False widow spider

British Red

M.A.B (Mad About Bushcraft)
Dec 30, 2005
26,891
2,143
Mercia
I've never found them too bad - but years of dealing with wasps and bees has taught me that temperaments do vary between colonies and individuals.

This little fuzz bucket was happy to pose for me though. Gives the lie to them being completely insectivorous other than pollen and nectar :)

Hornet by British Red, on Flickr
 

JonathanD

Ophiological Genius
Sep 3, 2004
12,815
1,511
Stourton,UK
Hornets are extremely placid. It's when you displace their nest and breathe all over them that they start getting frisky. The ones we get in the house I remove using a cupped hand. Great creatures that are hugely misunderstood.
 

bambodoggy

Bushcrafter (boy, I've got a lot to say!)
Nov 10, 2004
3,062
51
49
Surrey
www.stumpandgrind.co.uk
I'm not a big fan of spiders...but then I'm not terrified of them either. Have thought I've found false widows loads of times but upon closer inspection they are almost always common garden spiders of one type or another.

I get bitten by spiders several times a year at work and they are just like slightly more itchy much longer lasting Mossi bites in my opinion. Did have a real false widow make its way into my armpit last autum and dispite being there for over 5 hours and me scratching the tickley bit of shirt thread I presumed it was several times it didn't bite me and when it fell out on the kitchen floor when got home and took my top off, it was captured...positively id'd and set free in the front garden, I figured if it hadn't biten me all day (dispite the smell of my pits lol) it deserved to live :)

I'm not opposed to killing things that need killing....but if I'm not going to eat it and it hasn't or isn't going to hurt me...then it's live and let live in my world :)
 

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