Huge Spider Caught on Camera....

[HotHotHeat]

....Eating a BIRD!

PWN'D!


The pictures show the spider with its long black legs wrapped around the body of a dead bird suspended in its web.

The startling images were reportedly taken in Atheron, close to Queensland's tropical north.

Despite their unlikely subject matter, the pictures appear to be real.

Joel Shakespeare, head spider keeper at the Australian Reptile Park, said the spider was a Golden Orb Weaver.

"Normally they prey on large insects… it's unusual to see one eating a bird," he told ninemsn.com.

Mr Shakepeare said he had seen Golden Orb Weaver spiders as big as a human hand but the northern species in tropical areas were known to grow larger.

Queensland Museum identified the bird as a native finch called the Chestnut-breasted Mannikin.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/earth/graphics/2008/10/22/easpider122.jpg

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/earth/graphics/2008/10/22/easpider122a.jpg

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/earth/main.jhtml?view=DETAILS&xml=/earth/2008/10/22/easpider122.xml

[troutman]

I'm never going to Australia.

[Displaced Flames fan]

I was watching a program the other night where some scientists were in Venezuela searching for giant spiders. They believe there are spiders growing to unbelievable sizes in the Venezuelan jungle...and by unbelievable size I mean measured in feet, not inches.

I'm not a fan of spiders.

Thanks for sharing though, awesome stuff.

[burn_this_city]

The biggest known spider is 13 inches in diameter, its a Goliath bird eater.

[Bagor]

Nice!

Here's a mantis taking out a hummingbird.

http://www.birdwatchersdigest.com/site/images/backyard_birds/Mantis_hummingbird.jpg


http://www.birdwatchersdigest.com/site/images/backyard_birds/Mantis_hummer2.jpg

[Hemi-Cuda]

reminds me of this scene from King Kong

OhwfQDPVSYg

[FanIn80]

%^%$ I hate spiders.

[Machiavelli]

%^%$ I hate spiders.

Same here. Awful, awful creatures.

[GreenLantern]

Dear god is thereo ne on me?

I really feel like there is a spider on em right now.. my feet are so unprotected down there under this desk.. I need shoes.. socks.. slippers.. something

Help.

our very own SoulofTheFlame lives in Queensland I believe, mayhaps this was at his house?

[Russic]

i believe i had a conversation with a cp'er who was currently living in Australia about how much he hates the spiders. Some are the size of dinner plates *gag*.

[Displaced Flames fan]

i believe i had a conversation with a cp'er who was currently living in Australia about how much he hates the spiders. Some are the size of dinner plates *gag*.

Could be Icarus. Wonder if he's encountered in Sydney Funnel Web spiders!

[Phanuthier]

I hate spiders too, but what exactly is it about spiders that creeps people out?

[GreenLantern]

Isn't it a fact that the average person will eat 3 spiders during his/her sleep in his/her lifetime?

[Displaced Flames fan]

Isn't it a fact that the average person will eat 3 spiders during his/her sleep in his/her lifetime?

I think it's more than that.

Spiders are actually very beneficial to humans yet we still hate them. Most of us anyway. In North America there are only two species that can kill you and even those two aren't prolific killers. Most people bitten survive.

[jayswin]

I think it's more than that.

Spiders are actually very beneficial to humans yet we still hate them. Most of us anyway. In North America there are only two species that can kill you and even those two aren't prolific killers. Most people bitten survive.


The brown recluse and black widow?

[Displaced Flames fan]

The brown recluse and black widow?

Those are the culprits! I'm not sure of the statistics, I might search for them though. I'll guess that spider bite deaths in the US are single digits.

In doing a little quick research it would seem that the numbers are even lower than single digits.

I can't find anything with a nice tabular display though. Let's just say that you are more likely to be killed by a dog than a spider in North America.

[jayswin]

Those are the culprits! I'm not sure of the statistics, I might search for them though. I'll guess that spider bite deaths in the US are single digits.


I know they were saying that the brown recluse can now be found in southern Alberta, including Calgary, however it was mentioned that the chances of being bit by one are so minimal it's not even worth worrying about.

[Displaced Flames fan]

I know they were saying that the brown recluse can now be found in southern Alberta, including Calgary, however it was mentioned that the chances of being bit by one are so minimal it's not even worth worrying about.

Yeah, they are reclusive as their name indicates. You have to be careful in clutter and places that see no human activity for long periods like storage sheds and stuff.

We have a ton of them around here and I've only known of one person who has been bitten by a brown recluse. That guy did have a nasty necrotic wound though on his shoulder. EWWWWWW.

I've known several people who have been bitten by black widows with a wide range of results. One guy I worked with in Colorado was in bed for 2 months.

[missdpuck]

i got bit by a brown recluse that was in someone's mailbox (they used to say there were none in Florida but emergency rooms have been treating people bitten by them according to what I was told..not too many of course..we have more black widows here) I didn't go to the hospital because I figured spider bites are so rare it must be some weird infected scratch. 3 days later about a 3x3 area just below my elbow looked like I had the Black Plague and I couldn't bend my arm. It took about 2 weeks to heal. And I still like spiders:D

[Machiavelli]

I hate spiders too, but what exactly is it about spiders that creeps people out?

For me, it has to do with the way they move about.

[FallingMeTook]

To go off topic a little bit, but I really like the other two sets of photos that are linked in the OP link, a leopard taking out a crocodile and a mouse that was supposed to be lunch killing a snake, crazy stuff and to get it on film...

[Daradon]

Oh yeah, I believe it. I was always a little creeped out of spiders until I lived in Australia for a time. There you just have to get used to them, they are everywhere and much bigger than here. Some are poisonious, pretty much all bite.

And I was in Melbourne and surrounding area, the southern (and coldest) part of Australia. Those pictures were taken in Queensland. Much more tropical, jungle like in some areas actually. Amazing creatures there, but big ass bugs too.

But I found out just how docile spiders really are. They are so amazingly gentle and peaceful. You can pick them up, move them, heck inspect them and play with them. It takes a lot to piss them off and even if you do they are far more likely to run away than try to attack.

And they obviously do a great service keeping the local bird, I mean bug population down... ;)

[Flash]

I'm just going to add that to the list of things I never needed to see. I freaking HATE spiders.

[Rhetts_the_Best]

I should not of read this thread!

ffing hate spiders

[Dion]

http://www.camelspiders.net/large-camel-spider.jpg

[icarus]

An Orb Weaver, huh? I see these things all over the places, often found in gardens. Never that big though. You often see their silhouttes against a light at night and they freak you out. I always thought they were harmless but hmm I guess they eat birds.i believe i had a conversation with a cp'er who was currently living in Australia about how much he hates the spiders. Some are the size of dinner plates *gag*.

Could be Icarus. Wonder if he's encountered in Sydney Funnel Web spiders!Nope wasn't me. Or maybe it was and I don't remember.

You see Huntsmans around and they can be very big and very hairy. I hate those things. Especially when you walk into the bathroom and there's a spider the size of your hand in the shower. I'm not sure what's worse, the rare sighting of a Huntsman in my old house or the common sighting of a cockroach in my current house.

Dis, I have gone for hikes in the Blue Mountains where I have had to walk along a rock face that was white with all the funnel webs along it. This after spotting an Eastern Brown snake and a Red-Bellied Black snake that was about 5 feet long.

[arsenal]

I think it's more than that.

Spiders are actually very beneficial to humans yet we still hate them. Most of us anyway. In North America there are only two species that can kill you and even those two aren't prolific killers. Most people bitten survive.
Kind of late.. but I think the whole people eating spiders while they sleep is a myth.
http://www.snopes.com/science/stats/spiders.asp

It apparently was started by a journalist that wanted to see how much people will believe what they hear on the internets.

[Jake]

According to my invert zoology teacher from 2nd year Western Black Widow bites are not much worse than a bee stings for most people :-/ Of course, just like bee stings, some people react more than others.

I don't know much about Brown Recluse's, but I'd imagine that, as adults, most of us are in the clear. I bet most of the rare deaths attributed to that spider are children.

[Displaced Flames fan]

According to my invert zoology teacher from 2nd year Western Black Widow bites are not much worse than a bee stings for most people :-/ Of course, just like bee stings, some people react more than others.

I don't know much about Brown Recluse's, but I'd imagine that, as adults, most of us are in the clear. I bet most of the rare deaths attributed to that spider are children.


Black Widow bites can cause systemic reactions that result in severe muscle pain, crippling pain. Obviously, not permanently.

Brown recluse bites are necrotic. They kill your flesh.

I'm guessing you are dead on about children but I would add old folks and people with compromised immune systems to that.

[Displaced Flames fan]

.

You see Huntsmans around and they can be very big and very hairy. I hate those things. Especially when you walk into the bathroom and there's a spider the size of your hand in the shower. I'm not sure what's worse, the rare sighting of a Huntsman in my old house or the common sighting of a cockroach in my current house.

Dis, I have gone for hikes in the Blue Mountains where I have had to walk along a rock face that was white with all the funnel webs along it. This after spotting an Eastern Brown snake and a Red-Bellied Black snake that was about 5 feet long.

I'm guessing if you had a Huntsman or two in your current house you wouldn't have the roaches.

I'm also guessing your roaches are much bigger than any we might find here.:D

[llama64]

I'm never going to Australia.

DITTO

[llama64]

http://www.camelspiders.net/large-camel-spider.jpg

Those things are actually not spiders: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Camel_spider

Still, if I saw one near me I'd scream like a little girl and hide behind my wife.

[Rhettzky]

Those things are actually not spiders: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Camel_spider

Still, if I saw one near me I'd scream like a little girl and hide behind my wife.

That picture makes them look huge but if you look at the hand to the right for proportion, they aren't all that big. Either way, they are disgusting looking.

[Daradon]

^^^ Yeah, the wikipedia link said they are at largest 12 centimeter in leg span. Considering their legs are pretty spindly it's not nearly as big or as menacing as they look on that photo. There's actually a good pic of one of the Iraq ones on the wiki page. It stretches about the length of a ping pong paddle, but looks a less scary then the picture above. That's about the size of some of the huntsman I saw in Australia, and same sort of dimensions too, a lot of the size just being in the leg span. Though I did see a lot of smaller, fatter, hairier hunstmen (kinda like mini tarantulas) that could really jump too, and a few scorpions.

It says that the camel spider is not really a spider like many other 'harvestmen'. I wonder if they mean the huntsmen that are found in Austraila. It's a rather large term used for many species of spider that doesn't spin webs, it actually hunts it's prey, like this camel spider.

EDIT: Guess not, the huntsmen is considered a true spider. Here's a wiki page with pics. The thumbnail pic showing one near a wall clock show you how big those guys can get. Like I said, when you get used to seeing some of these guys around (which can take a while, lol) you get a little less creeped out by spiders in general. Though I will admit, just looking at all the pictures again is making me feel a little itchy.

"Some larger types resemble tarantulas (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tarantula), and may be mistaken for them, as the Huntsman is related (which is why the term "Australian tarantula" has sometimes been used to describe them by the Natural History Museum in Sydney (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sydney))."

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Huntsman_spider

[BuzzardsWife]

I'm never going to Australia.
Ha Ha, my thoughts exactly!

[BuzzardsWife]

Those things are actually not spiders: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Camel_spider

Still, if I saw one near me I'd scream like a little girl and hide behind my wife.
that is the UGLIEST thing I've ever seen. Ever been crabbing and a big nasty spider crab gets caught in the trap! IT AINT PRETTY

[Flash]

Those things are actually not spiders: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Camel_spider

Still, if I saw one near me I'd scream like a little girl and hide behind my wife.

Whether it's technically a spider or not makes zero difference to me...it looks like a spider and that's all that matters.

And at least you'd have the sense to hide behind your wife...I'd freeze and not know what the hell to do. :eek:

[transplant99]

Brown recluse bites are necrotic. They kill your flesh


And I have the scars to prove it.

The reminders....

http://forum.calgarypuck.com/showthread.php?t=45589&highlight=recluse

[icarus]

It says that the camel spider is not really a spider like many other 'harvestmen'. I wonder if they mean the huntsmen that are found in Austraila. It's a rather large term used for many species of spider that doesn't spin webs, it actually hunts it's prey, like this camel spider.

"Some larger types resemble tarantulas (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tarantula), and may be mistaken for them, as the Huntsman is related (which is why the term "Australian tarantula" has sometimes been used to describe them by the Natural History Museum in Sydney (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sydney))."

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Huntsman_spiderA harvestman is a daddy longlegs.

What a dodgy Wikipedia article... there is no Natural History Museum in Sydney. I assume they refer to the Australian Museum but that has much more than just natural history.

[Ice]

To go off topic a little bit, but I really like the other two sets of photos that are linked in the OP link, a leopard taking out a crocodile and a mouse that was supposed to be lunch killing a snake, crazy stuff and to get it on film...

In biology class in high school, we had snakes and mice. There was one mouse who used to bite everyone that put their hand in the cage. My biology teacher decided that mouse was going to be the snakes meal on Friday. He put the mouse in Friday before he left for the weekend, when we got to class on Monday there was a very happy mouse and a dead snake with huge chunks of flesh missing from all over its body. It was one of the craziest things I'd ever seen. My teacher "euthanized" the mouse after that.