Giant spiders invade Australian Outback town

Brian R. VanCise

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I do not mind spider's as long as they stay outside! :)

Actually it is fascinating to watch them at work!
icon6.gif
 

Flea

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Okay, I'm going to assume here it is just me...

But really, none of our big, strong, experienced, skilled martial arts friends here can handle a little furry friend? Pity, you just need to respect them, like any possible opponent... and I still think he's cute.

Thank you!! The irony had not escaped me either. :lfao:

And for the record, I don't think they're cute.
 

Xue Sheng

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if you do doubt your courage or your strength, come no further, for death awaits you all with nasty, big, pointy teeth. :D

I’m not a big fan of spiders; I tend to squash them if I find them in the house but if outside I leave them alone if they leave me alone. However as already mentioned, a spider this size is why they make shotguns. Actually my first wife wanted to buy a pet tarantula and I forget how much the cost at the time but I told her it was an awful lot of money to pay for a dead bug because I would load up the shotgun and kill it.

Here is more info by the way on the Australian creepy crawly...with nasty, big, pointy teeth :D

http://amonline.net.au/spiders/resources/general.htm#bird
The term 'bird-eating spider' usually refers to large spiders from the family Theraphosidae. These spiders are also referred to as tarantulas. In Australia the theraphosids are represented by the whistling spiders (Selenocosmia sp.). These ground-dwelling spiders are big enough to prey on small frogs and reptiles, but are not known to eat birds. They are also known as barking spiders.

And surprisingly it is not the biggest Australia has to offer

http://amonline.net.au/spiders/resources/general.htm#australia
Australia's biggest spiders belong to the same family as the Goliath Spider. They are the whistling spiders. The northern species Selenocosmia crassipes can grow to 6 cm in body length with a leg span of 16 cm

This is not the biggest in the world….this one is

http://amonline.net.au/spiders/resources/general.htm#biggest
The biggest spider in the world is the Goliath Spider, Theraphosa leblondi. It lives in coastal rainforests in northern South America. Its body can grow to 9 cm in length (3.5 inches) and its leg span can be up to 28 cm (11 inches). (from: Carwardine, M. 1995. The Guinness Book of Animal Records. Guinness Publishing.)
 

theletch1

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Xue, if it has big, pointy teeth you're supposed to use the Holy Hand Grenade. And count to three...not to two.. the count shall be three. ;)
I love Monty Python references.
 

Stac3y

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Love the Python too...

Oh, and if anyone wants some fun, try googling "Camel Spiders"... go on, dare you.

Why, oh WHY must I be unable to refuse a dare? Iraq is now permanently off my list of vacation spots. <shudder>
 

Chris Parker

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Aww, I almost feel bad about that, you're running out of holiday destinations...

How about this? New Zealand. Next door to us here in Australia, but totally devoid of venomous spiders and snakes. Very pretty too. I had a New Zealander as a housemate for a while, he never could get used to how many things here could kill him that he had never encountered growing up...
 

Stac3y

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Hmmmm. New Zealand is a possibility. I love Flight of the Conchords. :)
 

Tez3

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Love the Python too...

Oh, and if anyone wants some fun, try googling "Camel Spiders"... go on, dare you.

One of our students went to Iraq with her regiment and as she was the 'cage fighter she was the one the guys ( roughie toughie infantry soldiers) let fight off the camel spiders.
In the UK we have 14 native species of spider who bite but beyond swelling and reddening there's no other damage so no deaths no even from allergies. I like spiders too, always put them outside if they are in the house, we have some quite big ones as we live in the country. We do worry about camel spiders though funnily enough as we also live on the garrison where they may have stowed away in the army kit and have entered 'illegally'. there's been poisonous spiders found on imported bananas though around the country though it's rare.
 
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Creepy crawlies don't bother me at all. I love insects, and as a girl scout I was notorious for chasing the other girls around with them on camping trips. :whip1: I'm especially fond of spiders.

There are only two bugs I can't stand ... cockroaches and tarantulas. I won't even get close enough to a roach to stomp it. I don't live in a region where I'd encounter tarantulas outside of the zoo. As such, I thank you kindly for the warning on your link.

Cockroaches are my second favorite animal, after crocodiles. Oh well, living in Queensland, I have nothing against big spiders, its the little poisonous ones like red backs that I don't like.
 

teekin

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Xue, if it has big, pointy teeth you're supposed to use the Holy Hand Grenade. And count to three...not to two.. the count shall be three. ;)
I love Monty Python references.

Dude, I'm with you. I Still believe that there are few problems that can't be solved with the sufficient application of C-4. Camel Spiders are a very good example, red fire ants, not so much.:bomb::lol:
lori
 

mook jong man

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Cockroaches are my second favorite animal, after crocodiles. Oh well, living in Queensland, I have nothing against big spiders, its the little poisonous ones like red backs that I don't like.

Being a Queenslander , have you ever seen the Aussie native cockroaches , they are supposed to be the worlds heaviest cockroach at up to 35 grams or 1.2 oz .

I saw one in a petshop down here in Sydney , I couldn't believe the size of it , apparently some people like to keep them as pets.
 
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Being a Queenslander , have you ever seen the Aussie native cockroaches , they are supposed to be the worlds heaviest cockroach at up to 35 grams or 1.2 oz .

I saw one in a petshop down here in Sydney , I couldn't believe the size of it , apparently some people like to keep them as pets.


Yeah I've seen a few Queensland cockroaches which are said to be the bulkiest in the world. Not in the wild though, just in museums and displays at shopping centers. I think they look great, like trilobites. Here's a link to an Aussie roach site so people don't think we only have spiders, cus we also have beaut roaches: http://natureitems.blogspot.com/2006/11/australian-cockroaches-can-be.html
 

Senjojutsu

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Some mind droppings from me when I read this story.

The 1990 Movie, ARACHNOPHOBIA's Tagline:
Eight legs, two fangs and an attitude.

I wonder if this song made the Australian hit parade back in 1974?

"SPIDERS AND SNAKES" by JIM STAFFORD - 1974 - Chorus:
I don't like spiders and snakes
And that ain't what it takes to love me
You fool, you fool
I don't like spiders and snakes
And that ain't what it takes to love me
Like I wanna be loved by you
--------------------------------------

"The itsy bitsy spider crawled up the water spout."
MAYBE NOT IN THIS CASE.
:)

It was only AFTER I had gotten home from my two-week Sydney visit
that I found out about NSW venomous eight-legged natives.
DOH!
 

Tez3

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Camel spiders while being arachnids aren't true spiders though I doubt that's much comfort if bitten by one!
 
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Big Don

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Camel spiders while being arachnids aren't true spiders though I doubt that's much comfort if bitten by one!
Shoot Tez, it isn't much comfort seeing pictures of them...
 

geezer

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Giant spiders invade Australian Outback town
Times Online EXCERPT WARNING! PICTURES AT LINK! WARNING!
May 6, 2009
Sophie Tedmanson in Sydney
Australia is known around the world for its large and deadly creepy crawlies, but even locals have been shocked by the size of the giant venomous spiders...

...Get me a shotgun and Ronald McDonald's shoes! Holy CRAP

OK, I googled this just to be sure. For what small comfort this is worth, the ruler in that photo is marked in centimeters, not inches! The Australian eastern tarantula is a big'un and its body can reach 6 cm. in length, or nearly 2.5 inches. The legs can stretch out to over 16 cm or about 6.5 inches.

Still, like most Yanks, my first thought was that the ruler was marked in inches, meaning that that these spiders, legs and all, would be over 16 inches long, apparently surviving on a diet of chihuahuas and stray cats!

BTW, I'm from Arizona and used to spend the summers out on my Grandad's ranch. What you Aussies call a "station", I believe. Now we don't have anything near as venemous as you guys, but we do have scorpions, centipedes, and widow-spiders, recluse spiders, "hualapai tiger" bugs, desert tarantulas (a good deal smaller than that beastie in the picture), velvet ants, rattlers and a few other nasties too. Oh and we've also got a smaller version of that "camel-spider" thingie. We call it a "sun-spider" or solpugid. Uh-ugly! Anyway, the ranch was sold in back '94, and now I live in the middle of civilization... if you can call it that (Phoenix). But I still shake out my shoes, hard, every day before I put them on. And stories like this don't help!!!
 
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