Is this a tarantula?

[Taz_Zoee]

I will attach the picture so that the non-spider people won't have to deal with it.
This spider was in our office just now. A co-worker caught it in a large manilla envelope and took it outside.

I looked online and I believe it is in fact a tarantula. It was so neat to see it in person.
Oh, the actual size of it was about 2 1/2 to 3 inches in diameter.

[finn's mom]

Eek, that's what it looks like to me. Yikes, I don't think I'd want to see that in my office, although I love seeing them "up close." I'd prefer behind glass, though, at a zoo, haha. Are you including the legs in the measurement? I know the bodies are usually 1-4 inches, but that doesn't include the legs. Too bad there's not something near it to judge size (like a soda can or dollar bill or something). Beautiful animal, though, even though they scare the crap out of me!

[pomtzu]

Holy sh-t! If I saw that in my office or house, I would have been out the door long before the spider was! :eek: Spiders and snakes are two things that freak me out!
Sure looks like a tarantula to me. Now I have the creepy-crawlies just thinking about it.....:eek:

[Taz_Zoee]

It was a baby (we think). The size I gave included the legs. In this picture (taken on a cell phone) it looks HUGE. But it wasn't as big as the tarantula's you see like on TV and stuff.

Yeah, some of the ladies were a bit panicked. But I was surprised by some of the people in my office that weren't afraid of it at all. Like the girl that took the picture. When I walked around the corner she was crouched down right in front of it trying to get it to smile for the picture! LOL :D

They are actually harmless to humans, so there wasn't anything to be afraid of. When it ran into the envelope you could hear the click of the legs on the paper. That was creepy!!

[finn's mom]

They are actually harmless to humans, so there wasn't anything to be afraid of.


They can't/don't bite? I know all spiders aren't venomous, but I thought they could all bite. I get bitten all the time by spiders. I was outside after my husband mowed yesterday and within five minutes, was bitten. :) Nothing to worry about, true, but annoying nonetheless.

I'm more freaked out by them, not so much afraid that they'll hurt me.

[lvpets2002]

:eek: Me as well.. However I am laughing to hard to move..
Holy sh-t! If I saw that in my office or house, I would have been out the door long before the spider was! :eek: Spiders and snakes are two things that freak me out!
Sure looks like a tarantula to me. Now I have the creepy-crawlies just thinking about it.....:eek:

[pomtzu]

I'm not "afraid" of them - they just give me the creeps.

We get sprickets here a lot - now those things are super weird and creepy. If I find one in the house, I have to get my son to kill it, since I had a huge one jump at me once and scared the daylights out of me. :eek::eek:

[lvpets2002]

:p Hey we could always try to put them on a Steek..:D
I'm not "afraid" of them - they just give me the creeps.

We get sprickets here a lot - now those things are super weird and creepy. If I find one in the house, I have to get my son to kill it, since I had a huge one jump at me once and scared the daylights out of me. :eek::eek:

[Edwina's Secretary]

One summer when I was in college a friend and I rented an apartment. In hindsight it was horrible - but we were too young (and poor) to recognize it.

It was a Saturday night and I was washing my hair when I noticed a spider in the bathroom with me. I left the bathroom, stuffed a towel under the door and told my roommate that I had just seen the biggest, hairest spider I could imagine!

I normally do not have a problem dealing with critters - whatever method is appropriate - but this was SO BIG and SO HAIRLY.

We decided to go and get my boyfriend (we did not have a phone) and ask for his help.

As I drove saying -- over and over - THE BIGGEST-- HAIRIEST spider - I realize it was a tarantula.

Sure enough, my boyfriend - who had had them as pets in the past - identified and removed it to live another day -- NOT in our bathroom.

What you have there IS a tarantula!

[Taz_Zoee]

Ok, I had to look up what a spricket was and NO THANKS!!!
I hate crickets and grasshoppers. I'm not afraid of them because I know they can't hurt me, I just don't like the fact that they jump and have icky sticky feet. UGH!!!!

And I looked up the question can tarantula's bite. Here is a piece of info on that:

They do bite, and their bites are venomous. However, for most species, the toxicity of their venom is much like that of a bee or wasp. It is most likely to cause a nasty local reaction incluidng pain, redness, swelling. However, people can have a an allergic or anaphylactic reaction to spider bites in the same way that some people react to bee stings, and this reaction can be fatal. Also, there are few species which have a stronger venom that could potentially be fatal, or at least make the bite victim quite ill. So while tarantula bits are unlikely to be fatal, you still want to avoid being bitten, and the best way to do this is to learn about spider behavior and treat the spider accordingly. Tarantulas are wild animals, and need to be treated with respect. As a rule, however, most spiders would rather retreat than bite.

[Medusa]

Good god in heaven! I would've been out that door so fast you would've seen my smoke! That's the one thing that concerned me when I lived in AZ; I was scared to death that I'd come face to fang w/a tarantula but I never saw one, thank goodness. And for the record, yes, they do bite but their bite is similar to a bee sting so it will hurt you only if you're allergic to the venom. Wouldn't matter. If a tarantula bit me, I'd die of a heart attack or stroke anyhow. I've also heard that they're jumpers but I don't know if that's an urban legend or not. No one in AZ that I talked to seemed to know. All they told me was that when the monsoons came, tarantulas walked in hordes down the main street in Sedona. Tarantulas and hordes. Two words I really don't like to hear together in a sentence. Ever. Ever. Ever. (Did I say ever?) I stayed indoors during the monsoons and nervously peered out my window til they passed.

The person who put that thing in a manila envelope is beyond brave. I'd have to quit my job just in fear of another tarantula appearing. Just the word is scary; it looks like it has legs w/out even knowing what it is. Good grief, why did I read this thread??? I'll be up all night now.

[Karen]

I've also heard that they're jumpers but I don't know if that's an urban legend or not.

It is an urban legend. From

http://www.amazingtarantulas.com/tarantulafacts.htm


"Can tarantulas jump?" - Ahhh, you've been watching "Arachnophobia," haven't you? Granted, I've heard the rumors that tarantulas can jump a few feet in the air long before that movie came out. The biggest problem is that tarantulas are very fragile, and a fall from even a few inches could injure or kill the spider. So why would a tarantula take such a dangerous leap? That is assuming that they physically CAN leap that far. Most tarantulas will "pounce" on their prey, moving a half-inch to a couple of inches forward.

With that said, there are arboreal species (tree dwellers) that can and will jump from branch to branch if necessary. If they live in trees over water, such as a brook or stream, they have been known to jump out of the tree and into the water to avoid an approaching predator. People that keep some of these arboreal species, such as the common pink toe tarantula (Avicularia avicularia), report that they will take a leap from your hand onto your chest or face - or unfortunately, the floor. (That is why you need to be careful when handling these guys!)

[molucass]

:p Hey we could always try to put them on a Steek..:D


I would much rather say "I keel you!" :D


Oh my.. If I had seen that any where near me, I would've made a new exit! I am soo scared of spiders!

[caseysmom]

Thats pretty cool! I didn't know we had them around here although I remember camping at ice house as a kid and my dad had one crawl up his leg.

[Catherinedana]

I think spiders are FABULOUS! They are also extremely cooperative if you don't panic around them. Case and point the fact that this beauty clip clopped her happy little legs into an envelope to be deposited outside. I have been bitten by the rather large (but not THAT large!) spiders that we have here in FL (called wolf spiders) and got rather sick (fever, a bit of delirium [which is not that different from my usual state] and nausea). I would have the deepest and most profound respect for a furry lady like that! Where are you from that you see ginormous spiders in your office?

Occasionally a little nipper will rappell (?) from the ceiling here, but nothing like that!

Cheers! Cathy

[pomtzu]

I would much rather say "I keel you!" :D



Me too. Jeff hasn't had any new characters in a while. Maybe someone could put a bug in his ear??? Tommy Tarantula??? Poor Achmed would be clattering his bones in fright! :eek:

[Kfamr]

Neat!

[CathyBogart]

Nifty! Looks like a tarantula from the genus Aphonopelma. You are absolutely right about the bite Cindy. If he felt like it he COULD bite, but it wouldn't be dangerous. They're really pretty docile though. Looks like a small male, but there's no way to know for sure until they're big.

I'm very glad to hear he was put outside. :)

[AdoreMyDogs]

Yep looks like a tarantula to me. I've never seen one in the wild although they don't scare me at all. Bees, wasps and cockroaches scare me to death but I have actually had a tarantula crawl up my hand/arm and it was the coolest feeling ever. I love them and I find them lovely and fascinating. I'd love to have seen that in person. I keep wanting to find a tarantula in the wild. There are none in Michigan so since I've moved to TX I'm always on the lookout.

Glad you didn't kill it. They have a tremendouly long life span and it would be a shame to end it needlessly.

[Taz_Zoee]

Yes, luckily there wasn't even mention of killing the little guy (I've since named Harry). My fellow animal lover was out at a meeting when this happened and she was very glad we set it free too. :)

Catherinedana, I am in the East Bay area of California (Livermore to be exact), although I live in Concord, CA.

caseysmom, I didn't know we had these here either! But my supervisor has children that live in Fresno and she said around October each year you can see hoards of them going through the cotton fields between Fresno and surrounding areas.

I was so excited to be able to see this today. It made my Friday!! :D

[lvpets2002]

:p Good one.. That would be good thing to whisker into Jeff's ear.. Thats too Funny..:D
Me too. Jeff hasn't had any new characters in a while. Maybe someone could put a bug in his ear??? Tommy Tarantula??? Poor Achmed would be clattering his bones in fright! :eek:

[Alysser]

I am so lucky I didn't open the picture. OMG I DO NOT know how you just stood there, I would have cried. Spiders are the most disgusting things in the world to me(aside from chewed gum, yet another weird phobia). I actually have a video of my reaction to a spider less then half that size on the wall in my house. My friends thought it'd be funny to tape that. :o

[Twisterdog]

Cool! I think I would have been tempted to bring her home and see if she would eat in captivity. I used to have a rosy hair tarantula. She was actually very sweet.

I have never heard them called "sprickets" and had to look it up. Seeing the picture, I know what they are, though. Indeed, nasty. I do NOT like crickets or grasshoppers, not AT ALL. Give a me a tarantula any old day!

However this (http://dracoverdi.net/pages/potatoBug0.html) is the most horrifying insect ever, IMO, at least in my part of the country. We call them "sand puppies" here, and I have a positive phobia of them. :eek:

[Taz_Zoee]

I actually thought about keeping it, but I didn't know how to care for it and didn't think it was fair to the poor thing.

Oh potato bugs!!!:eek::eek: We have those out at my parents house. I HATE those things. They are just so darn UGLY!!!!

[Twisterdog]

IOh potato bugs!!!:eek::eek: We have those out at my parents house. I HATE those things. They are just so darn UGLY!!!!

Ugly does not begin to scratch the surface. I think they are actually alien probes, sent here from another planet to scope out the best way to take our the world.

They are beyond creepy. Ewwww, ewwwww, ewwwww!

[AdoreMyDogs]

Ugly does not begin to scratch the surface. I think they are actually alien probes, sent here from another planet to scope out the best way to take our the world.

They are beyond creepy. Ewwww, ewwwww, ewwwww!

Yes I have to agree the potato bug is ugly but http://melindamorley.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2008/07/2006-apr-3_earwig.jpg is even more disgusting!

[Catlady711]

Yes I have to agree the potato bug is ugly but http://melindamorley.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2008/07/2006-apr-3_earwig.jpg is even more disgusting!


I agree, earwigs are creeeee-py.


Hard to tell from the picture but kinda looks like a Fishing/Nursery spider to me. Either way it would really creep me out to find that thing indoors. I've been finding enough big black spiders in my basement lately. *shivers*

[allmycats]

that's what I was ging to say, it looks like a baby one. I have seen one and it is bigger than that and black, just the body alone is the size of your fist, at least, not counting the legs.:eek:

[Taz_Zoee]

Years ago I had a glass (dark glass) of soda sitting on the floor next to my chair and when I went to take a sip I noticed something mixed in with the ice. It was an earwig (pincher bug is what we call them). So I almost drank it
!!!:eek:

[Catlady711]

Best picture of a Fishing Spider I could find that is close to the view of the one you posted.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/susanqjennings/2896215416/

[Twisterdog]

Ewwww, yeah, hate earwigs too. One time I went to water my grass, and the sprinkler wouldn't work properly. So I turned the water off, and took the sprinkler off the hose to see what was wrong. Turns out, it was FULL of earwigs! :eek: Nasty!!

When my son was young, he asked, "Mommy, why do they call them earwigs?" (He was so scared of them.) I said I didn't know. He said, "I bet it's because a long time ago people didn't take baths much, and they wore those big wigs, and I bet those bugs lived in their WIGS, then crawled into their EARS." Smart kid!! And SUCH a disgusting thought!

[Medusa]

Ewwww, yeah, hate earwigs too. One time I went to water my grass, and the sprinkler wouldn't work properly. So I turned the water off, and took the sprinkler off the hose to see what was wrong. Turns out, it was FULL of earwigs! :eek: Nasty!!

When my son was young, he asked, "Mommy, why do they call them earwigs?" (He was so scared of them.) I said I didn't know. He said, "I bet it's because a long time ago people didn't take baths much, and they wore those big wigs, and I bet those bugs lived in their WIGS, then crawled into their EARS." Smart kid!! And SUCH a disgusting thought!

I HATE EARWIGS!!! We had a lot of rain a couple of years ago and those things were in my gutters and several fell down on me when I opened my front door. They bite! (I'm starting to itch now. I've got to stop reading this thread.)

[Taz_Zoee]

Best picture of a Fishing Spider I could find that is close to the view of the one you posted.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/susanqjennings/2896215416/

This does look a lot like the spider that was in our office. Only it was fatter than the fishing spider. And the two "things" coming from it's face were longer, I believe.