Well that was alarming.

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IreneY
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Post by IreneY »

Ah! so that is why you see spiders as friends. Don't get me wrong, from the little I know about gardening spiders are good (plus they keep the flies and mosquitos population down so I always root for them) but without their enemies around (birds) they can grow webs so thick/dense that they won't allow the plants to breath properly (I am thinking more of the inside of big trees where disloging the spider webs is too much trouble to do on a regular basis)

catfish
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Post by catfish »

This discussion is starting to disturb me greatly. Spiders are the enemy people!

annis
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Post by annis »

catfish wrote:Spiders are the enemy people!
Oh, come on!

Image

How can you hate such an adorable face? It's so cute!
William S. Annis — http://www.aoidoi.org/http://www.scholiastae.org/
τίς πατέρ' αἰνήσει εἰ μὴ κακοδαίμονες υἱοί;

GlottalGreekGeek
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Post by GlottalGreekGeek »

I like spiders myself and do not understand why certain of my peers are so startled when a spider is spotted on the floor. Oh well.

However, I had a dream last night where we had to clean out of the theatre something which was a cross between spiders and mushrooms. They hung on their webs, but in addition to acting like spiders they grew and moved like fungi, and they looked like spiders and mushrooms and mold at the same time - I can't describe it, but they were *really* freaky. Fortunately they were easy to eliminate, in my dream, so I wouldn't call it a nightmare.

Carola
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Post by Carola »

What were you drinking before you went to sleep? :lol:
We get lovely spiders in our house in summer - about 8 - 9 cm across, they sit up on the walls (no webs) and wanders about looking for mosquitos etc. They really freak out overseas visitors! I just leave them alone and they leave me alone. However, in Sydney we used to get Funnel-webs in the garden and they are no joke, people used to die from their bites quite regularly until they developed anti venom. I still always wear gloves when I garden - growing up in Sydney it became a habit!
Out best garden visitors are blue tongue lizards, about 30 - 40 cm long, they sit on the back verandah and are almost tame. Why are they so good? They eat those horrible snails & slugs that destroy my lettuce plants!

GlottalGreekGeek wrote:I like spiders myself and do not understand why certain of my peers are so startled when a spider is spotted on the floor. Oh well.

However, I had a dream last night where we had to clean out of the theatre something which was a cross between spiders and mushrooms. They hung on their webs, but in addition to acting like spiders they grew and moved like fungi, and they looked like spiders and mushrooms and mold at the same time - I can't describe it, but they were *really* freaky. Fortunately they were easy to eliminate, in my dream, so I wouldn't call it a nightmare.

Sanskrit
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Post by Sanskrit »

Carola wrote:What were you drinking before you went to sleep? :lol:
We get lovely spiders in our house in summer - about 8 - 9 cm across, they sit up on the walls (no webs) and wanders about looking for mosquitos etc. They really freak out overseas visitors! I just leave them alone and they leave me alone.
I am glad I live in the Netherlands. I looked up "Sydney and Spider" with google and the spiders I found looked scary. How can you sleep with those creatures around? We do have mosquitos, but I would let a funnel spider in my room to catch them.

DO NOT click on this link if you have a weak heart, please. This is what I found with Google for Thailand:
http://www.richard-seaman.com/Insects/V ... loseup.jpg

GlottalGreekGeek
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Post by GlottalGreekGeek »

Sanskrit wrote: DO NOT click on this link if you have a weak heart, please. This is what I found with Google for Thailand:
http://www.richard-seaman.com/Insects/V ... loseup.jpg
I don't find it bad at all. But maybe I have a strong heart. Even though I am a vegetarian, I generally handle seeing raw animal guts (especially seafood) better than my meat-eating friends.
Carola wrote:What were you drinking before you went to sleep? :lol:
Water. It's the best insomnia medicine I have ever tried (no joke).

Sanskrit
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Post by Sanskrit »

GlottalGreekGeek wrote:I don't find it bad at all. But maybe I have a strong heart. Even though I am a vegetarian, I generally handle seeing raw animal guts (especially seafood) better than my meat-eating friends.
You must have a strong heart. I have always been scared of big spiders. Even though I am also a vegetarian. Although looking back at the picture I realise that the spider isn't that scary. It had a different effect on me in the middle of the night after reading Carola's story of spiders killing people.

Carola
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Post by Carola »

am glad I live in the Netherlands. I looked up "Sydney and Spider" with google and the spiders I found looked scary. How can you sleep with those creatures around? We do have mosquitos, but I would let a funnel spider in my room to catch them.
I'm not that brave! The Sydney funnel webs are strictly garden spiders, the big ones we get inside in Adelaide are quite harmless, although they look scary. I would prefer a large spider I can see than a small poisonous one hiding in my shoes. We just have poisonous snakes here, but not this close to the city! I have a wonderful picture of me holding a very large python; that would give everyone a few more bad dreams.

Oddly enough, our last lot of visitors being frightened by the spiders were also from the Netherlands. A spider all of 1cm across would send them into hysteria. I presume you do get spiders there?

Sanskrit
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Post by Sanskrit »

Sure, we've spiders here. But they are not that big. This is the one that lives in people's houses:

Image

Carola
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Post by Carola »

Sanskrit wrote:Sure, we've spiders here. But they are not that big. This is the one that lives in people's houses:

Image
Our indoor spiders are a bit more tough looking !
http://www.biocity.edu.au/content/view/110/75/

The one in your picture can be found here as well (or one that looks just like it), but compared to the Huntsman Spider in the link I probably would barely notice them!

catfish
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Post by catfish »

ERRRRRRRRRRRRRRRGHEHREHEHHGE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! SO CANT COPE WITH SPIDERS! They are everywhere... and they are out to get me!!! I recently turned down a trip to Sydney because I am so scared of funnel webs but at least they are fairly big so you know they are coming... I hate how white-tails are little and they creep up and get you and then your skin can get all eaten off.... ewgh. I have woken up twice with such spiders sleeping on me. I swear they come after me... I have to keep the visors in my car down so they cant hide there and I bomb my house every 6 weeks... ok yes I am a LITTLE obsessed. Strangely I'm not that afraid of snakes, and here in tassie they are all deadly and frequently found pretty much anywhere.

And may I say... the pictures were quite unnecessary... I'm all itchy now.

Sanskrit
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Post by Sanskrit »

catfish wrote:I have woken up twice with such spiders sleeping on me.
I had a strange dream last night.

I was dreaming that I was sleeping in my bed together with two spiders. I woke up in my dream and asked the spiders to leave. But when I fell asleep, they were back in my bed again. It wasn't a nightmare. The spiders just annoyed me, because they wouldn't listen. Eventually they walked away and changed into crocodiles. :?

GlottalGreekGeek
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Post by GlottalGreekGeek »

Strangely enough, I'm not afraid of snakes, even though I've been bitten by a snake (albeit by a non-poinsonous one). My mother freaked out more than I did. I believe it happened in the biology wing/area of UC Berkeley campus.

Michaelyus
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Post by Michaelyus »

I dislike spiders, but I don't loathe them. I do however feel that I am better than any spider that invades my ceiling, "morally superior" if you will. But then, I feel like that about most humans that I dislike.

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