest control unit. |
|
|
| Back to top |
|
|
| rynner2 What a Cad!
Great Old One Joined: 13 Dec 2008 Total posts: 21362 Location: Under the moon Gender: Male |
| Posted: 11-10-2013 07:52 Post subject: |
|
|
|
False widow spider bites footballer Steve Harris
An amateur footballer from Devon has been sidelined after being bitten by Britain's most venomous spider.
Team-mates of Elmore Football Club player Steve Harris thought he was joking when he pulled out of the squad because of the injury.
But the 22-year-old had been bitten in his sleep by a false widow spider and had to undergo an emergency operation at Torbay Hospital.
The defender now has an open wound where surgeons cut away the poison.
Mr Harris, from Dawlish, who turns out for the Tiverton-based side in the South West Peninsula Premier League, has been told he cannot play football for at least three weeks.
He said: "When I woke up I had a pain in my side - a stinging feeling. I didn't take that much notice until it started swelling and the pain got worse.
"The area around the bite mark just ballooned and grew and grew.
"It was only when the area started to turn black, some four days after I first noticed the bite, that I decided I ought to go to hospital."
Torbay Hospital said Mr Harris was first seen by his GP who diagnosed the spider bite and told him the surgery had seen six similar bites in the previous week.
"They told me the false black widow spider was the culprit," Mr Harris said.
"They operated on me immediately and it took half an hour to cut away the area around the bite to get at the poison. I now have an open wound and have to wait for it to heal over.
"I was in agony. I have never had pain like that before in my life. It's still very painful now. I still can't sleep properly and find it virtually impossible to get in and out of a car."
In his teens he had spells at Plymouth Argyle, Norwich City, Yeovil Town and Salisbury, and joined Elmore two years ago.
His friends still thought he was pulling their leg and it was only when he showed them a photo of his wound that they believed him.
The false widow spider (steatoda nobilis) is the most dangerous of the 12 species of biting spider known in Britain.
It is thought to have arrived in Britain in crates of fruit from the Canary Islands in the late 19th Century, with the first reported sighting in Torquay in 1879.
There have been no reported deaths from its bite in the UK.
The spider, which is about the size of a 50p piece, belongs to the same family as the infamous black widow, although it is nowhere near as toxic.
The severity of symptoms depends on the amount of venom injected but can include severe swelling, chest pains and tingling of fingers.
The Natural History Museum said a succession of mild winters had resulted in a significant increase in the number of reported sightings and bites.
Conservationists believe that changes in climate could be encouraging the spider to make itself at home in new areas.
Buglife entomologist Steven Falk said false widow spiders were "ponderous, very slow moving and not at all aggressive".
However, without "hard evidence" he said it was difficult to know how many bites - including Mr Harris's - they were responsible for and how many could be attributable to other insects, such as mosquitoes.
---------------------------------------------
FALSE WIDOW FACTS
Latin name steatoda nobilis
Arrived in south-west England in the 1870s
Britain's most venomous spider
Distinctive cream markings on bulbous body
Brown with reddish-orangey legs
Eat insects, invertebrates and even other spiders.
Preferred habitat - warm, dark places
Webs normally made off the ground at height
Source: Natural History Museum
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-devon-24470023 |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
| Isis177 Great Old One Joined: 22 May 2004 Total posts: 425 Location: Australia Gender: Unknown |
| Posted: 12-10-2013 13:13 Post subject: |
|
|
|
Last week I was looking through the goods at a garage sale. I felt a tap on the shoulder and turned to see the owner pointing to a huntsman on the garage wall.
It was just an average sized one and I told him to get a glass and a piece of paper and take it out to the garden. This mind you is a young six foot chap quaking in his boots.
He declined and it was too high up for me to get so I told him it would go outside and eat the insects.
When I returned the next day because there was a book I thought I might read he had a friend with him and after chatting, the spider reappeared. His friend was of sterner stuff and said he didn't need a glass and picked it up and took it out. |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
| Spudrick68 Great Old One Joined: 08 Jun 2008 Total posts: 1110 Location: sunny Morecambe Age: 45 Gender: Male |
| Posted: 12-10-2013 21:16 Post subject: |
|
|
|
| Living in Australia & being an arachnophobe must be a bloody nightmare. Not only are they big but some of the little 'uns can kill you as well. |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
|
FAQ
Search
Memberlist
Usergroups
Profile
Log in to check your private messages
