Have you ever had that feeling...?

Have you ever had that feeling that a spider is crawling on your skin?

And then you look down and there's no spider there, it was just some kind of tactile illusion, such as the air conditioning hitting your skin in just the right way to make one of the hairs on your arm move just the right way to trick you into thinking that. Or perhaps it's your clothing brushing your skin a certain way.

Or maybe you're lying in bed, and the bed sheets brush your skin just the right way to make it feel like there's a spider there. So you panic and turn on the light on the nightstand, only to discover it was nothing.

Maybe you've done this a hundred times over the course of your life, because you've got this serious squick about spiders. But every time, it's always been nothing.

But then, there's that one time when you feel that sensation while you're in bed, and you smack your hand instinctively down on the spot on your arm where you thought you felt a spider, and you turn on the light to discover that there was in fact a disgusting creepy spider crawling on you and you weren't imagining it. And now you have to wipe up the mess with a kleenex.

And now you've got a serious case of the willies, and you can't go back to sleep because now you're creeped out by every slight sensation on your skin that even remotely resembles the touch of an insect, even if it's just an ordinary itch. So you have no choice but to sit up and post mindless crap to a BBS in the middle of the night.

Don't you just hate it when that happens?

Vaguely related:

http://www.straightdope.com/mailbag/mspidereat.html

Sort of like killing a blimp?

As for my experience, back when I was a bachelor and didn't have very high standards some buddies and I were in a very low-rent apartment. What I didn't know was that they had bats living in the walls. So I had a similar experience one night, except that I turned on the light and saw/felt a bat run across my stomach. I have never come to full awareness so quickly. Anyway, the rest of the night was spent trying to figure out where the bat came from (apparently through the ventilation) and getting him outside of the apartment. Needless to say, this did raise my standards a bit for where to live.

Thanks for the article. That eased my mind a bit, or at least until the egg sac thing. I mean great, now he's put a negative connection to Charlotte's Web in my mind

But yeah, Tony. I know how you feel. I'm not looking forward to going back to my place in Williamsburg because of my old roommate. Last year, when he first moved in, I unfortunately discovered that he loved to deep fry turkeys. The bad part was that when he was done, he'd just throw the carcass in the trash without wraping it up first. Since I wasn't there for a few days, the trash didn't get taken out. As you would expect, bad smell>maggots>flies. These were enormous black flies. Absolutely disgusting. So every night I would be worried about one of them flying into my mouth or something. I would regularly see one land on my covers. Ugh. And he just left recently, and told me there was a fly problem with the trash can again. I hope they aren't in the house

We frequently get those tiny little spiders in our house (aka "money spiders" here, for some reason) and when I see them flinging themselves from things and abseiling to the ground/bed etc. I always wonder if any drop into my mouth. I don't lose sleep over it, but then again I never wake up hungry

Gareth

Yeah, there's a similar story about swallowing spiders in one of the Scott Adams books. I think it's in "The Dilbert Future".

He talks about how he always keeps a glass of water on his dresser to take drinks during the night, and he always gulps it down in a sleepy daze without thinking about it. But one night, a series of unusual coincidences happened so that the light was on when he did this and he had occasion to look at the glass, and there was a huge spider floating in it. His conclusion was that it was something more than coincidence. His SO's conclusion was that he's probably swallowed many spiders without knowing it.

I think they need to start manufacturing clear Coke cans for use outdoors, because if I leave the can for a bit I'm always wondering what's in there when I get back.

Thanks, Tony, I didn't realize I was this neurotic

I think they need to start manufacturing clear Coke cans for use outdoors

We need Scotty to come give us the formula for Transparent Aluminum again.

"Computer?... Heloooo computer?..."

Careful, it might be one of these

It wasn't, but...

1) I've always wanted to know what the Brown Recluse looked like.

2) About a month ago, a really creepy spider was crawling around my desk and I freaked out when I tried to kill it and it jumped directly at my face before I could get the kleenex on it.

3) That spider looked a whole lot like that photo.

<shudder>

I know nothing about that spider - is that bite for real?

I didn't click on the bite link, but I know that in North America, the Brown Recluse and the Black Widow are the two most poisonous spiders.

From what I understand, that looks like a pretty mild one.

I'm glad I'm in the UK - worst I've seen is a cute Zebra Spider. Mind you, with all this heat we're having, God only knows whats colonising at the bottom of the garden.

Supposedly small animals, babies included, can die from a brown recluse bite. A little bit of research turns up the fact that the skin bitten can become full-depth necrotic. That is, the skin in the area can just die completely, down to muscle and bone. In fact, one of the sites I found had a section on how to differentiate a brown recluse bite from cutaneous anthrax.

I am so sorry I started this thread now.

I just remembered that in addition to all that, about 4 months ago my roommate and I were just sitting in our kitchen, studying for an exam, when I just looked down and there was what I believe was a wolf spider. I'm not sure of the type, but it was very large, hairy, and bulky. Including legs I would guess it was about 4.5 inches in diameter. It disappeared but reappeared a bit later, and instead of killing it and leavng a giant mess on the floor, we decided to trap it in some tupperware and throw it out the door.

So yeah, I know that feeling, Tony. It puts you on edge. My house wasn't terribly well-built, and I imagine there are all types of crevices that small things (and not-so-small things) can get into.

Again, I don't know what type of spider it was (I think wolf spiders are gray, and this one wasn't), but it was pretty crazy. I'm just one of those people who hates bugs. Sorry

Wolf spiders are big and hairy and come in many colors. Very tarantula-like except that wolf spiders are much faster movers. <shudder>

What's really gross is when you see one with its babies riding on its abdomen. <double shudder>

The bite - day 10 ... maybe he should visit the doctor...

How in the world could anything like that warrant a smiley? *tripple shudder*

Hmm, now I want to find out what a wolf spider looks like. This guy was a fast mover, and my roommate was a bio major, but he was just guessing at it.

Your description makes it sound very much like a wolf spider. Very big, very hairy.

Okay, this thread is really just giving me chills. I am one of those insect-hating folk.

Let's lighten things up a bit.

As always, Google has the answer

Unfortunately, as always, there are too many answers I mean, look at the variety between the spiders there. Some of them are hairy, some are not. Some have short, thick legs, some have long, thin legs. Add that to my slightly fuzzy memory, and I can't really tell you if that's it or not. I wouldn't even know what to look for if I saw it

Some of those look like candidates, though. I'll have to see if there's a particular type that like to hang out in my region.

You're lucky it's only your imagination. It could be this

Eww. NOT good with the ladies.

Thanks, that's now one of the top ten worst things I have ever heard in my life.

Eww, eww, eww, eww. Not a good story to read while eating lunch. Yuck!

Yarr! That's gonna replace the whale in my nightmares

Yarr! That's gonna replace the whale in my nightmares

You have nightmares about whales flying out of your genitalia?

This thread has given me the heebee jeebies. I hate spiders more than anything!

About the brown recluse, though. It's really pretty rare to run across one. They usually only like to hang out in places that are rarely disturbed - hence their name. But they are somewhat common around these parts so I'm usually very cautious when exploring any damp, dark, rarely visited corners and niches around my apt. They can also be identified by what looks like an upside-down violin that runs down their back from the head.

- trs

No, silly. Whales don't fly. but that's gotta hurt.
That would sure top any birthing pains women have.

One of the places they like to hide, though, is in stacks of firewood.

I'm now going to have nightmares about the combination - being bitten on the genitals by a brown recluse....

Don't forget the whales!

True. Same with the black widows. I used to HATE our wood pile when I was a kid. I was terrified of stoking the fire. I could have put on work gloves to alleviate the fear - but I was also afraid that there were spiders in the gloves. I was a hopeless case.

- trs

A friend of mine is getting skin grafted from her hip to her ankle where she got bitten by a brown recluse recently. It's the worst injury I have seen in person.

Well, for future reference, this is a wolf spider:



They're harmless, and keep pretty much any other insects/arthropods above the size of an ant out of the house. They have the same effect on my aunt, usefully

This is a small one, I think probably a male. It's only about 2 inches across the legs at most. There are some much bigger ones around somewhere, maybe two to two and a half times the size (you sometimes hear them thumping around the room at night, lots of little feet going clatter, clatter, clatter...). The only one I know the current whereabouts of is under the bed, but the last time I tried to get it out with a stick to take a picture we had a brief tug-of-war, and I lost.

Pixel loves them.

Actually, she just hits them until they stop working, then goes off to find some other source of amusement. Sometimes I have to rescue one from her, very occasionally with a really big one I have to rescue her from it...

pca

LOL

Wow, that would freak me out. I'm impressed by your comfort with them

Sadly, I am positive that was not the type of spider I had in my house. This little guy would not fit on your palm, let alone your finger. Plus he was far more bulky than that one.


[On a side note, I am currently on hold with T-Mobile customer service, and am struck with the feeling that a musak version of "Living in the Past" by Jethro Tull is highly unnecessary. Mainly because it doesn't sound any different from the original ]

A little bit of research turns up the fact that the skin bitten can become full-depth necrotic

Clearly, nobody else has repeatedly clicked Philip's link to the picture of the brown recluse bite.
People! The initial page is just Day 5.
If you have the stamina to follow it all the way through to day 10, you will see why it is extremely important to seek treatment for one of these bites.
You may also lose your lunch. Not for the squeamish.

This little guy would not fit on your palm, let alone your finger

I've heard of wolf spiders getting that big sometimes. <shudder>

/me considers not reading this thread any more, even though he started it...

One of the guys I work with is married to a nurse. He was telling us about a guy who went into her emergency room with a brown recluse bite. Definately not a pretty image. Their poison is mean, but I suppose any kind of poison isn't exactly nice.

I'm not fond of spiders, but we use to have a family of black widows living near our water heater when we were stationed in Utah.

I tried to find a link to contribute to this thread, but I have no idea where it is. I might have to look at it when I get home. Anyway, this spider was huge, its legs stuck out from under a clock and it was ENORMOUS! The photo taker removed the clock so he could see the whole thing. The consensus between everybody I showed the link to and myself was that we wouldn't kill the thing, we'd just move, right then.

Edit: Woo! Found some of the pics...

Only three here.
There is a great thread about those pictures that still make me laugh.

Clearly, nobody else has repeatedly clicked Philip's link to the picture of the brown recluse bite.

Yeah, I figured that out after the fact. Nasty.

Clearly, nobody else has repeatedly clicked Philip's link to the picture of the brown recluse bite.

I hadn't. I have now. Wish I hadn't.

At this point I am feeling so glad that I live in the UK where the scariest wildlife we get is a flea ridden rabbit...

pca, whats wrong with that spider in your picture?
looks like its got a leg growing from the top of its back.

It is also important to note, if you get bitten by a spider that you THINK is a brown recluse, catch it and bring it with you. It is very helpful when trying to determine what type of antivenom, if any, to give you. My dad was once biten by a brown recluse on the hand. More specifically the left thumb. He's a surgeon, so you could imagine how nervous we all were. All was well after a few hours at the hospital though.

Personally, spiders don't bother me a bit. Roaches, on the other hand...... -=shudder=- I know, I know, roaches don't bite, spiders do, but... Roaches are just GROSS. And spiders are cute and hairy and only eat other insects.

pca, whats wrong with that spider in your picture?
looks like its got a leg growing from the top of its back.

Think Patrick is working with more dangerous substances than jet engines and electricity?

Just had a look at Phillips pics. That guy is insane. how could you let that go for so long?

...struck with the feeling that a musak version of "Living in the Past" by Jethro Tull is highly unnecessary. Mainly because it doesn't sound any different from the original...

Don't worry. Ian Anderson thought the same thing. In one of the Jethro Tull box sets (25 years, I think), he introduces Living In The Past something like this: (not an exact quote, this is from memory, but it will be pretty close...)

...Here is an oldie that we have utterly loathed for fifteen long years. But now it is back, rewritten in a slightly trickier form making it more fun to play. It's called Living In The Past...

The beginning and the end are still very muzak-ish, but the center there is a lot of improvisation and good stuff.

Personally, spiders don't bother me a bit. Roaches, on the other hand...... -=shudder=- I know, I know, roaches don't bite, spiders do, but... Roaches are just GROSS. And spiders are cute and hairy and only eat other insects.

I'm with you on this. Spotting a roach inside would literallycause me to move. Literally. Because if you see one... you've got a million in your walls.
(Pardon the MadTV reference.)

Spiders, on the other hand, experience unique evolutionary pressures in my household. I kill the big ugly hairy ones and let the cute little ones be. After a few years of this, I only have cute little spiders who I trust to keep all the other insects under control.

By the way, anyone else remember a children's book called "Be Nice to Spiders" which exhorted you leave them alone because they are good to have around?

which reminds me.. this one is from New Zealand a year ago..

Great pic! I wish I had some good pictures of my pet tarantula we had in Haiti.

I was in Haiti for a month, and we kept getting tarantulas in the bathroom. They would wander in from outside and we would remove them by taking a branch from a tree, leading the tarantula onto the branch, then throwing the branch far away outside into a cane field. I was the designated tarantula catcher around and one day we decided to get one and keep it in a cage. We caught it in a super-large mayo jar, the tarantula was a medium sized one, about 6-8 inches long. While it was in the jar we fed it a gecko. That was pretty interesting, the tarantula has two claws around it's jaw and it bit the gecko with them. Then it used them to pull the gecko's body into it's mouth leaving only the head and tail. After that we made a cage out of a box and screen, and the tarantula just kind of hung out the rest of the time we were there (I think it was really full after the gecko). We let him go when I left.

I was talking to my "cubicle buddy" about this thread, and she was quite interested. She's an odd one. She wanted to go into forensic science for the longest time.

Anyway, she was telling me that when she was a kid, she and her parents lived in Australia, which evidently has the largest share of venemous spiders in the world. She was telling me how they also had perfectly harmless spiders, but they grew to enormous sizes. Apparently we're talking about the exact same spiders from "Aracnaphobia", and she'd see these in her bathroom regularly.

No thanks.

Yeah, they've got some weird animals down there in Australia. I'm told that certain species of animals down there can have up to six assholes.

Reminds me of when I was in college. A friend of mine had a problem not with spiders, but with the other cool arachnids, scorpions. While there was construction going on in the neeighborhood, all the scorpions would get displaced from the woods they were clearing and kept invading homes in the area. We'd find 2-3 a week for months. They were the harmless little 1" long ones, but still, they looked awfully menacing to me.

Why'd you have to go and do that? Now I keep thinking of a present from my mom's friend who lives in Malaysia. For some reason, she thought a great birthday present for me when I was about 10 or 12 would be a scorpion in a glass case (a dead one). The box was about 10 to 12 inches long, and the scorpion filled it. That thing creeped the hell out of me.

I'm glad I live where is gets cold enough to kill all of these bugs

I'm told that certain species of animals down there can have up to six assholes.

sounds my previous boss.

Huntsman is one large growing one. Wolf is another.

Crikey, hang one a minute mate. I gotta go. The last Kangaroo is just about to leave and I haven't even finished my billy tea and damper

all the scorpions would get displaced from the woods they were clearing and kept invading homes in the area. We'd find 2-3 a week for months

I've heard stories about subdivisions built in former scorpion habitats. Apparently it takes quite some time (a year perhaps?) before people stop seeing scorpions appearing in their houses.

In a related note, once upon a time, I worked in a 10-story office building which had recently been built in the middle of nowhere atop a wooded hill. It turns out that this was the major local cricket breeding habitat. Every spring, for about a week, millions of crickets would carpet the parking lot and swarm up the side of the building to the second or third floor. Hundreds of crickets covered the marble lobby floor. The parking lot seemed to be alive and moving. As you drove out you could hear the disgusting sound of many crickets crunching under your wheels.
And the smell! Do you know what large numbers of squashed crickets smell like? It ain't pretty.

Then, within a week, they would all vanish, not to be seen again until the next year.

Let the swarming insect stories begin. I'm sure my story has nothing on the Aussies. Not to mention the ocean of rats they had down there one time. Disgusting.

Let the swarming insect stories begin.

My God, what have I done by starting this thread?

My God, what have I done by starting this thread?

Yes, Tony, perhaps you should have waited until closer to Halloween.

My God, what have I done by starting this thread?

Indeed Mr Fabris, what have you done. Despite the fact that I'm in the UK where none of this stuff can get at me I am completely creeped out by reading this thread. But of course I can't stop myself from coming back to see what is new.

I think you should pay penance by changing your tag from "FAQ Master" to "Bringer of stories of doom and creepiness"...

Reading a bit about it, antibiotics and steroids don't do anything to treat the initial bite or poison. It just helps prevent secondary infections. That guys probably been to a doctor and got the best treatment available.

Note my previous fear of being bitten on the genitals! It'd turn black and drop off!

I'm told that certain species of animals down there can have up to six assholes.

I was somehow under the impression that Howard's cabinet was larger than that.

Note my previous fear of being bitten on the genitals!

This one time, at boy scout camp....
Yep, one kid got sent home due to such an unfortunate encounter with a black widow while in the latrine. The story goes that he came out screaming and that he told the first aid people "please don't amputate!"

Of course, I didn't see the event (the kid wasn't in my troop) and I expect the story was much embellished. In fact it might even be an urban legend (or rather rural legend). But I'm sure it must have happened to someone at some point.

Yes, it is. But between them there are only six assholes. -- besides, Bush has a permanent hold on Howards.

"who's go the assholes today then?"
"Oooh, I think it's Downer, Howard, Costello, Reith, Ruddock's interstate and hasn't been able to return his to the ass-pool, and Vanstone needed it for a speech at a student rally."
"Hmm, do you think we could get some more assholes made"
"I'm afraid not sir, we used to have a whole basket of them, nearly enough for everyone, but there was some 'nastyness' left on some and we didn't want those back"

Hundreds of crickets covered the marble lobby floor. The parking lot seemed to be alive and moving. As you drove out you could hear the disgusting sound of many crickets crunching under your wheels

similar experience in wisconsin. i as walking through beloit one night with some friends. the van we were road tripping in broke down on i-90 and we spent the night on the street. about 2 in the morning we took a walk downtown and noticed a brown sidewalk. we walked over to take a look and it was thousands of bugs. crickets maybe. the wierdest thing was that they only would sit on the sidewalk where there was light. under every street lamp there was a ring of crickets. you wouldnt find one outside of the light ring. the coolest thing was : you could get a running start and slide from one end of the light ring to the other on bug juice.

My version was the time I had a flat tire on a motorcycle up in Lapland. As I swerved around and stopped on the side of the road, I could see a huge black cloud rising from the swamplands. Turned out that cloud was midgets.... Kept my full-face helmet on while fixing the tyre....

Turned out that cloud was midgets....

What a frightening, eerie sight it must have been!

...

...

Oh, you meant midges...

Ouch...

I can only blame the heat wave...

stopped on the side of the road, I could see a huge black cloud rising from the swamplands. Turned out that cloud was midgets....

Road wasn't surfaced with yellow bricks, by any chance?

tanstaafl.

Day-yam, I KNEW there was a good joke in there somewhere, I just didn't see it.

What a frightening, eerie sight it must have been

Julf in a full face helmet, or the swarm of midges?

God only knows whats colonising at the bottom of the garden.

More likely to be didecoys than insects in the UK!

Man, I've missed you guys... That's the first time I've had to explain why I spit Dr. Pepper on my screen in two months.

So, I had "that feeling" last night. First it was a tingle on the back of my neck. Then, across my cheek. Then AHHHHHHHHHHHHH! FRICKING SPIDER!!!

I threw the spider across the room. Then I was up for ever freaking out at everything that even brushed my skin, thinking of those wolf spiders that go *thump* in the night that PCA was talking about, and trying to get the image out of my head of that disgusting brown recluse bite. This thread will be the death of me.

- trs

Welcome to my hell.

(At least I never followed the links to the brown recluse bite. )

I've never had that feeling, but I did experience a new one when the lovely little critter in the attached photo announced that I was about to step on her (him?) on a hike Monday on Tongue Mt. in NY (Lake George).

Very polite that rattle, all poisonous snakes should have one. She was about 4 1/2 feet and has 15 bands on her rattle. Eastern Timber Rattler.

-Zeke

Bah. 1 lousy K over!

Lake George! My old summer stomping ground.

Snakes. Why did it have to be snakes?

Now, Indy...

While surfing for the appropriate reply of:

Asps, very dangerous...you go first...

I found a link to a story about three 12 year old kids in Mississippi who did a shot by shot re-creation of raiders. Has anyone seen the full movie?

http://www.austinchronicle.com/issues/dispatch/2003-05-30/screens_feature4.html

Yeah I heard about that. It's supposed to be really good, and I think there's a pettition to include it on the DVDs that are coming out.

First I thought "3 12-year-olds" would have to be Gus, Matt & Ben
but then I read the story and I was both humbled and filled with awe.

(At least I never followed the links to the brown recluse bite. )

Who's going to be first to post an IMG link to the "Day 10" pic in an unrelated thread when he least expects it? >:->

Gareth

Dunno but they better like Terry Jacks

Ah well.. Here's the rattler that I did step on.. you can even sorta see a dent near the head where my boot had landed -- which also explains why this sucker with its 13 rattles didn't just snap up and.. well, you know.

-ml

Yes, A curse on you Mr Fabris. I had a dream the other night with spiders in it. Not a nightmare, but it was real and intese enough. It involved spiders a bit bigger than large wolf spiders.

Hey, I said I was sorry I started the thread!

Although I was just re-reading it from the top, and the whole run about whales and genitalia had me laughing out loud all over again.

Poor fella! I'm sure it wasn't intentional, but if it came down to bite vs. flat snake, I'm on the flat snake side. I was suprized at how calm the snake was. She didn't rattle unless we were within about 5', and calmly moved off the trail to let us pass. Unfortunately she was gone when we passed by again on the way back down. It was quite a hike. On the way there (via boat) we spooked a mature bald eagle which flew along next to us for about 1/2 mile, only about 20 yards away. Fantastic. That was also the first eagle I'd seen on the lake in my 25 years of going up there.

-Zeke

I remember backpacking at night with my dad on the C&O canal here in D.C. It was about 11PM, out in the more isolated sections, and while we're walking down the trail we look into the forest and see two large, green eyes staring back at us. We picked up the pace a little bit

I'm pretty sure it was a mountain lion. It couldn't have been more than 10 feet away.

Mountain lion in DC? I'd heard about L.A.'s problems with mountain lions assaulting joggers/hikers, but DC?

-Z

Hehe, well technically it wasn't D.C., as the canal is 184 miles long, so it was more likely somewhere in Maryland. Some parts of that canal are pretty far from anything.

But there was one time that there were escaped convicts in the area we were hiking

In reply to:

---

On the way there (via boat) we spooked a mature bald eagle which flew along next to us for about 1/2 mile, only about 20 yards away. Fantastic. That was also the first eagle I'd seen on the lake in my 25 years of going up there.

---

I went camping recently at a freinds place in northern Wisconsin. His neighbor has an eagle that takes fish off of his dock daily.

The eagle population seems to be recovering in a big way. My parents report that the upper Hudson (at least to Albany) is lousy with them these days (I'd never seen one as a boy except in Florida). Unfortunately, the slightly less impressive Turkey Vulture seems to be recovering even faster.
Lovely creatures, vultures.

-Zeke

A bear was sighted at the FCC site (CX08) on Monday August 4.

Please use extreme caution when walking, running or biking on the trails in on the HP site and in Ute Valley Park. These areas are home to a variety of wildlife.
---end e-mail---

Had that one in my box when I got back from vacation. Not uncommon around here to see bears, snakes, and mountain lions. Saw a bear about a month ago walking back to a friends house from the shopping center near him. Was just a bit bigger then a cub, and was wandering around attracting quite a bit of attention from several cars with out of state plates.

The last thing you want to do is approach or make any threatening move around a cub - especially a healthy one that probably has a much bigger (and infinitely nastier) bear nearby protecting / watching it.

I was visiting relatives in British Columbia a couple of years back, and was out for a walk on a mountain path with my cousin and her alsatian.

Rounding a corner towards a viewpoint, she suddenly turned and said "Bear. Don't run!", briskly walked past me and headed down the mountain.

Despite her advice to refrain from breaking into a mad dash down the path, I noticed that she was moving rather quickly, and was now wisely (for her, at least!) between myself and the black bear.

I never actually saw the bear myself, partly because I never got round that last corner before retreating, and partly because I never looked back.

I saw three non-boot-dented rattlers on my bike ride today. I was up in the Santa Monica mountains, and rode past a pair of them, about a foot and a half away. They were just under 2' long, and about as big around as the clear center part of a CD (hey, gotta pick a reference that everyone here can relate to ). They were twining around each other, flopping around, buzzing and hissing. I stopped to watch for about 10 minutes, or so. Their rattles were about the length of the last two knuckles of my pinky.

On the way back, I saw the third one, off to the right of the trail. This one was maybe 3' long, and not quite (but almost) as big around as my wrist. It had gorgeous colouring -- very saturated yellow margins around the dark patterns -- looked a lot like this one, and this one. Very beautiful.

This reminds me. Anyone ever seen a rattlesnake dodge a bullet? I have. It couldn't dodge the gasoline we poured down the hole though.

Tsk. What would Steve Irwin say?

"Crikey, Dija see that?!"

Followed by: "Woah! That thing nearly bit me! Ah was really lucky, there, mate."

Guess I could share my bear story.

I am (or was, it’s been entirely too long since I've been on the trail) an avid backpacker. Well about 3-4 years ago I was hiking through the Shenandoah Valley with some friends. It was the middle of the day in the middle of the hike and my mind was wandering. I was out in front, but was looking fairly downwards deep in thought. Suddenly the person behind me (behind by about 30 feet) says that calm controlled voice that tells you something is very wrong "Marcus, STOP"

I look up. Well somebody else looked up too. A black bear 30 feet ahead of me going the opposite direction on the trail (towards me) He seemed to have been paying as much attention to his surroundings as I had been.

Now I’ve been in the woods plenty, and I’ve seen my share of bears (we saw about 10 total that week). But most of those were from more than 30 feet away. Fortunately I kept my cool. I kept an eye on him but didn’t look him in the eye.

Well he seemed to know what the deal was, he picked himself up and sauntered off the trail about 50 feet, sat down, posed for a few pictures, and let us go on by. After we passed he hopped right back on the trail and kept on going.

I think maybe he is used to backpackers.

I think maybe he is used to backpackers.

He'd clearly already had lunch...

Well, if you're ever in NY hiking and see one, please leave it alone as the Eastern Timber Rattler is endangered.

-Zeke

I would never bother one in the wild. This one, however, was about 10 feet from the back door to the house. It may be endangered, but at the time, so were we. Besides, it was an eastern diamondback.

My favorite backpacking trail buddy is a marmot. Sort of like an obese weasel. They tend to run point for backpackers, although I've never figured out if the do this because they like to or they can't seem to understand that if they would get off the trail I'd stop following them. They run in groups sort of like prairie dogs. Not nearly as exciting as a bear, but much more amusing.

My favorite backpacking trail buddy is a marmot

Had lots of those hiking in the Rockies in Colorado. But mostly they would just check me out from their holes in the rocks, and dive back in if I got too close.

The tallest mountain in New Mexico is Wheeler Peak. It has a trail that crosses it which you can climb from the base or 3/4 the way up from a lake that is accessible by 4X4. The peak (marmots seem to like to be above tree line) has a colony of marmots. Since the trail is well used they've gotten used to backpackers. They'll actually take food from your hand if you're brave enough... The whole time I was doing it though the Jeff Foxworthy skit about the guy getting his nipple bitten off by a beaver kept running through my mind.

Fair 'nuff!

-Zeke

marmots seem to like to be above tree line

The scree above the tree line makes for great marmot homes.

- trs

Heh. That reminds me of a backpacking trip I did up near Sault Ste. Marie. We parked at the lot around noon, and had PB&J before setting off down the trail. It was only a couple miles to the site, so we got there quick, and set up camp before wandering off to explore the 'hood. After a bit, I heard some mention of there being a big dog wandering around in our campsite. There were a couple other people around other than my group, so we went back to see if the dog was theirs. It wasn't. In fact, it wasn't even a dog. It was a black bear. It had ripped the back from one of the tents, snuffling for food. So we threw rocks at it. I beaned it in the noggin with a fist sized rock. I was pretty pleased with that, as I'm a pretty lousy shot. Maybe that wasn't the best of things to do, but since we all lived, it makes for a good story. Anyway, the bear stood up -- it was about 6' tall -- sniffed for a bit, then wandered off.

We packed up in a hurry, and hiked out to spend the night in a state park. When we got back to the cars, one of the cars had the rear spoiler and some trim laying on the roof. Under one of the wipers was a note that said "There was a bear jumping up and down on the roof ." along with contact info in case it was needed for insurance.

We pitched camp in the dark at the state park campground. In the morning, we discovered that the rangers had been chasing a bear around in the park for most of the night.

I'm glad I only had to deal with raccoons and skunks while hiking in the US

Backpackers probably aren't very good to eat. The bags must get caught in their teeth

Well, shit. It happened again last night. Right before 5 AM. And we usually sleep till 7:30 or so.

This time, I felt it on my ear, it woke me, I tried to get it but couldn't find it. Jenny complained that I'd turned on the light... she wasn't aware of what was happening. Since I couldn't find the spider, I thought I might have simply imagined it, or that it was just my hair touching my ear in a funny way or some such. So I settled back down, turned out the light, and tried to go back to sleep.

Then I heard Jenny shuffling around strangely on her side of the bed, and suspected she might now be going through the same thing. So I turned on the light again, and she says angrily, "what are you doing?", approximately 2 seconds before letting out a shriek and sitting bolt upright, brushing at her arms.

"That is what I was doing", I replied calmly.

We looked for the spider all over and around the bed and couldn't find it.

I'm really sleepy today.

Oh, and a few minutes later, she's sitting in the office on the computer because she can't go back to sleep. I give her a hug and she tells me she's got the willies. I nod knowingly and try to comfort her...

How timely. Remember that big spider I said I had in my house last spring? Well I guess it left babies or something, because in the past 3 weeks I've seen the same type of spider, smaller, about 15 times. One morning I woke up, took a shower, and went to get dressed. Still groggy, I went to pick my pants up off the floor and just as I grabbed onto the waist I saw one of them scurry across the fabric.

Imagine my thought at having spiders crawling around in my pants!

For the next week I would put my shoes up on a shelf when I took them off.

I finally got one of them, and the glue traps the Orkin man left in my garage have caught another few. I'm hoping the cold takes care of them for this season.

I'm hoping the cold takes care of them for this season.

It only drives them into warm places. Like pants and shoes...

Came back from a five day camping trip, this summer and decided to tidy up a bit as I was unpacking. Went to tear off the packing tape hanging off a box on the shelf in my second story apartment, only to find that what I had grabbed was not torn packing tape, but a six-foot snakeskin draped over the box.

I screamed like a little girl.

The mice problem seemed to clear up, though...

-brendan

Cool! I managed to smuggle back a 5' section of molted cobra skin I found while in India on Friday. Better than any souvenier I bought.

But to stay totally on topic... they have a really common spider there that's about 4 inches across. You can see the webs (with spider in the middle) spanning across the roads. I made a comment to the guide I was with about how big they were, and he said they weren't big -- they get some that are about 9 inches. I told him that any insect you can see while driving 40km/h down a bumpy road is big. From experience, they make the stickiest spider web I've ever gotten stuck in.

You can see the webs (with spider in the middle) spanning across the roads.

Cue Gary Larson comic: "If we pull this off, we'll eat like kings!"

Heh. One darn near ate me. On the way up the hiking trail, I stopped to take some photos of a nice big black spider and the web spanning the path, before carefully ducking under so as not to ruin the web. A couple hours later, on the way back, I ran straight into it. First instinct I had was to duck. Second instinct I had was to twist away from it. Result of those instincts was wrapping it completely around my head and shoulders. And then I got the willies, because I didn't know where the spider was, and tried brushing the web (and spider) off me, just making things worse. Luckily, the spider had scurried off into the tree, rather than onto me, but that web was stickier than cotton candy on a two year old's face.

Here's another creepy spider story. This one I found on the straight dope message boards

Ah, I love The Straight Dope. Cool...

This guy was hanging out on the light outside the door to my apartment. It's body is about the size of my pinky fingernail. It kept trying to build a web from the light, down to the handrail, and over to one of the doors. Every time my neighbours or I opened the door, we broke some of the anchor threads. Eventually it disappeared. I think the girl next door had her boyfriend kill it.



(Sorry if the image is a bit big... only way I could keep the banding at bay.)

When I get the chance, I'll toss up a couple shots of the spiders I saw in India...

And a closer view...

And a side view...

that certainly looks like a well-fed spider.

You know, this thread (one of the best ever, in my opinion) has been dead for too long.

I got thinking about it Friday morning at about 2:30am, when one of the guys I work with came up to me with a little box, saying "look! look!"

About of the biggest damn Brown Recluse I've ever seen. Just over an inch long, I'd say.

So he took it home, and pitted it against his "fightin' spider". Seems he like to put other bugs he catches in with said "fightin' spider" and watching the battle. I'm not sure what type of spider "fightin' spider" is, he just says its big black and mean as hell.

As it happenes, the champ is no more. I guess the Recluse pretty much bit it in half then took it's time with dinner.

Pretty rare to see one in Denver, honestly. I'll see if I can get a picture of this one.

This is a perfect demostration of the fact that every spider looks scary close up:



...a typical, perfectly non-poisonous British spider.

These are all great pics. It's amazing how short the depth of field is at these distances!

Heh, nearly all of my spider is in focus...

My camera still surprises me, that crop was taken from this picture:

That's not scary... that's gorgeous! Beautiful markings, really...

Here's my spider -- first full day in New Zealand 2001: