Slow worm

[Andy2035]

Hi Colin,

Many thanks for the info, and, whilst I'm not keen on them they do fascinate me (just as long as they're no-where near me :neutral, there's one outside that I do feed now and then, once it grabs it, it runs back behind the log carrying it's fly, it is so quick...

Printing your picture Andy twice the size & putting it my youngest son's room for when he returns tonight. He just loves spiders ! NOT. Hell I am a rotten parent but then he is thirty--- odd years old.He has a spider trap thing for removing spiders from his room.

Thinks would he like a toad in his bedroom !

Laurie

That paint advert on TV springs to mind for some reason, the one where they paint the lads room Yellow...:muha:

[Guest]

to digress a little, i have been s**t scared of spiders all my life until two weeks ago when i took a very big deep breath and dared to let this beastie run over my hands at a place in anglesey, now i feel so money supermarket, made a few other freinds as well

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[papa 695]

I have this pond just for Newts Frogs and Toads [ATTACH]50217.vB[/ATTACH]

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[Dave W]

I've been reading all these posts and thinking its amazing how a conversation can develope from a couple of pictures.I posted them on here because I thought they would be of interest .But also because I was so pleased at finally being able to post photo's using my ipad (thanks John) that I used these as a sort of test shot.Didn't think it would lead to pictures of our arachnid friends being posted though.Reminded me of when I worked in Saudi.Wolf spiders used to come out at night and run around inside the Hardened Aircraft Shelters where we kept the RSAF Tornado's.Those things were fearless. If you poked them with a stick they'd run at you with their front legs in the air !.Have you got a picture of one Colin.i'll show it to my 20 year old daughter next time she winds me up!.

[Guest]

Thats not a bad Grammostola rosea (chile rose) Andrew... looks very well fed, I have a no-handing policy when i do any workshops, more for the saftey of the spider than anything, saying this i notice your handing the spider over a table which is perfect. Kids tend to be a little more heavy handed in general and also some genus of tarantula (i.e. this one) have urticating hairs on the abdomen and these can only be removed surgically if they embed in the eye (kids love to faff around with their faces all the time)

Anyway ..... Kudos for over coming your fear mate

And Ian .... the pond .... absolutely perfect chap !!!!!!

[Andy2035]

Reminded me of when I worked in Saudi.Wolf spiders used to come out at night and run around inside the Hardened Aircraft Shelters where we kept the RSAF Tornado's.Those things were fearless. If you poked them with a stick they'd run at you with their front legs in the air !.Have you got a picture of one Colin.i'll show it to my 20 year old daughter next time she winds me up!.

We had loads of these at Al Kharj, I was about 10 foot away from this thing and it was still big...: -

I was out do water checks and dips (Tanker Pool) one night, looked down and saw one walk up to the Bowser, thought to myself, "if they call for a refuel now they can whistle" (or words to that effect), it just turned and headed off into the Desert...

[Dave W]

Andy.I first saw one when i was doing a wheel change on a Tornado on my own at night.I was sat on the ground with a mainwheel between my knees .I was about to lift it onto the axle when i suddenly had a feeling i was being watched. Looked round and two of those things were running along the HAS floor about two metres away from me.I quickly got up and went outside for a bit of fresh air!.

[Guest]

In Saudi, and at the size you say, there's a distinct possibility that they could have been a Sicarius specie, these are shaped like a cross between a wolf spider and a crab spider (the front legs (leg I) in your photo look to be about right for length)

Sicarius differ from other spiders in only having 6 eyes hence the name "six eyed sand spider" and "six eyed crab spider" they also have the name the "six eyed assasin spider" as Sicarius is 'old Latin' for assasin.

They are fast, show great bravado but rarely bite, which is a good thing as the hemotoxic / necrotoxic venom causes organ failure at the worse. To my knowledge there is no anti-venin.

A couple of my associates at the BTS (British Tarantula Society) where i moderate, managed to breed them in captivity.

Another posibility for the spider in the picture is the Violin spider (Sicariidae family again so only six eyes), these have a cytotoxic venom which is not considered lethal, it produces severe pain at the bite site which evolves into a painful ulcerated area. Violin spiders are closely related to the Recluse spider which had all the bad press in the US about peoples limbs rotting and falling off ... highly exagerated claims in reality although necrosis of the bite area was severe in some cases.

[Dave W]

The biggest one i saw was brown in colour and probably at least 8 inches from the ends of its back legs to the tips of its front legs.It was easy to see as it was sat on a pile of white cleaning rags at the time. Im no expert but the Saudi's working with me at the time told me it was a wolf spider.I remember it had a couple of large fangs or whatever you call them.

[stona]

I grew up in West Africa and was always told not to touch spiders (didn't stop me catching snakes,centipedes etc!). This didn't leave me with a fear of spiders in the accepted sense but I couldn't handle them. Eventually,finding one marooned in the bath tub I just thought I was being stupid,picked the bugger up and put him where he could make good his escape. It was a strangely liberating experience!

Well done Andrew,I bet that felt very good about two minutes after you put him/her down.

Cheers

Steve

[Guest]

Thats certainly a biggun, the ones we had to breed here were only 5 inch legspan, but there's so many different species out there and some not even recorded taxonomically.

All over the world local people call this shape and style of spider a "wolf spider" due to the way it hunts (i.e. no web) .. it's a bit like saying "there's a dog" and there's well over 500 recognised breeds world wide ... it's just a general term if you see what i mean.

We have commony called "wolf spiders" in this country, they're no bigger than 1ins leg span, in Europe they're up to 3ins ....Arachnologists will refer to a spider by it's scientific name because it's more accurate as so many different species of spider have the similar common name all over the world. I.e. wolf spider, crab spider, cellar spider, redback, widow etc etc.

I could waffle on for hours (and do often) about arachnids, it's not as straight forward as people think and to answer sometimes even a simple question can digress into several other topics.

[Guest]

Steve, growing up in Africa, you're one lucky sod ... all those reptiles ... i'd have a field day

Some of the best looking reptiles are in africa, they have a certain "something" over the US and OZ varieties.

As for the Centipedes ... you can keep them ... they're the only thing i WILL NOT have anything to do with ....and i've had some foul tempered venomous reptiles and some quite toxic invertebrates in my time too when i had my DWA licence...

Millipedes ... no problem

Centipedes .... you won't see me for dust

[Dave W]

8 Inches was a conservative estimate.Im conscious of not trying to make it sound like a fishermans 'the one that got away' story.It was sometime in the early 90's but i definately remember it was very big.Im not a lover of spiders but remember being impressed by the size of the thing.It didnt like my mate proding it with a broom handle.It ran towards him,which made him run like hell!.Caused much laughing from the Saudi's!.

[Guest]

Conserative is ok, there are some big spiders out there, i have two here in my (now limited for space) collection that are about that in legspan ... old photos, bit dodgy.

Lasiodora parahybana

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Poecilotheria fasciata

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[stona]

Well Colin there were some very big amphibians too. Toads,our young dogs would usually pick them up........once. They'd then spend the next hour frothing at the mouth with an obviously very unpleasant and poisonous taste in their mouths. They wouldn't do it again! Talk about aversion therapy.

They spawned in the rainy season,sometimes in nothing more than large puddles,and I remember seeing hundreds of legged tadpoles in a transitional state drying in the sun when the "pool" dried out before they were able to leave it. It must have made an impression on a young mind.

I actually used to like catching snakes. I knew which ones were venomous,as you'll know a very small minority. I was happy to handle the "back fanged" snakes as well as the entirely venomless ones. The fun was in finding them before they slipped away,they don't want anything to do with we humans. Sadly local people kill all snakes on sight and most believe that they are all venomous.

As a boy I thought everyone had lizards running around the outside walls and ghekos on their bedroom walls!

The only times I remember getting a really nasty bite,sting or spike was from a catfish spine. You have to handle some of them very carefully.

My brother and I actually collected butterflies from a very early age which were set by mum (of course). Most of that collection still survives in a purpose built cabinet. When my mother passed away a few years ago the collection was left to by nephew who always like to look at them,even when very young. The only problem was that my brother then had to transport the fragile collection down to Surrey!

Here's a couple of young lepidopterists,under paternal supervision in the hills along the Nigeria/Cameroon border. For some reason,probably because dad was there,my little brother has got his hands on the net!

Cheers

Steve