Unexpected visitor

matrixone · January 28, 2008, 07:05:26 PM

While taking a few WIP pics of my entry for the Piston Perfection GB a very large spider decided to check out my progress on my Ki-83, needless to say I was freaked out by this beast because it was just about to crawl on me when I noticed it! Yikes!

Matrixone

Arc3371 · January 28, 2008, 07:12:37 PM

Looks like a scene from Ice Spiders

BlackOps · January 28, 2008, 07:44:29 PM

Now where are you going to find a pair of pilots goggles to fit him? He won't need a chute because he comes with his own silk

John Howling Mouse · January 28, 2008, 08:07:23 PM

Um, tell me that model is NOT in 1:32 scale!!!!

jeff3385 · January 28, 2008, 08:17:04 PM

Well, maybe you could train it to retrieve parts dropped onto the carpet monster... or do the rigging on your next biplane... no wait, I know, to keep the cat off your model shelf.

Supertom · January 28, 2008, 09:14:08 PM

What scale is that Ki-83 again? That's a female funnel web spider ya got there. Jeepers!

Do be careful though - the bite on that isn't lethal, but can cause tissue necrosis. Not as bad as, say, a brown recluse spider, but will suck just as much.

Ian the Kiwi Herder · January 29, 2008, 04:20:34 AM

Awwww she's so cute....

Ian

matrixone · January 29, 2008, 05:07:07 PM

Female funnel web spider...well its good to know their bite is non lethal, but these large spiders could serve a useful purpose as an extreme form of laxative if you found one on you.

Matrixone

cthulhu77 · January 29, 2008, 05:20:17 PM

Funnel webs are incredibly toxic. Since it is your fall, and it is an adult female...I would be looking for egg cases. I like arachnids, but we do have to kill a number of black widows and brown spiders here in the house every breeding year. Shanlyn is terrified of spiders, but I try to promote the keeping of wolf spiders, longlegs, etc...as they eat nuisance insects, and the young venomous hatchlings from the afformentioned egg cases.
http://www.usyd.edu.au/anaes/venom/spiders.html#FUNNELWEB

*note* I don't know how to identify australian spiders, so I am going on the previous notes...it does look like a subadult/adult funnel web, but I am not positive. Especially since I don't know where Matrixone lives...LOL.

noxioux · January 29, 2008, 05:43:51 PM

What a beauty! My reading over the years has indicated that there are several different types of funnel-web spiders, some nasty, some not. HOWEVER, you need a microscope and some serious knowledge to tell them all apart, so it's just safer not to screw around with them. Here in Utah we have Hobo Spiders, which can be large, and nasty. Could be that's what you got there, but it's tough to say. One giveaway is the herringbone pattern on the bum (which doesn't quite look right for a Hobo on your example), and the pattern on the head. Hobo spiders are frequently mistaken for brown recluses here in Utah, but the effect of their venom is so similar that it doesn't much matter.

Big spiders rock. My rule is, if they're dangerous and trying to live in your bedroom, they're roadkill. Otherwise I leave them completely alone. I've had some very impressive wolf spiders in my basement (at the old place). I had a large female Carolina wolf spider, caught locally, in a terrarium. She was darn near 4" around, legs included, with a body about 2.5" from eyeballs to spinnerets. She wouldn't eat anything but moths, and she was fast (and scary) as hell, when she'd go after something. She could run faster than you could even think to move your hand.

My favorites are the jumping spiders. I don't kill them at all. Wicked little boogers.

kitnut617 · January 30, 2008, 06:37:23 AM

Quote from: jeff3385 on January 28, 2008, 08:17:04 PM
no wait, I know, to keep the cat off your model shelf.

Wouldn't work at my place, our cat eats spiders, he'll even try jumping up a wall trying to catch them too, or anything else if he thinks he can catch it

Supertom · January 30, 2008, 06:53:14 AM

QuoteEspecially since I don't know where Matrixone lives...LOL.

Well I believe he's in the Pacific Northwest, which was why I was convinced it's a Funnel Web.

cthulhu77 · January 30, 2008, 07:43:14 AM

Well, that would certainly be different than the other version in Australia ! Glad to see they are pretty much harmless in N.A.

fallenphoenix · January 30, 2008, 10:29:38 AM

sweet holy jesus allah bhuda!

not a fan of these criters

matrixone · January 30, 2008, 04:08:18 PM

Thanks for the info on the spider.

In my area (Pacific Northwest) there are a few spiders to be concerned about such as the Hobo and the Brown Recluse, last year I have even seen a Black Widow here which is unusual.

I don't like to kill spiders unless they are inside the house, if they are outside I leave them alone because they serve a purpose by killing a lot of insects we don't like. But they still give me the creeps.

Matrixone