Played golf yesterday in Embra and the sun was shining and low in the sky and it highlighted that every fairway was absolutely covered in spiders webs/lengths of silk. they literally created a very thin and almost invisible carpet over the whole fairway. Is this a seasonal phenomenon or is it there all the time but we just don't see them?
Re: Spiders
Posted: Thu Oct 07, 2021 3:43 pm
by Uncle fester
lemonhead wrote: Wed Oct 06, 2021 11:02 pm
Just a house spider, no?
False widows are quite shy from experience, usually leg it or play dead whenever I've come across them..
The risk with the False Widows is that they like quiet out of the way nooks and crannies so if you're sticking your hand into their space and they are backed into a corner, they probably will bite.
Deep inside an old, seldom-used coal bunker is where I found our fellow. You can find them inside old cupboards a lot apparently.
Re: Spiders
Posted: Thu Oct 07, 2021 4:41 pm
by Torquemada 1420
My favourites were trapdoor spiders. As a child, I'd spend hours with a small stick or long blade of grass tickling their trapdoors to see them rush out seeking prey.
lemonhead wrote: Wed Oct 06, 2021 11:02 pm
Just a house spider, no?
False widows are quite shy from experience, usually leg it or play dead whenever I've come across them..
The risk with the False Widows is that they like quiet out of the way nooks and crannies so if you're sticking your hand into their space and they are backed into a corner, they probably will bite.
Deep inside an old, seldom-used coal bunker is where I found our fellow. You can find them inside old cupboards a lot apparently.
Outside of tabloid horror stories; how bad is their bite ??
lemonhead wrote: Wed Oct 06, 2021 11:02 pm
Just a house spider, no?
False widows are quite shy from experience, usually leg it or play dead whenever I've come across them..
The risk with the False Widows is that they like quiet out of the way nooks and crannies so if you're sticking your hand into their space and they are backed into a corner, they probably will bite.
Deep inside an old, seldom-used coal bunker is where I found our fellow. You can find them inside old cupboards a lot apparently.
Outside of tabloid horror stories; how bad is their bite ??
Although false widows do have a venomous bite, the venom is not particularly potent. Usually the only symptom is pain at the site which may radiate away from the bite. It ordinarily lasts between one and 12 hours, and rarely for more than 24 hours.
Often, the symptoms are no worse than the pain of a wasp sting.
There are sometimes reports of false widow bites that present with more sinister symptoms like rotting flesh and excruciating pain. But these are usually not backed up with formal spider identification.
The extreme side effects experienced are most likely the result of a secondary infection, likely bacterial, if the wound is not kept clean.
There is often hysteria surrounding these spiders, and they have unjustly earned a reputation for being a dangerous pest. But these spiders only bite when they feel threatened.
Re: Spiders
Posted: Thu Oct 07, 2021 9:07 pm
by Raggs
Camel spiders are tough bastards. Saw one put in a killing jar (jar with some solvent, can't remember what, that knocks out and kills insects ready for putting on a specimen board), left it in there twice as long as normal, and when it came out, it was still alive.
My son is frightened of spiders, but we're slowly getting him over it. He's interested in them, so will happily look for one on a web etc, just doesn't like the idea of them coming close to him. Got him a science comic on them, always easier to be less afraid of something when you know more about it.
Re: Spiders
Posted: Thu Oct 07, 2021 10:05 pm
by fishfoodie
Raggs wrote: Thu Oct 07, 2021 9:07 pm
Camel spiders are tough bastards. Saw one put in a killing jar (jar with some solvent, can't remember what, that knocks out and kills insects ready for putting on a specimen board), left it in there twice as long as normal, and when it came out, it was still alive.
My son is frightened of spiders, but we're slowly getting him over it. He's interested in them, so will happily look for one on a web etc, just doesn't like the idea of them coming close to him. Got him a science comic on them, always easier to be less afraid of something when you know more about it.
Makes sense !
I'm a rather risk averse kind of person but I do find poisonous snakes & spiders fascinating; as you say knowledge gives you an appreciation of how extraordinary they are, & how they evolved the way they did, & why; & how; if you give the due respect, there's no reason to fear them !
I spend some time in Arizona; & I remember being a little paranoid coming from nice safe Ireland, to a place where they warn you about rattlesnakes, & black widows*, but before very long, I forgot completely about this; until one night I wandered out, to put my bag of rubbish in the container (wearing shorts & flip-flops), & put the bag down, opened the lid on the rubbish container, & then looked under the container ..... & there were, what appeared to be, about two hundred scorpions under the container
I did the 100m back to my apartment in about 9.1 seconds !
* While in Phoenix; one of my fellow Paddies, got bitten on the arse by a BW, when he sat down on a pool chair, & disturbed the BW, who was hanging off the plastic straps on the chair, probably taking on dew off the straps.
Re: Spiders
Posted: Thu Oct 07, 2021 10:19 pm
by Grandpa
dpedin wrote: Thu Oct 07, 2021 1:22 pm
Played golf yesterday in Embra and the sun was shining and low in the sky and it highlighted that every fairway was absolutely covered in spiders webs/lengths of silk. they literally created a very thin and almost invisible carpet over the whole fairway. Is this a seasonal phenomenon or is it there all the time but we just don't see them?
Camel Spiders in Oman were few and far between, fast bastards. I remember some SF guys in Thumrait unfortunately erecting a tent on top of a nest; they got rid after a few screams (even from those ninjas) with a flamethrower. In Muscat, my 'resident' geckos seemed to keep the nasties at bay.
Re: Spiders
Posted: Fri Oct 08, 2021 7:21 am
by FalseBayFC
Wyndham Upalot wrote: Fri Oct 08, 2021 3:10 am
Camel Spiders in Oman were few and far between, fast bastards. I remember some SF guys in Thumrait unfortunately erecting a tent on top of a nest; they got rid after a few screams (even from those ninjas) with a flamethrower. In Muscat, my 'resident' geckos seemed to keep the nasties at bay.
Lots of Camel Spiders out and about in the Cape right now that its getting warmer. They're very fast critters and some of the species grow huge, I've seen one near Kimberley the size of an outstretched woman's hand . The Afrikaans name for them is Baardskeerder which means beard shaver because of the old belief that they would use their pincers to cut human hair to line their nests.
Re: Spiders
Posted: Fri Oct 08, 2021 8:22 am
by Grandpa
Before reading this thread.. and being in the UK... I wasn't that scared of spiders... I am now!
lemonhead wrote: Wed Oct 06, 2021 11:02 pm
Just a house spider, no?
False widows are quite shy from experience, usually leg it or play dead whenever I've come across them..
The risk with the False Widows is that they like quiet out of the way nooks and crannies so if you're sticking your hand into their space and they are backed into a corner, they probably will bite.
Deep inside an old, seldom-used coal bunker is where I found our fellow. You can find them inside old cupboards a lot apparently.
Outside of tabloid horror stories; how bad is their bite ??
Your insides will liquify and after 2 days, you burst open, giving birth to 1,000,000 baby spiders.
Re: Spiders
Posted: Fri Oct 08, 2021 11:10 am
by Raggs
Grandpa wrote: Fri Oct 08, 2021 8:22 am
Before reading this thread.. and being in the UK... I wasn't that scared of spiders... I am now!
Can I recommend this book:
Helped my 9 year old.
They're actually a bloody brilliant series of books, highly educational and most have a good enough story to keep kids reading them. My boy devours them.
Re: Spiders
Posted: Fri Oct 08, 2021 11:23 am
by sockwithaticket
Had a giant house spider come up the wall next to the toilet this morning while I was on it still half asleep. Certainly woke me up, the big bastard.
Grandpa wrote: Fri Oct 08, 2021 8:22 am
Before reading this thread.. and being in the UK... I wasn't that scared of spiders... I am now!
If you really want to unnerve yourself, read the first couple of books in the Hatching series by Ezekial Boone (I haven't done the third one, heard that it really jumps the shark).
Grandpa wrote: Fri Oct 08, 2021 8:22 am
Before reading this thread.. and being in the UK... I wasn't that scared of spiders... I am now!
Can I recommend this book:
Helped my 9 year old.
They're actually a bloody brilliant series of books, highly educational and most have a good enough story to keep kids reading them. My boy devours them.
I think I preferred it when I didn't know a lot about spiders...
Re: Spiders
Posted: Fri Oct 08, 2021 11:25 am
by Grandpa
sockwithaticket wrote: Fri Oct 08, 2021 11:23 am
Had a giant house spider come up the wall next to the toilet this morning while I was on it still half asleep. Certainly woke me up, the big bastard.
Grandpa wrote: Fri Oct 08, 2021 8:22 am
Before reading this thread.. and being in the UK... I wasn't that scared of spiders... I am now!
If you really want to unnerve yourself, read the first couple of books in the Hatching series by Ezekial Boone (I haven't done the third one, heard that it really jumps the shark).
Funnily enough I'd prefer not to unnerve myself further...
Grandpa wrote: Fri Oct 08, 2021 8:22 am
Before reading this thread.. and being in the UK... I wasn't that scared of spiders... I am now!
Can I recommend this book:
Helped my 9 year old.
They're actually a bloody brilliant series of books, highly educational and most have a good enough story to keep kids reading them. My boy devours them.
I think I preferred it when I didn't know a lot about spiders...
Word. This thread should be immediately smashed with a rolled up magazine!
They're actually a bloody brilliant series of books, highly educational and most have a good enough story to keep kids reading them. My boy devours them.
I think I preferred it when I didn't know a lot about spiders...
Word. This thread should be immediately smashed with a rolled up magazine!
They're actually a bloody brilliant series of books, highly educational and most have a good enough story to keep kids reading them. My boy devours them.
I think I preferred it when I didn't know a lot about spiders...
Word. This thread should be immediately smashed with a rolled up magazine!
Indeed it should
Re: Spiders
Posted: Fri Oct 08, 2021 2:48 pm
by bok_viking
average joe wrote: Thu Oct 07, 2021 9:02 am
Red roman. They're arachnids but not really spiders. Their bite is very painful but not venomous. If you encounter one don't try and run from them, they'll just chase your shadow. If you stand still they'll stop chasing you. The old people use to call them baard/haarskeerder "beard or hair cutter" They reckoned they'll cut your hair when you're asleep for their nests.
I agree, their bites are painful as hell. I once got bitten by one when i was about 15. I actually have a small scar to this day where it bit me.
dpedin wrote: Thu Oct 07, 2021 1:22 pm
Played golf yesterday in Embra and the sun was shining and low in the sky and it highlighted that every fairway was absolutely covered in spiders webs/lengths of silk. they literally created a very thin and almost invisible carpet over the whole fairway. Is this a seasonal phenomenon or is it there all the time but we just don't see them?
dpedin wrote: Thu Oct 07, 2021 1:22 pm
Played golf yesterday in Embra and the sun was shining and low in the sky and it highlighted that every fairway was absolutely covered in spiders webs/lengths of silk. they literally created a very thin and almost invisible carpet over the whole fairway. Is this a seasonal phenomenon or is it there all the time but we just don't see them?
They're actually a bloody brilliant series of books, highly educational and most have a good enough story to keep kids reading them. My boy devours them.
I think I preferred it when I didn't know a lot about spiders...
Word. This thread should be immediately smashed with a rolled up magazine!
but I do find poisonous snakes & spiders fascinating; as you say knowledge gives you an appreciation of how extraordinary they are, & how they evolved the way they did, & why; & how; if you give the due respect, there's no reason to fear them !
