Author |
Message |
Dogdoc
Member
09-29-2001
| Saturday, April 04, 2009 - 2:46 pm
I thought the spider ball was interesting. All the babies hatching at once. Charlott's Web all over again. Spiders get rid of a lot of harmful insects. Spiders should be honored.
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Hermione69
Member
07-24-2002
| Saturday, April 04, 2009 - 3:38 pm
I love spiders. When I see one in my house, I either leave it be, or put it outside.
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Lexie_girl
Member
07-30-2004
| Saturday, April 04, 2009 - 4:38 pm
Whenever a spider gets in my house, I catch it and put it outside so it can feast on the outside insects. 
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Nerovh
Member
06-12-2005
| Saturday, April 04, 2009 - 6:11 pm
I find spiders creepy. Our area has a lot of black widows and some brown recluse spiders, and I know several people (including my brother when he was 3) who have been bitten. I don't kill the non-poisonous spiders that I find, but I try to stay well away from all spiders if possible.
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Lycanthrope
Member
09-19-2002
| Saturday, April 04, 2009 - 7:38 pm
Spiders rock! I grew up in the boonies, and we had tarantulas, widows, recluses, everything. I was over any phobias of them when I was 8, and I learned to love them when I saw that they sometimes ate the dreaded and hated wasps that terrorized my childhood. Did you know the average person eats 8 spiders in their sleep over their lifetime? Must be the small ones, though.
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Sugar
Member
08-15-2000
| Saturday, April 04, 2009 - 8:35 pm
We had big spiders last year, someone said they were wolf spiders. Very icky. They were all over the house and garden, huge webs from house to fence. I suspect they were trying to cocoon us. I got a broom and beat the damn things to death.
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Pamy
Member
01-02-2002
| Sunday, April 05, 2009 - 9:25 am
OG, that is so interesting. I also was amazed by the spiderball and wondered exactly what was happening. It did give me heeby geebies but it was amazing.
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Goddessatlaw
Member
07-19-2002
| Sunday, April 05, 2009 - 11:14 am
My skin is still crawling from it. My sympathy, Sugar, I've encountered a few wolf spiders here and there, they should make horror movies about them. They are brown and hairy and can be as big as a man's hand.
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Catfat
Member
02-27-2002
| Sunday, April 05, 2009 - 9:37 pm
I like spiders and keep them around to eat the fleas that our mangy dog drops.
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Catfat
Member
02-27-2002
| Sunday, April 05, 2009 - 9:39 pm
Goddess, are wolf spiders the same as Tarantulas? Or trantlers, as it is pronounced in Arizona.
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Goddessatlaw
Member
07-19-2002
| Monday, April 06, 2009 - 5:29 am
Nope, they're not poisonous that I know of Catfat. Just freaky. Particularly if you sit on the step to tie your shoe, and look over and they're just sitting there waiting to make their move on you. Chandelier swinging ensues.
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Nerovh
Member
06-12-2005
| Monday, April 06, 2009 - 3:36 pm
When my sister first built her house, they had a light switch plate that was on the wall but not screwed in place completely so it was sticking out from the wall. There was a wolf spider under it, legs were sticking out both sides of the plate. Scared the living crap out of all of us.
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Goddessatlaw
Member
07-19-2002
| Monday, April 06, 2009 - 4:35 pm
~Screams~ ETA Trantlers? I love that, it is so . . . regional.
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Seamonkey
Moderator
09-07-2000
| Monday, April 06, 2009 - 5:12 pm
The Wolf spiders I've seen (mostly in Yuma, AZ) were smaller than tarantulas by far (though I know wolfs can get big) and they had those big squishy bodies and a gazillian babies riding the mom around.. a friend in Australia forwarded pics of wolf spiders in her home, and YOW.. what GAL said.. Chandelier swinging indeed! Nerovah.. that visual .. eek! Tarantulas are scary but not so squishy looking to me.. but BIG and some of them can JUMP four feet! We have orb spiders that can get pretty large (one example was Ted the Spider, featured on last season of Big Brother) and black widows. My BIL, years ago stepped on a small brown spider, not knowing that it was a male black widow.. apparently the female wasn't done with her mate and she came at my BIL, aggressively leaping at him! Luckily he was able to grab a broom and fend off the spider. I was extremely phobic of spiders as a child (and I'm still not wanting them walking on me, thankyouverymuch) but when I lived in Modjeska Canyon (boonies) for a decade, you just got used to them being around.. you'd keep your eyes open and ears (rattlesnakes) and keep your pets in covered areas or inside (coyotes, even possible mountain lions) and we would see tarantulas and black widows of course. LOL.. I never heard anyone say Trantlers in Yuma, but I like it!
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Beekindpleez
Member
07-18-2006
| Monday, April 06, 2009 - 5:30 pm
I have twice had a tarantula in my home. I no longer have a chandelier. My DH was bitten on the back of his neck by what doctors presumed was a wolf spider or black widow. It spread to his spinal cord because of the proximity. It was not a fun experience. The only spiders I like are the fake Halloween ones which I greatly enjoy scaring DH with by placing it the toilet paper roll or the middle of his pillow. heehee
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Jimmer
Moderator
08-30-2000
| Monday, April 06, 2009 - 5:47 pm
I don't think I'd like that very much. How the heck do those guys get in? They aren't exactly tiny.
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Beekindpleez
Member
07-18-2006
| Monday, April 06, 2009 - 5:55 pm
Jimmer...I live in the boonies, so there are many, many tarantulas. As for how they get in? I suppose like a mouse would. Through any small opening, a pipe, a vent, etc. One of those tarantulas I nearly stepped on in bare feet. That was when the chandalier got loose. The second one was on my son's pillow when I went to kiss him goodnight. That was when I lost my chandalier. I have also twice had a bat in my home. Once, thanks to the cat and the other, the sucker just flew right in the front door when I went to take the dog out.

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Seamonkey
Moderator
09-07-2000
| Tuesday, April 07, 2009 - 12:21 am
We had six labradors and 2 cats IN the house, so I guess the trantulas steered clear.. never had one in the house, but our next door neighbors had one that just walked in the front door once when they opened it.. We DID have a big rattlesnake in our yard .. and it was scary because I had just let four labs out in the morning to do their thing and suddenly heard the rattle and it was actually rattling as it slithered (usually they are coiled up when they rattle..) and Grace actually had her nose on it as it moved away. That was when having my dogs trained to take me seriously if I said NO and to obey when I went to herd them back into the house.. was a very good thing! We used to see tarantulas walking down the road, too... Hey, Jimmer, at least there are no polar bears here.. Unfortunately the habitats for mountain lions are shrinking and then they come into neighborhoods. It just KILLS me when they shoot them and show it on tv. They are just these gorgeous cats (dangerous, yep..)
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Sportsfan
Member
09-03-2007
| Tuesday, April 07, 2009 - 4:06 am
GROSS!!! I am terrified of spiders I need to start appreciating the land of ice and snow more.
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Tntitanfan
Member
08-03-2001
| Tuesday, April 07, 2009 - 5:40 am
We have a huge coyote problem in suburban neighborhoods here. People have to be very careful with small pets being out alone -
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Mamabatsy
Member
08-05-2005
| Tuesday, April 07, 2009 - 8:29 am
My daughter's cat was killed by a black widow. All our cats are indoor cats because of the coyotes. But the spiders can get inside. I've seen coyotes casually walking down the road looking for the easy pickin's of house pets on the loose.
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Tntitanfan
Member
08-03-2001
| Tuesday, April 07, 2009 - 11:44 am
We have several VERY large city parks, three of which are largely undeveloped woodlands. If you are a southern city gal, it is un-nerving to be sitting at a campfire in one of those parks and hear coyotes yipping from several places in the hills around you!
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Seamonkey
Moderator
09-07-2000
| Wednesday, April 08, 2009 - 4:00 am
I don't think small pets should be out unsupervised.. even large pets.. We did have a puppy run for when they got old enough to be out more but we certainly had it made of sturdy chain link panels with a TOP. Many coyotes are smallish but I had the misfortune to hit one one time.. it just leaped off the hill right in front of my car. And it was quite large, as large as a good sized German Shepherd Dog. So,even a large dog would be at risk. I definitely wouldn't allow a black widow to remain inside (but of course you have to find them first. My most worrisome thing is these big wasps that work their way beyond the screens and hang out in the one really sunny window.. in the room where Critter likes to go to get that sun. I scope out the room often.. (I have old windows)
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Happymom
Member
01-20-2003
| Thursday, April 09, 2009 - 8:45 am
It seems so strange to me that people are afraid of little creatures such as insects and spiders (unless they sting or bite) because they are so small, even a wolf spider or tarantula (trantler, lol!!) is very small compared to something like a cat. I am one of those people though, I would absolutely scream and be terrified if one of those walked across the desk or floor! In San Diego, we had those huge cockroaches, Palmetto bugs maybe? They were enormous! I was terrified! And I sure didn't want my curious cats getting them. I'd run upstairs and throw the cats in a bedroom and go back down and get up my courage to deal with the huge bug. I'd put a glass on it and drag it to the back door and put oven cleaner on it. My heart would pound so hard. (I kept the place really clean. Didn't realize for a long time that they were walking in under the back door. Once we weather stripped it, we never had another one.)Anyway, it still seems strange to me logically that we are afraid of bugs, but I totally am afraid of them, instant fear.
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