Chemical Forums
General Forums => Generic Discussion => Topic started by: mike on January 12, 2006, 11:44:53 PM
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eeeew look at the spider that I found on my front door step!!
It is a great big redback spider (not sure what they are called elsewhere).
Anyone else found anything creepy at their house?
ps sorry for the poor quality image, again I took it with my phone camera :)
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Oh here is one I found on the net....
better photo but this is what I found!
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This one is from my backyard.
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My cousin tells me Iraq has some viscous spiders that are nocturnal. He says the things are aggressive and fast as all hell. He served in the New Hampshire (U.S.) national guard as a Liutenant doing MP duty in Iraq. He may go back. He is a believer in the war, mainly from just being there and expierencing it.
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What you have there Mike, is Latrodectus Mactans, the black widow, females have that characteristic red hour-glass marking, whereas the males are more brownish, the males are small, and their venom is piss-poor, the female on the other hand, is another case entirely, quite a shy spider, not like funnelwebs or he brazillian wandering spider, but they will bite if you do something to piss them off too much, and have a fairly potent neurotoxic bite.
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What you have there Mike, is Latrodectus Mactans, the black widow
*buzzer sounds* incorrect!
Although there is a similarity in appearance, Latrodectus hasselti of Australia is a different species from the Latrodectus Mactans of North America. I believe the redback spider (L. Hasselti) is slightly more aggressive and venemous than the black widow.
My cousin tells me Iraq has some viscous spiders that are nocturnal.
I believe you're talking about camel spiders. Really large, tarantula-like spiders that feast on the blood of camels! :alucard:
Well... not quite like a vampire. I believe that they will bite onto the underside of camels and inject enzymes, and take out nutrients. Sort of like how a normal spider eats an insect. I don't think the camel spider is considered a true spider...
edit:
OK, apparently what is now crossed out is just a myth ;D These are not true spiders, do not spin webs, and have no venom. They are pretty freaky-looking, though.
Camel spider:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Camel_spider
Red back:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Red_back_spider
Black Widow
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_widow
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more aggressive and venemous
typical :D
It seems that you could say this about lots of animals in Australia, lol :D
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It seems that you could say this about lots of animals in Australia, lol :D
yeah. You guys have like the top 20 most poisonous snakes (if you include the waters around), the most poisonous spiders, nettles, ants.... everything there just seems to want to kill you! :D
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But don't let that put you off visiting, it is a great country :)
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well... I admit I wouldn't mind going to Australia. It's a more interesting country than America, anyway. I just have never gone to Australia because it's too far and my parents are cheap :)
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awww its not that far away ;)
maybe you will visit one day :)
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awww its not that far away
Actually... Australia is on the exact opposite side of the Earth from me. Or at least the waters of Australia are... ::)
I'll visit one day, I promise :D
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everything there just seems to want to kill you there! :D
Like koala?
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I hadn't realised Mike was from AUS, oops.
Borek, I wouldn't want to piss off a koala actually, apparently they have a pretty vicious set of claws on them, adorable creatures, until one decides to rip out your eyes ;D
As for the camel spiders, they aren't venomous, but I have read that they can be pretty aggressive, I saw a pic once, of one taking a small bird that got close, which for something like a camel spider, must be quite the acheivement.
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I suppose I understand that...
Yeah. Koala can be pretty viscious if they are provoked. all tooth and claw. I saw that on the Crocodile hunter.
Actually there are a fair amount of large spiders that will eat birds.
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Yea my cousin did tell me they weren't spiders at all. Just that's what I think of every time someone mentions spider. I definately want to go to Australia. It's the country that's it's own continent! :o Which is sweet. It's pretty expensive though atleast if your coming from New Hampshire. My cousin (same one that went to Iraq) went to New Zealand (which isn't Australia but near there), but his work payed for it. Though his wife went out to meet him in Australia. They payed $980 for one round trip ticket! :o Plus it's a pretty long flight. :( I'd still go if I get the money.
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Like koala?
I saw a koala in the tree outside my office a few weeks back :)
I hadn't realised Mike was from AUS, oops.
Hope this doesn't change people opinion of me ;) Yes I am from Australia, although I did live in the UK for a year in 2003.
They payed $980 for one round trip ticket! Plus it's a pretty long flight.
I suppose as an Australian I have just gotten used to the fact that we have to pay a lot to travel to the US or Europe. Yes it would be a long flight, I flew from Vancouver to Sydney and that was long!
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Nope, no slight meant, just had I realised you were from down under, I would likely have realised it wouldn't be the US species of widow spider you had paying you a visit.
Hehe I was reading up on funnel web venom composition and pharmacology, and interestingly enough, there are as a minor component of venom in the sydney funnelbeb, Atrax Robustus, beside the peptide component of the neurotoxins, robustoxin/atraxotoxin, some pretty funky trialkylsilyl compounds and a natural organofluorine compound, quite the unexpected types of compound one would expect from spider venom.
I do believe one species of sun spider, or windscorpion as we call the buggers here, has been found to have some sort of primitive venom or digestive enzyme glands that function to cause tissue damage, but it is not particularly toxic to man, still, I wouldn't fancy a nip in the nether regions by one of those oversised, ambulatory sets of gnashers ;D
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there are as a minor component of venom in the sydney funnelbeb, Atrax Robustus, beside the peptide component of the neurotoxins, robustoxin/atraxotoxin, some pretty funky trialkylsilyl compounds and a natural organofluorine compound, quite the unexpected types of compound one would expect from spider venom.
Yeah... I hear that type is among the most poisonous spiders. I'm not entirely sure how they judge the most poisonous. Is it how quickly the bite kills you or how much of the venom is a lethal dose? Oh well. I learned a fair amount about the wildlife of Australia from Steve Irwin :D
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I can't match the Australian fauna, but my most impressive local spider sighting was some kind of tarantula on the trails here in Austin. It was red and black colored, cool looking, but I had no camera with me so no picture.
One of my most dramatic wildlife encounters was this rattlesnake, Crotalus horridus (nice name, eh?) who greeted me in, of all places, New England.
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One of my most dramatic wildlife encounters was this rattlesnake, Crotalus horridus (nice name, eh?) who greeted me in, of all places, New England.
wow nice photo! I have heard that everything is bigger in Texas, I guess this includes the wildlife.
I learned a fair amount about the wildlife of Australia from Steve Irwin
Good old Steve Irwin. It's a wonder anyone wants to come to Australia after hearing about all the "dangers". Well you wouldn't have wanted to be here this last weekend, the temperature reached 44C where I was and 46.5 further in the outback, it felt soooo hot :D
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wow nice photo! I have heard that everything is bigger in Texas, I guess this includes the wildlife.
If you reread he said he found it in New England... makes me more happy to live where I do! ;D I believe there are timber rattle snakes in my area but they are extremely rare.
Good old Steve Irwin. It's a wonder anyone wants to come to Australia after hearing about all the "dangers".
Maybe some people, like me, idolize Steve Irwin for a time and as a result want to go to Australia :D
I remember going to california where it was almost in the 40 C's (approximation, because everyone around me insists on giving me farenheit readings. it was a little over 100ºF) and it didn't feel hot at all. It's because in New England heat is almost always accompanied by really high temperatures. When it's 25ºC outside here, it can feel hotter than 40ºC in dryer areas.
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If you reread he said he found it in New England... makes me more happy to live where I do! I believe there are timber rattle snakes in my area but they are extremely rare.
oops, sorry I was actually refering to the bit about the tarantula found in Austin (is this in Texas? maybe not), I must admit to a fair amount of ignorance to American geography, I lived in Colorado for a while and have been to Hawaii but that is about it..
Maybe some people, like me, idolize Steve Irwin for a time and as a result want to go to Australia
nothing wrong with that mate, if you like crocodiles, snakes, spiders, bugs, kangaroos, sharks, koalas, tasmanian devils, emus etc then come on down, we also have camels, dingos, whales, and of course great big bloody mosquitos :D
So is New England like a colonial place? I googled images of new england and the first picture was of a team of cheerleaders, lol, how American (we don't really have cheerleaders here)
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I was actually refering to the bit about the tarantula found in Austin (is this in Texas? maybe not)
Yes, Austin is in Texas. The snake was in New England (maybe 3000 km away), which, until I met this guy, I would have thought to be the last place I'd see a rattlesnake. I know better now!
if you like crocodiles, snakes, spiders, bugs, kangaroos, sharks, koalas, tasmanian devils, emus etc then come on down
I do like those things, actually. I still haven't made it to Australia though.
we also have great big bloody mosquitos :D
I could do without them. (We have them here too.)
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I live in New Hampshire (one of the New England states) and I took a walk through my woods last summer. All of a suddenly I saw this thing fall out of this tree that had fallen over and was propped up against another tree. It fell probably ten yards form me. I looked quickly to see it was snake that was rattling and looking at me. I just backed away because he didn't look to happy. I never thought that those things climbed trees even trees that are fallen over. It was kind of odd.
Last winter (not this winter) I saw a herd of deer 7 or 8 strong pass through my lawn and go into the woods (I live around wetlands). A moose went into my garage a long time ago also.
One of my most intresting encounters with wildlife though was when we had a possum make himself at home between my first and second floor. He probably got through a hole in the ceiling of my breezeway. He smelt pretty bad. Anyways after me and my dad found him, he bought and enormous mouse trap. More of a rat trip, the thing was as big as an adult male hand. He caught it the night we put the trap in the ceiling.
If you live in the city you really have to out to the "country" and spend some time. Also last summer I saw a Peregrin Falcon. Small but beautiful bird of pray. I was dissapointed I didn't see it go into one of its 60+mph (about 97Kmph) dives.
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Yeah we have possums here too, they are really annoying when they get in the roof of your house. As you say constantthinker they smell, and they are really loud. The possums we have here though are about the size of a small dog. We had a trapper come out and catch three in our roof, they were quite agressive. Check it out..
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Crazy. Ok I'm not sure if it was a possum, but it's very similar to one so I call it a possum.
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Some bird populations would decline a great deal if the mosquitoes (food source) were to disappear.
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Some bird populations would decline a great deal if the mosquitoes (food source) were to disappear.
True, and I know we need all creatures great and small, bright and beautiful etc etc, just why do they have to be so darn annoying, buzzing in your ears when you are trying to sleep, biting your ankles at BBQ's not to mention that some of ours have Ross River Virus!! :D
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The opossums here (Texas, USA) look a lot different from yours, mike. Similar in ways, but the ears look really different. They are still strange looking in their own way.
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pfft... compared to the possoms here, the picture Mike posted is a cute little house pets. Ours just look like giant rats with bearing teeth. I'm sure yours are just as viscious, though.
I do believe one species of sun spider, or windscorpion as we call the buggers here, has been found to have some sort of primitive venom or digestive enzyme glands that function to cause tissue damage, but it is not particularly toxic to man, still, I wouldn't fancy a nip in the nether regions by one of those oversised, ambulatory sets of gnashers
yeah, that was in the Wikipedia article. But of course their bite looks like it may be pretty nasty... and those things would freak me out no matter how harmless they actually were! ;D
Some bird populations would decline a great deal if the mosquitoes (food source) were to disappear.
hmmm.... worth it!
I agree. I wouldn't mind them if they didn't make such a high pitch buzzing sounds, and they stayed away from your ears. Also, of all the blood-thinning saliva they could have, they HAD to pick the itchy one. >:(
some of ours have Ross River Virus!!
Yeah... they are horrible disease carriers. In my area Eastern Equine Encephalitus (EEE or Triple E) and West Nile virus are a problem .
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Some of the spiders I've seen would make me think that 7mm Magnum Load is required to exterminate them. :D
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I would think that after the 100's of years that us and mosquitos have been around that we (humans) could possibly have evolved so the mosquitos would not itch. NOOOOOOOOOOOOOO the little buggers are still itchy and annoying.
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pfft... compared to the possoms here, the picture Mike posted is a cute little house pets. Ours just look like giant rats with bearing teeth. I'm sure yours are just as viscious, though.
yes they do look rather cute, especially the babies. There are a few childrens books written about them etc because they do actually look quite nice animals.
We get white-tail spiders here too (not sure if anyone out there can tell me their real name). They have caused some serious wounds with their flesh eating venom. This mainly happens to the elderly. I have been bitten twice and both times just had a rather large welt/blister. Other people have had to have limbs amputated etc, ouch!
Now I would have to say that jelly-fish sting has been my most painful "bite" from an animal so far, owee!
Oh does anyone else get those great big brown spiders (we call them huntsman or wolf spiders) in their house. They are everywhere here, they are about 100mm - 120mm across (including legs, body is about 20mm -30mm) they make my skin crawl, they are not poisonous though and we just catch them and through them outside, lol.
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Oh does anyone else get those great big brown spiders (we call them huntsman or wolf spiders) in their house. They are everywhere here, they are about 100mm - 120mm across (including legs, body is about 20mm -30mm) they make my skin crawl, they are not poisonous though and we just catch them and through them outside, lol.
Tegenaria atrica (http://images.google.com/images?client=opera&rls=en&q=Tegenaria%20atrica&sourceid=opera&num=25&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8&sa=N&tab=wi)?
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Tegenaria atrica?
*shiver* they sure do make my skin crawl :)
Yes this looks like the one.
oh, here it is in wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Huntsman_spider
I didn't realise that huntsman was actually a real name for it :P
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I've gotten wolf spiders. Or atleast some of there really close relatives. I saw one of those hanging from my ceiling while I was on the can. I just took a cup to catch (he was midair), I just broke his thread. Then I dumped him in the toilet and flushed. :)
The spider was pretty ugly and creepy. Your not alone mike.
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I went out to our letterbox to collect the mail this morning and there was a great big one sitting on the mail, I didn't even realise until I was halfway back to the house. I guess because they aren't really aggressive they just sit there until you brush them off.
The worst one was when I was driving, it was a hot day and I was wearing shorts. I kept brushing my leg because I felt a tickle, at one point I looked down and there was a massive huntsman spider crawling up my leg!! eeewwww. I had to pull over and throw it out of the car. :D
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On the subject of the particularly vicious creatures that inhabit Australia (not you mike ;D), I just saw this article about a woman who got bit by a brown snake while she was watching TV inside.
Its from the New York Times, so you might not be able to read it if you haven't registered.
http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/international/AP-Granny-Snake-Bite.html
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Hehe, you aussies can lay claim to the inlant taipan, tiger snake, box jellyfish, stonefish and a pretty delightful selection of the most venomous critters in general, but spider-wise you lot lose out ;D
There was an article in a brit newspaper recently about some shopper who had an uninvited and certainly unwelcome guest in a bunch of bananas, a tiny spiderling that just happened to be a certain Phoneutria Fera, the brazilian wandering spider, dirty great big spiders with a characteristic red color to the front of the fangs, a really mean temper, and the most toxic venom of any spider, the person, I think it was a woman, can't remember for sure now, got nipped, and ended up in hospital, but survived, with treatment mainly due to the spider being recently hatched.
As I remember, they never did catch the spider either, which might well still be in their house :-\
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I just saw this article about a woman who got bit by a brown snake while she was watching TV inside.
What kind of brown snake? I saw on Steve Irwin's top 10 most venemous snakes that number 10 was the Norther Brown snake, number 2 was the common Brown snake.
Hehe, you aussies can lay claim to the inlant taipan, tiger snake, box jellyfish, stonefish and a pretty delightful selection of the most venomous critters in general
Yup... Taipan was number 3 and there were a number of different tiger snakes in that countdown. I am a little unsure of his accuracy, though. He said that the most venemous snake was the fear snake, while I believe it's some kind of sea snake.
Don't forget about the cowry snails and nettles, either.
spider-wise you lot lose out
Well... I wouldn't say that. Perhaps they don't have the Phoneutria Fera there but they still have the Sydney funnel web and red back spiders. In fact some may argue that the Sydney funnel web is more dangerous because it's just as aggressive and injects lethal doses of venom in nearly all of its bites. The wanderer, on the other hand, inflicts dry bites about one third the time and only small amounts of venom in another third.
Admittedly I used Wikipedia to help me on that one.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phoneutria_fera
Similarly, in my area there was a case of a woman finding a black widow spider in a bag of grapes. Luckily it didn't bite her.
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hmmm, I'm starting to wonder how anyone survives a day in Australia :D
If you are after interesting animals how about the platypus? If you don't know what one is then you can google it to find out. It is a duck-billed, semi-aquatic, egg-laying mammal, oh and it is venomous too (well the male is, and not probably to humans). Cool!
There are brown snakes around where I live but I haven't seen one in my own yard or house, the only reptiles we get at home are the blue-tongue lizard, and some skinks and geckos. My wife hates borsn snakes because she grew up on a property where there were plenty of them around, lots of horrible stories..
limpet: the wandering story spider sounds awful, like one of those urban myths, is it for real? That would be so unlucky, kinda spoil your appetite for bananas for a while hey? ;)
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The article didn't say what kind of brown snake. I have a list of toxins that has the Inland taipan being fatal with c. 1 mg of venom, Australian tiger snake at 3 mg, and the Coral snake (lives here in Texas) also at 3 mg. I don't know which exact species, though.
Texas also has a type of spider, Brown recluse, whose venom is flesh eating. I don't think the spider is very scary looking, I don't even know what they look like, but I have heard some bites take a very long time to heal (i.e. years).
It's still hard to beat what you get if you try and go swimming in the northern part of Australia... (Answer: You get eaten by a 7 m Crocodilus porosus.)
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Apparently the necrotising effect of Loxoceles Reclusa (brown recluse, violin spider) bites bites aren't actually that common, although there are a few more, somewhat nastier species in the related Sicarius species, one desert species, S.Hahnii has been tossed around as one of the most deadly spiders, causing tissue necrosis and widespread systemic toxicity, and as of yet, no antivenom available, probably just as well it spends most of its time in the african deserts ;D
Bakegaku, its not the cowries you want to worry about, but the cone shells, they hunt fish, using a tethered, modified tooth as a harpoon, and carry some pretty potent neurotoxins, the conotoxins, some, I think it might have been one of the alpha-conotoxins have been adapted into extremely potent painkillers that are active when injected into the spine, although nicotinic antagonists, they are on almost a vague similarity to epibatidine in that respect, although the latter is a frog toxin with nicotinic agonist effects.
The wandering spider species do apparently dry-bite in a fair amount of cases, but are really bad tempered sons of bitches, that like the fierce snake (inland taipan, oxyuranus scutellatus) quite often strike repeatedly once you piss them off, and in the case of the spider, that seems to include just about anything, up to and including being in the wrong place at the wrong time shopping for bananas :D
Some of those tropical nettles are dirty great big stinging trees, some fairly lethal Laportea and Urera species for instance, a few of them have reportedly been fatal, and quite a lot apparently hurt for several months after the sting, I had a bit of a nasty encounter with something of the ilk while on holiday in kusadasi, Turkey, decided to go out somewhere less inhabited, and brushed against a rather unusual looking nettle of some sort, with very compact, spherical green flower clusters, looked quite like say, and unripe and very undeveloped blackberry fruit in structure, covered with what I found out where some pretty potent stinging hairs, I made damn sure to watch out for the same plant in future, after several hours of throbbing pain in my hand and wrist, I also saw colonies of a species of rather mean looking ants, about 0.5-0.75 inch long, dark colored, and with the general appearance of the bull and/Ponerinidae family, the primitive ants such as Megaponera, and the bullet ant, supposed to have one of the most disabling insect stings going around, needless to say I didn't take the chance of getting close enough to get stung, as I didn't much care for the idea of having one or more limbs swell up like balloons or having an allergic reaction and becoming one giant talking hive-wheal ;D
The platypus, at least, the male which has the toxic spur on the hind feet is quite definately venomous to humans, reputedly it digs its spurs in hard, and from my reading on the creatures, extremely painfully, and can cause paralysis, while not usually being lethal to humans, better than sitting on a stonefish, heh, but not something I find a particularly appealing way to spend a week or so ;)
I looked up the wandering spider case again, and apparently it was a chef handling imported bananas who got bitten.
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Then we have the puffer fish with it's oh-so-infamous tetrodotoxin that does a good job of killing you if you happen to get a bit of it in you.
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Maybe, Jdurg, but unless someone is daft enough to eat blowfish, then they have no way to deliver TTX, there are a couple of species of octopus though, only about the size of a fist, but pack easily enough tetrodotoxin to kill a grown man.
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unless someone is daft enough to eat blowfish, then they have no way to deliver TTX
Ever heard of a dish called fugu?
there are a couple of species of octopus though, only about the size of a fist, but pack easily enough tetrodotoxin to kill a grown man.
That is true. Quite possibly the most infamous poisonous octopus is the blue ring octopus.
Bakegaku, its not the cowries you want to worry about, but the cone shells
Hmm... you are actually correct! I mixed them up. I wanted to say cone shell at first... should've trusted my instict.
fierce snake
Yeah... this is what I meant when I said "fear snake." They are pronounced quite similarly, you know.
If you are after interesting animals how about the platypus?
Everyone knows what a platypus is! Personally I like the echidna, though (may have spelled that wrong).
I knew about the spurs of the male platypus, but I believe they can only cause severe pain and numbness in the local area. I don't think it can cause full paralysis and I'm quite certain there have been no reported deaths.
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http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blue-ringed_octopus
I just edited the page on the blue ringed octopi, after looking up a little on them, as it was claimed that cone snails used tedrodotoxin as venom :P
Hehehe, Bakegaku, thats what I meant by people dumb enough to eat puffer fish, fugu, some people seem to have more money than they do braincells ;D
There are a less toxic group of snails, the spire or tower shells, I used to pick up the discarded shells washed upon the beach as a kid, but apparently they pack a similar sort of tooth, modified to deliver a neurotoxin, although apparently far milder than that of species like Conus Textile, and the geographer cone shell, two of the nastier varieties.
There are also horseshoe crabs, primitive little creatures, that apparently pack TTX in one or other of the species.
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thats what I meant by people dumb enough to eat puffer fish, fugu, some people seem to have more money than they do braincells
Take no offence, but tell me what's a difference between eating fugu and experimenting with drugs?
I will not buy the explanation that selection of these drugs is based on knowledge so it is perfectly safe.
I have studied with a talented organic chemist back in eighties. He have died testing something he synthesized. We were not very close, but we did know each other.
Correctly prepared fugu is safe - so knowledge plays important part in both cases, and both things are dangerous.
If there is no difference - it was you who called fugu eaters dumb :P
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Eating fugu just strikes me as, well, an extremely dangerous thing to do, for more or less no gain whatsoever, apart from perhaps a meal, if you consider that TTX can quite easily prove lethal at a dose of 0.5-1mg, for the sake of a quick snack on some sushi, however carefully prepared I don't think its worth the risk taken, it doesn't take much of a slip by the chef for it to become one's last meal.
Whereas with any recreational/spiritually used drug I can think of, there is quite a massively larger degree of safety, save only for etorphine, dihydroetorphine, a few fentanyl analogues etc, and as for myself, I wouldn't go near anything more potent than remifentanyl, and I certainly don't go buggering around with street products based on fentanyl or its analogues "china white" etc. unless perhaps, I had a friend standing over me with a syringe full of naloxone in case the clandestine chemist behind the synth in the first place cocked things up during dilution of the drug.
It is in my opinion, a matter of relative risk, to the possible benefits gained, dropping a few tabs, or vegging out for the day with a shot or two of morphine and an ounce of good green isn't going to do me in, not by a long way, but go out to the wrong sushi bar at the wrong time, and eating the wrong bit of (ugggh) raw fish, just might.
So, keep your poisonous raw fish, you are more than welcome to it :D
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Everyone knows what a platypus is!
haha, I wasn't trying to insinuate that you didn't :D I never know how much people know about Australia, some people don't even know we exist :D
On the subject of poisonous spiders, has anyone heard about daddylonglegs spider being the most venomous spider? People here always say: "Oh, they are the most venomous spider in the world, but their fangs are too small to bite humans." Sounds like an urban myth to me..
And speaking of urban myths and spiders, what about that crazy story about people eating on average like 8 spiders in their life/year or whatever... man that has got to be fake, who would do such a study?? I can gaurantee that I have never eaten (or heard of anyone eating) a huntsman spider by accident, lol :D
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hmm... personally I'd rather take the sushi. Not to mention you can't be arrested for eating fugu! They have some really strict regulations for who can be a fugu chef. In the end you have to pass a really long test on the different kinds of fugu, which organs are poisonous, then cook a meal and eat it yourself. About 30% pass the test (admittedly that's not a low ratio)(the other people do not necessarily die in the last test ;D). I'm not going to say anything about statistics because there are stats that say anything from one person to 100 people die from fugu poisoning a year in Japan. Again, Wikipedia ;D .
But is it really all that crazy? People are always doing crazy things that will get themselves killed. Is eating fugu or taking substances any more dangerous than sky diving? BASE jumping? motorcycle stunts?
On the subject of poisonous spiders, has anyone heard about daddylonglegs spider being the most venomous spider? People here always say: "Oh, they are the most venomous spider in the world, but their fangs are too small to bite humans." Sounds like an urban myth to me..
I am quite certain this is an urban myth. I've heard it so many times, and people just blindly follow it all the time. It doesn't take much depth to get into the blood vesscles, and the fangs of Daddy longlegs can be pretty large. Another thing of notice is that they, like the camel spider, are not true spiders.
what about that crazy story about people eating on average like 8 spiders in their life/year or whatever
I hear all sorts of estimates. I think this one may be true. This is because if you sleep with your mouth open, and the spider crawls into the small, damp, warm area out of curiosity, you will subconsciously begin to chew. I'm surprised you never hear someone in the morning complaining about a bad taste or spider parts in their mouth. I would never want to eat a spider, no matter what kind. I actually have a minor arachniphobia... Only if they're on me or really close to me, though. And of course it depends on things like what kind of spider, the appearance of the spider, the size of the spider etc. A tarantula on the table next to me would freak me out more than a small spider crawling on my arm, for example.
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I saw on Mythbusters that a daddylonglegs venom isn't as poisonous as the infamous black widow (which aren't the most poisonous spiders). Also a daddylonglegs fangs can pierce a human's flesh. They don't have nearly enough venom to be remotely lethal. I think the estimated like it would take 60 something bites (don't quote me on that) to kill a full grown man.
Also the eating spiders while you sleep thing, I think it's a yes and no thing. We probably don't average and 8 a year, but definatly quite a few (maybe more than 8) in a life time. Only the small, harmless ones probably crawl in our mouths.
I think it was also a made up myth.
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I hear all sorts of estimates. I think this one may be true.
I just have trouble believing that someone could actually survey this kind of statistic. As you say people don't wake to find half a spider in their mouth and at the very least they wouldn't remember eating a spider in their sleep. I have a theory that someone has made this myth up and perpetuated it and it has become quite popular, almsot everyone seems to have heard of this statistic, but when questioned on whether they, or anyone they know has ever, EVER been surveyed on such a thing they haven't.
I wish I could start an urban legend...
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OK, I understand that. It does seem like something that's extremely difficult to study. Perhaps there was a team of scientists that stayed up all night, watching people to see if spiders crawled into their mouths. :)
But, yes, it would be pretty difficult to find any kind of actual statistic. I still think that we very well may eat a fair amount of spiders in our life time this way.
Regarding both the urban legends, interestingly, I think I heard some one say that they went to a summer camp that had you put up nets NOT because of mosquitos but because they were afraid that a daddy long leg spider would crawl into your mouth while you slept :laughing2:
I wish I could start an urban legend...
Write a good one and I promise to tell everyone I know! :D
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:D :D
you might want to check this hit song out
:D :D
http://www.compassbros.com.au/MUSIC/redback.mp3
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Kinda funny. I suppose this is just a clip, though.
I think there was a black widow found in a toilet in my area, but I don't know if anyone sat on it ::)
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I have had fugu before. Ate it at a Japanese restaurant in or around Philladelphia. It was a sixty dollar meal which was a bit of a shock, but the fish has a REALLY good taste to it. Something like a lobster type sweetness, but unique in its own right. It also has a tiny bit of a tingle to the meat and that is due to incredibly miniscule amounts of tetrodotoxin in the flesh which numbs your tongue. In addition, the tetrodotoxin from the fish is concentrated the most in the liver, but is also present in the spines. If you were to get "poked" by the puffer fish it would put that toxin right into your blood stream which would be horrendously bad for your health. ;)
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As if you needed any more proof that spiders were dangerous:
http://www.theage.com.au/news/national/spiders-fiery-revenge-on-nudist/2006/04/02/1143916402771.html
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Ok, that has to qualify for a 'Darwin Award'.
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You are definately right Mark Kness. I wouldn't have been standing over the whole naked, and I would've used rum, less explosive and tastier.
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Gas is too volatile. Naphta or diesel oil are OK.
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personally I'd use some sort of bug or spider spray to kill it ;D No explosions at all!
Hmm... Usually a person has to die to get a Darwin award. Of course, in this case I wouldn't be too surprised if there was unrepairable damage to his genitalia, which would make him nominable :P. If it were the case, though, I'd expect to see it in the report Mike posted...
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Oh man I bet the news editors had a field day coming up with headlines for this story:
"Spider man badly burned down under" http://www.themercury.co.za/index.php?fSectionId=284&fArticleId=3188280
"Spider-hunting nudist ends with ring of fire" http://today.reuters.co.uk/news
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I guess 'Darwin' is a little incorrect, since he lived, but boy was that stoopid.
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If can't have kids though and hasn't already had kids then his genes are done for. (Gene) Survival of the fittest. He wasn't to fit though to do something like that.