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Mating season lures Texas tarantula from burrows
Valley Morning Star ^
| May 22, 2005
| FERNANDO DEL VALLE
Posted on 05/22/2005 7:17:50 PM PDT by SwinneySwitch
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To: SwinneySwitch
Spiders and insects don't bother me a bit. I let spiders and even bees and wasps walk on me because I know they won't bother me unless they feel threatened.
Snakes, on the other hand, always give me the willies!
To: Blue Screen of Death
Well, I am up for the two quarts of Jim Beam. You can keep the darn bug.
22
posted on
05/22/2005 7:59:59 PM PDT
by
patton
("Fool," said my Muse to me, "look in thy heart, and write.")
To: SwinneySwitch
Alright. This is a very appropriate thread to tell a funny.
We are members of a children's museum. They have a woman that use to be a curator of the Smithsonian's reptile display. She does hands on zoological educational overviews for the kids.
She had her tarantula out for the kids to 'shake hands' with. A child would stick out his finger, the spider would put a leg on it and tap the child's finger.
My daughter was hiding behind a pillar, not wanting to even catch a glimpse of the spider. I don't like her to have irrational fears ::I hate spiders!::. I don't want her to be afraid of things for no reason ::all spiders should be killed::. So I sat down next to Bernice (the curator) stuck my finger out and called to my daughter, "Look honey, mommy is touching the spider" ::kill it!::. My daughter pokes her head around shaking her head at me. Bernice (she knows me from the museum) lets the spider ::the monster!:: crawl onto my hand ::AHHHHHHH!:: Through gritting teeth, I call to my daughter again, "Look honey, mommy is holding the spider" ::AHHHH GET IT OFF ME!!:: Well my words didn't fool my daughter. She broke out in laughter at the sight of my face.
I will say, I'm very proud of the fact I didn't throw that creepy creature into the wall. I didn't scream. I didn't faint.
I didn't succeed in convincing my daughter that she shouldn't be afraid of spiders ::kill them all!:: either.
Just a funny for the evening.
23
posted on
05/22/2005 8:01:40 PM PDT
by
Calpernia
(Breederville.com)
To: SwinneySwitch
A lot of people dont like them because they look scary, he said. But they dont bother me. I grew up in South Texas. We used to play with them as kids catch them and keep them in aquariums. Youd keep them two or three days and turn them loose if you got a bigger one. Like a goldfish, wed look at them and see what they do. Bwwwhahahahah. Ok, try this. Pick out the largest female tarantula you can find. Try to put one in a shoebox. Dare you...
My brother and I found out three things, tarantulas's hiss, tarantula's jump, and tarantulas attack when threatened. The shoebox is still sitting by some old blacktop road in Texas....
24
posted on
05/22/2005 8:01:53 PM PDT
by
ScreamingFist
(Peace through Ignorance)
To: Calpernia
Not funny, sweet. You're nuts, but sweet. ;-)
There was a very funny bit a couple of years ago about a bunch of ballplayers who set up another bunch with a phony breakfast commercial. The victim would prattle to the camera (running, of course) about how great this particular breakfast food was, pick up the cover on the plate, and there, on top of an omelet, was a live tarantula.
One guy sat there expressionless, raised his eyes to the camera, and said that it was a good thing the table was covering his pants...
To: Calpernia
OMG, I am LOL. Good try, Mom. We all try for our kids, eh?
But sometimes they see thru us. Better try to fool a dog.
26
posted on
05/22/2005 8:07:11 PM PDT
by
patton
("Fool," said my Muse to me, "look in thy heart, and write.")
To: Billthedrill
I didn't need my pants covered either. And someone posted a picture above with a tarantula in their hand ::shivers:: That brought back the sensation of that thing walking on me!
Darn thing is, now that I got that sensation in my head, I'm even more afraid of spiders than I use to be!
27
posted on
05/22/2005 8:09:24 PM PDT
by
Calpernia
(Breederville.com)
To: SwinneySwitch
I am actually slightly less scared of tarantulas than other spiders. I think its because they look more like an "animal". I can't handle daddy-long legs, and mosquito eater bugs creeps me out, but I don't tarantulas as much.
28
posted on
05/22/2005 8:10:48 PM PDT
by
Celtic Rose
(It may be prudent in me to act sometimes by other men's reason, but I can think only by my own)
To: patton
>>>Better try to fool a dog.
I never in my life knew that kids would know you better than anyone else.
You are right, I can't fool them about a darn thing. I was even teasing my 5 y.o. and he looked at me and said, 'no! you got your lying face on'. I never knew I had a lying face.
29
posted on
05/22/2005 8:12:36 PM PDT
by
Calpernia
(Breederville.com)
To: Calpernia
30
posted on
05/22/2005 8:15:21 PM PDT
by
patton
("Fool," said my Muse to me, "look in thy heart, and write.")
To: SwinneySwitch
Y'all can keep them spiders.
I'll keep these handy.
Breed 'em big enough and they're great for guarding our Bush-Cheney signs in the yard.
31
posted on
05/22/2005 8:19:52 PM PDT
by
RandallFlagg
(Roll your own cigarettes! You'll save $$$ and smoke less!(Magnetic bumper stickers-click my name)
To: RandallFlagg
I love hatching praying mantis! I order their cocoons (I can't spell crysolits) every year.
They get as big as sparrows!
32
posted on
05/22/2005 8:26:07 PM PDT
by
Calpernia
(Breederville.com)
To: Calpernia
LOL! The asides are priceless!
33
posted on
05/22/2005 8:28:18 PM PDT
by
skr
(May God bless those in harm's way and confound those who would do the harming)
To: SwinneySwitch
You really have to get rough with them to get them to bite (I guess it's just to much effort for them) but they will lunge and jump at you to scare you off. After awhile they figure out that you mean no harm and will let you handle them. Then you get bored with them and let them go. At least that's how it works with the ones we have here in North Texas.
34
posted on
05/22/2005 8:28:44 PM PDT
by
fella
To: SwinneySwitch
It was several years ago when I worked in the gas fields around Laredo that I found out just how many tarantulas there are in South Texas.
One day several of my gas compressors went down in one area and I was called to go check it out. Getting near the location I noticed that a gully washer had occurred recently and being as the countryside was mostly flat it was all covered with about 4 inches of water. The highway was the only thing that was not covered with water, but it was covered with hundreds of thousands of tarantulas seeking higher ground. They would pop and fly up as I drove over them and the ones I missed would blow about like trash.
When I reached my compressors the water had subsided but I found out what made them go down. The spiders looking for higher ground got sucked up in the breathers and stopped them up. Also many of the tarantulas had climbed onto the exhaust pipes and mufflers and had fried to death. It stunk to high heaven, and removing the spiders from the breathers (some still alive) still gives me the willies when I think about it.
35
posted on
05/22/2005 8:29:45 PM PDT
by
Between the Lines
(We are enabled to see the Lord at work if our eyes and our hearts are open." - George W. Bush)
To: skr
Asides? I'm sorry, was I talking out loud? ::smiles::
36
posted on
05/22/2005 8:30:25 PM PDT
by
Calpernia
(Breederville.com)
To: fella
Fella, if you really need something to play with, I will gladly send you a football or something.
37
posted on
05/22/2005 8:31:43 PM PDT
by
Calpernia
(Breederville.com)
To: Celtic Rose
I'm the opposite. If I can see the face of an insect, it's way too big and scary.
38
posted on
05/22/2005 8:34:32 PM PDT
by
skr
(May God bless those in harm's way and confound those who would do the harming)
To: Calpernia
There's a lot where I used to work that around this time of year, there's about one mantis for every 20 square feet of the area. I'll have to check there this year to see if they're still around.
39
posted on
05/22/2005 8:35:00 PM PDT
by
RandallFlagg
(Roll your own cigarettes! You'll save $$$ and smoke less!(Magnetic bumper stickers-click my name)
To: Between the Lines; SwinneySwitch
::screams::
::Shakes with the onset of insomnia::
SwinnySwitch! I now hate you!
::visualizes spiders everywhere::
40
posted on
05/22/2005 8:35:58 PM PDT
by
Calpernia
(Breederville.com)
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