Creepy spider!

IMAGE(http://cdn.theatlantic.com/static/infocus/ngpc111111/s_n08_4102011-.jpg)

The attached caption read:
"An unexpected side-effect of the 2010 flooding in parts of Sindh, Pakistan, was that millions of spiders climbed up into the trees to escape the rising flood waters; because of the scale of the flooding and the fact that the water took so long to recede, many trees became cocooned in spiders webs. People in the area had never seen this phenomenon before, but they also reported that there were less mosquitos than they would have expected, given the amount of standing water that was left. Not being bitten by mosquitoes was one small blessing for people that had lost everything in the floods. (© Russell Watkins) # "

source

AAAAAAHHHHH!!!!

IMAGE(http://i.imgur.com/ADRJvv4l.jpg)

Ballotechnic wrote:

horrific spider trees

NOPE NOPE NOPE NOPE NOPE

BadKen wrote:

AAAAAAHHHHH!!!!

IMAGE(http://i.imgur.com/ADRJvv4l.jpg)

dawwww

Do the big fat spiders that I dreamed were spinning webs all around my bed count as creepy? Because that was not what I wanted to wake up thinking about.

Was it like this?

IMAGE(http://i13.photobucket.com/albums/a254/Liquidmantis/2013-08-13_13-59-43_zps6c4ae3c5.png)

IMAGE(https://i.chzbgr.com/maxW500/7734407680/hCF3587AD/)

I should've noted that this thing is as big as my hand, and I'm 6'2". The only reason I don't have my hand up next to it for comparison is nope. Not even from the inside of the house.

That's an orb weaver. Gorgeous spiders, and they make fantastic webs. I don't think they bite people, they just run away. There's a variant in India that they used to make a golden spider silk tapestry of some kind, and the local kids were catching and bringing them in, where they would be 'milked' for whatever they had, and returned where they were caught. Despite their size, they're harmless to people.

They're cooler-looking from the other side; this side has all the nasty dangerous-looking bits. Their tops are usually very attractive.

Ballotechnic wrote:

Well look here.

That your shoe? If so I see you're practiced in the TX shoe check. NEVER leave them outside, ALWAYS knock the heel and inspect before putting on.

LiquidMantis wrote:
Ballotechnic wrote:

Well look here.

That your shoe? If so I see you're practiced in the TX shoe check. NEVER leave them outside, ALWAYS knock the heel and inspect before putting on.

No not mine, I stumbled across that on reddit. Pretty much a worse case scenario when it comes to such a dangerous spider though.

IMAGE(http://24.media.tumblr.com/c722ba2f067e18129a18243fc609ce46/tumblr_ms7ia5P32h1r4zr2vo1_500.gif)

Awww. What a cute little guy!

Ballotechnic wrote:
LiquidMantis wrote:
Ballotechnic wrote:

Well look here.

That your shoe? If so I see you're practiced in the TX shoe check. NEVER leave them outside, ALWAYS knock the heel and inspect before putting on.

No not mine, I stumbled across that on reddit. Pretty much a worse case scenario when it comes to such a dangerous spider though.

I was worried for a moment there, Australian Redback Spider on holidays? Call animal control. (Or, nuke it from orbit, etc)

That's a black widow spider. They have the red hour glass on their underside. They do look pretty similar though.

Black widow bites will almost never kill you, barring an allergic reaction, but you'll be sick as hell, sometimes for several days. Definitely not something you want to put your foot on.

AFAIK, the two spiders to really be worried about are the brown recluse (in the US) and the funnelweb (in Australia). Of course, in Australia, if it moves, it can probably kill you.

An Australian told me about her first visit to New Zealand; she was surprised that people were just walking through tallish grass without looking down. And then she realized, "oh! no snakes here!"

That sort of sums up Australia's wildlife for me.... even walking in grass, you have to be careful.

Seems the hourglass is a family trait. (Redback belongs to the widow family)

The female redback has a round body about the size of a large pea (1 cm long), with long, slender legs. The body is a deep black colour (occasionally brownish), often containing an obvious orange to red longitudinal stripe on the upper abdomen. The stripe is sometimes broken or looks like small red dots. On the underside of the abdomen is an "hourglass"-shaped red/orange spot. Juvenile spiders have additional white markings on the abdomen. The male redback is three to four millimetres long and is light brown in colour, with white markings on the upper side of the abdomen and a pale hourglass marking on the underside.
Mantid wrote:

Peacock Spider

Watch yer back mayte... Too layte.

Our huge yellow spider died yesterday. Kinda sad about it. Wife's really sad, so we buried it. She thought it was dead last week, but I touched its leg with a long stick, and it hauled ass up its web. This time, it was really dead, or a great faker.

False. Sense. Of security.

Bonus_Eruptus wrote:

This time, it was really dead, or a great faker.

Well you made sure this time!

Mantid wrote:

Jeez, women the same everywhere, am I right fellas?!
And did he have sex with her head? Something didn't look right.

Malor wrote:

Black widow bites will almost never kill you, barring an allergic reaction, but you'll be sick as hell, sometimes for several days. Definitely not something you want to put your foot on.

This is true of redbacks as well, so not everything here kills you. Although if you're bitten by one, apparently you'll wish you were dead.

My step-mum got bitten by one and she said the pain was worse than child-birth. She may have been exaggerating, but it still doesn't sound like much fun.

Tanglebones wrote:

IMAGE(http://24.media.tumblr.com/c722ba2f067e18129a18243fc609ce46/tumblr_ms7ia5P32h1r4zr2vo1_500.gif)

IMAGE(http://i.imgur.com/fsX97.gif)

Not especially creepy, but quite a good photo:

IMAGE(http://www.malor.com/gamerswithjobs/fnarkNo.jpg)

(from reddit)

They're learning.
IMAGE(http://i.imgur.com/3dYA7fO.jpg)

Cool sub-reddit! I didn't even know that existed. i should post some up. Maybe some selfie macros...