Tarantula!!!!

these things are awesome

Glad you think so, angele; they are way too much spider for me, though I love snakes, lizards, and others some find creepy....

I've got lots of lizards and some snakes around here too. One thing I've noticed that I think is super cool is the way the lizards watch the birds. Since some birds eat lizards it seems strange to me to see the lizards sitting on the wall in plain sight of the birds. I've seen them behaving like this quite a few times.

You've got me looking at real estate in New Mexico!!

Come on over! You've got mostly the same critters in AZ, don't you? We lived in Wickenburg for just over a year and missed NM so much Kent brought me home! I didn't like that I found it too hot to be outside for most of the year! AZ is absolutely gorgeous though. Kent was born in Phoenix.

Awesome is NOT a word I would use ....

more like SCARY !!!

I wouldn't want to see much less be around one on those.

Gave me the creeps, and chills just looking at it.

LOL, hope I don't have nightmares about that spider.

BTW, how close were you when you took that pic? How BIG do you think it was? YIKES!!!!!

Marilyn

This message was edited Jun 28, 2006 5:22 PM

Marilyn, if not awesome, at least impressive? I like them too (from a comfortable distance.) Have not seen one in my yard here yet, but we had them in Texas. I am not a spider fan, but somehow the fuzziness of these guys makes them less creepy for me. I know that doesn't make sense; maybe I link them to kittens. That's it, eight-legged kittens.

Oldmudhouse,

Nope! Wouldn't call it impressive either. Just big and scary and YIKES!!! Glad we don't have any in KY (least I don't think we do). Never saw one in OH (when I lived there) either.

Marilyn

LOL what a bunch of girlie girls!!! I kept a respectful distance of about a foot away. Here he is with rabbit scat (poo) for size, lol In the first picture there is 6" of that block showing above ground.

this black widow was right around the corner from the tarantula, these photos were taken last night with Kent standing close by, Not knowing what is out there in the dark is the spooky part, I'm fine once I see them.

Can't believe you were ONLY A FOOT AWAY! YIKES!!! Now I really will have nightmares! LOL

Marilyn

LOL, I gotta get the photo!!!

I used to play with "trantlers" when I was a kid. Just put out your hand in front of one, it will climb on and you can scare the girls with it. Great fun. I stopped when I scared DW, and she was truly scared. We don't have them here, and I miss them. We also don't have Black widows, but do have Brown Recluse, as I have been bit a couple of times. They don't bother me much except the last time I had to go to the emergency room as the bit site abcessed.
trois

That is one spider (Brown Recluse) I am afraid of since they hide in dark places and their bites can cause such damage to flesh. One of the critters you need to know about in the desert.

My mother was from San Antonio, and one of the things she hated growing up was having to check her shoes in the morning for such things before she could put them on. That and tornados were 2 of things she never missed living 'up north'. I'd never want to meet one of your 'friends' close up, Angele.

gram, the girlie-girl and proud of it LOL

This message was edited Jun 28, 2006 7:16 PM

lol gram :-] you should be proud of it!

OK now...black widows and brown recluse spiders meet an early demise if I find them. Scorpions too, come to think of it. Tarantulas get a gentle relocation via shoebox so they're not in my direct path, but those other guys are doomed. I hope that doesn't get me drummed out of the wildlife forum!

The Brown Recluse is not nearly as bad for most people. My wife was hospitalized in LA about 50 years ago from a Widow bite. When I was growing up in Oklahoma the morning ritual was to shake out every item of clothing. Scorpions were the most common find. Black Widows were the most common spider. Bites were rare. Almost every garage had some Widows in Los Angeles. I did installation of electronics in many homes then.

trois

Oldmudhouse, LOL, I think you can rest easy over that! I do hope no one has bad dreams over the spider photos.
Here is a sweet dreams montage

I saw a bad reaction a little girl had to their bite once, her flesh was dying from the bite. she ended up fine but it was scary. Maybe because she was little?

I think repeated bites cause a worse reaction each time someone is bitten. The problem with thr Brown Recluse is you never see them in time. My bites have always happened while I was mowing tall weeds.

The get under some clothes, and the actual bite is not very painfull.
A couple of days later the trouble starts.

I got bitten by a scorpion once, felt like a very bad wasp sting, I played it for all it was worth and got out of making dinner that night. rofl

Marilyn, the girlie-girl and proud of it LOL too! :-))

Glad I live up north and not have to worry about Scorpions, Tarantulas and anything else like that. :-))

Trois, I CAN'T believe you used to PLAY with Tarantulas!!!

Marilyn

This message was edited Jun 29, 2006 10:07 PM

We were poor, and I had no toys.

Scorpions used to pop my dad frequently, and he had a fit everytime. I was really scared until I got the bite, and is was just barely painful at all. No big deal.
All the boys played with trantulas. None were ever bit. I guess it could happen, but they seemed to enjoy being carried around. I have had trouble getting them to stay off when released. They frequently jump back into your hand.

I'll take the kittens and puppies, thanks

Yep...we have ALOT of scorpions showing up right now because of the drought going on here. I haven't seen any tarantulas around yet...but IF we ever get rain again...they may come out then.

I wanted to show ya'll "big mama", a lovely :) black female jumping spider that seems to enjoy hiding in my hybrid crown of thorns. She is definitely the largest one that I've seen......Jumping spiders really are little characters... :D

And here she is reaching for a hummer that was over my head on the feeder...!

My favorite of all the spiders.
After spending half the day cleaning off Yellow Silk Spider webs from my face, I am not so fond of them right now. Only had a couple of them crawl across my face. This happens every time I mow this time of year, until October. Not harmfull unless I run into something. I also have to go back for my hat left hanging frequently.

trois,
I've never heard of yellow silk spiders....and I don't think I've ever seen one. Any way that you could get a photo? Would love to see one... :)

We have a lot of these. Sometimes they catch and eat hummingbirds.

The other large spider is a writing or "scribbler" that I have seen catching shrews. I will post one of those later.
1 of 2 Yellow Silk spiders.

This message was edited Jun 30, 2006 5:58 AM

2 of 2. Yellow Silk Spider. Very strong webs/silk.

Scribbler or writing spider. Almost as many of these as the yellow silk spider. I like these better because you can see the web better.

Scribbler with freshly caught Pygmy Shrew. These live around my big pond.

This message was edited Jun 30, 2006 6:09 AM

Wow!
Now those are some impressive spiders! I've never seen yellow silk before...interesting.. We have similar spiders out here in the hill/brush country. I don't know what they are called...but the markings and size are quite similar. Thanks for the photos...! My spider knowledge has been a bit expanded... lol

Wow, that yellow colored silk is really interesting! TxTurqoize, I used to have these in my old yard in the tx hill country, maybe it's what you were thinking of...Golden Garden Spider?
http://kaweahoaks.com/html/argiope_aurantia.html

I think it looks kind of similar to the spiders above...I had one of these that insisted on stretching a lovely web right where my face went when I reached for a hose faucet. I'd put my face in it, he'd build it back. We got to know each other pretty well!

lolol oldmudhouse...
I know the feeling! I just have ALOT of different jumping spiders around my house, which I love. Big Mama and I (see above) have gotten to know each other quite well, lol, I come outside and she hides in the plants but will come out if I'm reading or just real still. And she's a biggun'!

Indeed, that Golden Garden Spider is the one that I've seen along old barbed wire fences in the brush country, just south of ole San Antone. I've seen them in big prickly pear patches too. A very pretty spider.. :)

That is a beautiful tarantula! But I'm glad it's not in my back yard too. I never took to spiders, grasshoppers or crickets!

Absolutely love the sweet dreams montage. So adorable!!!

Love the photos. I try to live and let live. I enjoy most wildlife and only do away with something if it is dangerous and cannot be moved. My husband is a different story. He prefers to kill anything dangerous "just to be safe". I did kill a black widow that was on the front walk. I was worried my 4 year old grandson would find it a bit too interesting.

We had those big yellow spiders where I grew up in Louisiana. I was always riding through their webs when I rode my horse in the woods. We called them Banana Spiders. I always thought they were pretty.

I have a deal with the spiders here. If they stay outside l leave them alone. I understand their value to the environment. They come in the house they die. I don't do a catch and release program.

I wish we had a few of these girls here - I have a chilean rose tarantula (born & raised in captivity for generations) and she is currently getting fat on juicy, ugly grasshoppers - but, unfortunately, she can't clear the area of them, even though she eats like a pig :-)

Do you think a tarantula would eat those HUGE black grasshoppers that are taking over right now. I know they are all over south Louisiana at least. And they are very ugly and destructive.