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flowerhippie22 — Golden silk orb-weaver
Published: 2014-08-02 16:01:13 +0000 UTC; Views: 1750; Favourites: 48; Downloads: 0
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Description
Golden silk orb-weaver, commonly known as a banana spider.Related content
Comments: 57
//shivers im so scared of spiders but this is a great shot and the white BG makes it almost look like a painting
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Pretty common in south FL too, they are taking over my front yard!!
Thank you
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I take it they are invading your palms and yuccas. They are hoping to snare some of the large palmetto bugs (giant frakking Florida style roaches) lurking in the dense wet greenery. Banana spiders get really big. In Bolivia, their legs can span a standard dinner plate. They live almost exclusively in banana groves throughout middle South America. However, deep in the jungle of the Amazon River basin, very large specimens have been seen, some over a foot from toe to toe, with bodies as big around as a lemon. Imagine running into the web made by one of these big girls, strong enough to make you fumble, and looking up to see this critter staring you down as it wiggles its pedipalps while pondering whether you are friend or foe, most likely, foe...
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Yep theyre mainly in the palms, sea grapes and pine trees here.
I could just imagine running into one of those big girls....would probable scare the crap outta me lol
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Well, amplify any fear you would have thousands of times over and you begin to comprehend how the spider must feel at noticing how you wrecked her home and interrupted her lunch.
In a total state of "Oh, shit!", the poor lady runs for her life to get away from you. She can barely see you, she cannot smell you or hear you, but she feels you and knows you are much bigger and can easily kill her since she is a free bleeder if injured. The banana spider is no threat to humans.
My question is, how did you make this image of her on a stark white background without shadows? Magic wanding around all those Popeye's Goon style leg hairs must have been fun...
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Yeah i can just imagine how the poor spiders must feel...more afraid of us than we are of them.
I used a piece of white paper as a BG and used a flash. No magic wanding needed lol
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I am impressed. You did an excellent job of capturing all the fine details, including the silver velvet hair on her thorax and head. You can easily see the sheen in her exoskeleton surfaces.
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Thanks, glad you like it!!
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NOPE I'M OUT *flies off into paradox space*
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haha oh come on it not even deadly lol
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I DON'T CARE IT'S STILL A SPIDER
I HAVE HAD THREE SPIDERS IN MY BED WITH ME IN THE LAST TWO WEEKS
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How are the spiders getting inside and what are they looking for?
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1) I have no idea and 2) I have no idea. They just show up in my house. In spring, we'd keep getting the huge spiders in our living room, but we don't have those in my room, thank good. Or I'd never sleep again...
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As a Park Ranger, let me guess:
There are small gaps under the entry doors of your home. Perhaps there are other gaps around plumbing entries and electrical service entries. Spiders can flatten out and squeeze in between gaps that one would never think they could manage.
As a general rule, you are never more than ten feet from a spider, no matter where you are. They are everywhere and they have a talent for stealth. In the United States, there are only two species of spiders which can hurt you, the first being the Black Widow and the second being the Brown Recluse. Fortunately, these are not common and are found mostly in low traffic or abandoned areas like dark corners in basements, under woodland rubbish, or any other quiet place where they can hide while waiting on a certain lunch to come along, since spiders are energy conserving opportunists rather than aggressive predators.
The venomous spiders are lethal to young children and elderly people. Those who are healthy are in much less danger should they chance being bitten. It is prudent to capture the critter which bites you so you can take it with you when you seek medical treatment. It helps the doctors find an antivenom without guesswork, as it is sometimes hard to identify the species according to the bite marks. Spiders with poisonous bites are usually small in size. The big ones of which you speak are of no danger, though they do look rather frightening to one who has arachnophobia.
Spiders which enter your home are in search of safe haven from exposure to the elements. Most are actually lost, and truth be known, would much rather be outside where food is more plentiful. Sometimes, a cool or wet spell can send them scurrying under the sweep of your front door as they search for warmth and dryness. Cold, water and spiders do not mix, as they easily freeze to death or drown. Spiders are very fragile animals, indeed. They are easily killed. Far better to catch them and put them outside.
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WHYYY WOULD YOU TELL AN ARACHNOPHOBE THAT THEY'RE NEVER MORE THAN TEN FEET FROM A SPIDER?! I'M SITTING IN THE DARK AND I FEEL LIKE MY SKIN IS CRAWLING (which isn't really new but whatever..).
And I got lucky tonight and mom killed the two spiders out in front of my house! Well, we know we got one of them, I'm not sure about the other. I wasn't gonna risk it to haul my trashcan to the curb.
And yeah, for a while the insulation around our front and back door was really bad, but we got that fixed up good, which I think helped stop all the giant ass spiders from being in the living room. And we don't have a basement so that saves me from having to worry about that!
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Let me relate and ruminate upon some basic truths about things which can supposedly cause you harm but actually do not, most of the time.
Let's consider bacteria, for example. Humans fear germs more than anything else in the world. Of all the known species of bacters, only three percent are harmful to humans. Of these three percent, most are quite rare and easily avoided. The rest can be contained through good hygiene and common sense. The other 97 percent are either of no concern or are actually beneficial to us, some of which we cannot live without. (It is why yogurt is so good for you. It fixes and maintains your tummy.)
As to wild critters such as spiders and snakes, almost all fear humans. They do their best to avoid us. Now, let's say it is summer, the porch light is on, and the moths come out to congregate around it. Naturally, the spiders see an easy meal and set up shop where the moths are. It is the way of the world. If the light is off, the moths go away and the spiders follow. If the light is on and there is traffic, the spiders and moths will both stay back from said traffic, waiting for a lull in the commotion. As to snakes, the only way you are going to get bitten by one is if you step on it corner it in a threatening fashion, as in, trying to catch it or getting too close. Get near a snake in an open area and it will run for cover as fast as it can. I know this first hand since I walk in the deep woods regularly and see them often.
To avoid being critter bitten while romping around in the great outdoors, never put your hands where you cannot see them, whack the place where you intend to sit for a break on the trail with your walking stick so that you chase away anything that could lurk and bite, and use unscented insect repellant. Avoid perfumes and scented soaps in the wild. Remember that, in the backcountry, you are the invader. Respect the homes of the animals and plants out there. Learn to pass without trace. Leave nothing behind that you packed in, including things like food wrappers and toilet paper. Pack it out. Never burn garbage in a camp fire and do not drop food crumbs at supper. Again, pack it out! Human waste harms wildlife. Garbage kills critters. And, in the Smokies, it is illegal to leave your refuse in the woods.
As to openings in houses, you cannot keep small creatures out. However, you can discourage them from entering, simply by breaking the food chain. Animals are like humans. They always seek the easiest pickings. Keep all garbage contained, kitchens and bathrooms squeaky clean, and pick up things as you dust so that the critters have no place to hide. Trust me on this. They will go elsewhere! Another way to keep them out, especially the six and eight legged variety, is to treat door jams and window sills with black pepper. Another option is to grow certain flowers and plants near the foundation of your home, such as marigolds, mums, mints and other aromatic herbs and flowers. Not only do they keep pests away, the plants are good to eat and pretty to look at!
In closing, the more you know, the less you fear. Most of our fears are the result of misunderstandings and urban legends combined with a lack of knowledge. We have seen kids who were afraid to leave the institute classroom at summer camp and field trips, only to find wonder in the woods after being shown the reality of Nature on a hike into the wilderness. Being a Park Ranger is fun like that, for us as well as the kids! And that is what it is all about, Ma'am.
It's OK to be afraid of things, but you can reduce your anxiety by boning up on the way of the wild. In doing so, you can have a lot of fun along the path to understanding the Great Circle of Life, of which we humans are but a tiny part, indeed.
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I like snakes. I have two corns, both albinos and both freakin' adorable.
Sounds like I need to go get the black pepper, my neighborhood gets ants really bad every year, and since we all live on one story homes, they get into the bedrooms and it's a real pain. Ants seem to like me the most. But, we've gotten ant traps and stuff out, so that's helping some.
And I like the outdoors, I really do! My dad's best friend owns a cabin in the woods (we like to freak people out by stopping on the road and turning off the lights like a scene from Deliverance) and a small river even runs nearby that we just sit at all day. It's quite nice, we just have to watch out for ticks and snakes. And we're always sure to keep our trash and stuff picked up and in the house.
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I am thrilled every time I encounter a snake in the wild. I am very fond of timber rattlers. These critters are just majestic, indeed. Although quite dangerous, they are mostly sedentary unless disturbed wherein they can strike their entire length and deliver a lethal bite, though nobody has ever been killed by one in the Smokies to date. Documented biters are far and few between.
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That's cool, then. The coolest thing I've ever seen with my snakes was that I saw one of them while they were shedding. It was really cool.
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I know several women on deviantART who keep snakes and spiders in their homes as pets. I let mine run wild in the woods...
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NO. FUCKING. SPIDERS.
I WILL NOT DEAL WITH THEM THEY CAN BURN IN THE FIERY PITS OF HELL
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Just before I left for the weekend, Ellen spied a small tree spider in the bathroom. It was trying to hide under the rug after starving for to find nothing to eat. I got a small glass and a card, carefully placing the glass over the tiny spider and sliding the card under the glass to catch her. Ellen was petrified as I held it up to see what kind of critter it might be. She screamed at me to get it away and put it out lest she planned to take the glass from me and kill the little lady inside. So I carried it outside and set her free in the impatiens patch growing near the back door. She will find some nice ants to eat in there because they like to eat my flowers. Go get lunch, girl. Yes, good little spider, yes...
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YOU'RE CRAZY
YOU NEED A PET TARANTULA
TO CRAWL ALL OVER YOU
IN YOUR SLEEP
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I would want to be awake for that. I have never handled a tarantula, but always wanted to. I have touched the hair on one. It was amazing how soft the hair felt as I gently stroked its abdomen. The spider enjoyed this and did not move. Now, had I touched it anywhere else, it would have reared up on its hind legs in an attempt to scare me off and let me know it did not like to be touched anywhere but the hair on its "back". The keeper demonstrated this for me before allowing me to touch it. I was not without fear, but I conquered the urge to avoid the encounter.
About the little tree spider Ellen found in the loo - it was mad as heck after being imprisoned temporarily inside the glass with a card. She ran around at an amazing speed trying to find a way out. I let her run some laps and calm down before I could get a good look at her to see what she was. Judging by her shape and markings, I guessed her to be your standard young female brown tree spider, one of many known to be living by the thousands in most yards across North America and also, in most other places on Earth where forests spring forth. They are completely harmless to humans.
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*shudders and crawls in a box* You will never find me touching or handling a spider. EVER.
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I can respect your fear of them. It is quite common among humans. However, the life of a Ranger demands we do not fear... We are with wild critters all the time.
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I don't mind raccoons, snakes, or anything else, just spiders.
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I guarantee they mind you much more than you mind them.
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*screeches and throws a book before running off and running into a wall*
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Tells the other Park Rangers back at the station about that skittish kid in the back throwing books during the hike...
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*laughs* Awesome. And as long as a spider isn't crawling on me, I'm good.
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Don't worry none when you are with my team. I am a medic. I have your back if the shit hits the fan...
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Spiders are just the one thing I cannot handle. They are creepy little shits.
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Bless your heart, Ma'am.
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oh damn, ok i cant fault you for running now lol
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Plus, there's this spider that hangs around my front door. It disappears during the day but it's huge and I've almost run into it's web at night several times.
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Garden Spider. Harmless to humans, although they can and do bite if provoked. Nocturnal. Moth eaters. They also kill wasps. Which would you rather have - a friendly garden spider or a nest of red wasps at your front door?
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FUCKING WASPS BECAUSE SPIDERS MAKE MY NOPE THE FUCK OUT I CAN DEAL WITH WASPS IT'S CALLED BUG SPRAY
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Wasps can hurt you much worse than spiders. You can run from a spider, but a wasp that has you in its sights will sting you as many times as it can before (a) you kill it or (b) it gets tired of the game and flies away. A wasp will go out of its way to zot you, and it might even call its hive mates in to apply more damage. Wasps can kill even a healthy person very quickly. Better to not mess with them and give them plenty of space.
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