Spider in the Grike

[Snarf]

Red-Knees were like gold dust when I was keeping them, and had a price tag to match.

The arboreal thing I had was awesome scary, it was like our native house spider, just as fast, a jumper, but 10 times as big. It really used to freak me out more than the Camel spider. Cleaning out time was fun, I used to run a mile if it got out and it took me an hour or so to pluck up the courage for a recapture.

It was something like this but with a smaller abdomen...

Mate that is GORGEOUS!!

There are so many arachnids I'd love to keep but i can't handle them.

Closest i got was stroking my first chilli's abdomen

Its not for want of being scared i have handled spiders before but only when placed on me, can't pick em up, got a fear of hurting them.

i have that with any creature smaller than my hands, misses snakes, leopard geks and beardy im fine with. odd eh?

 

[JonathanD]

Remind me not to come round yours mate, me blinkin toes just curled up seeing that pic JD, lol

Don't have any spideys anymore, the only scary thing I have at the mo is a young Puff adder which I rescued.

I can pick up any spider or scorpion bar three, our own House spider, Camel spider and that big scary foreign house spider on steroids. I think it's the speed and spindliness of the two spiders, the Camel is just freaky all round and damned vicious to boot.

I know what you mean about them seeming so delicate though, but after you've seen one jump seven foot off the top of the wardrobe onto the floor and again from the floor to curtain in the space of a couple of seconds, you realize they are tougher than you think.

 

[Snarf]

BTW,

sorry Danny for jacking your thread, as said initially, stunner!

Snarf

 

[Snarf]

Seen some of the cruel video's on YT, and the camel spider Sts me up, its so EBIL, would love to have one thou

 

[JonathanD]

BTW,

sorry Danny for jacking your thread, as said initially, stunner!

Snarf

Yeah, sorry mate....

 

[QDanT]

No problems thats what I fine fascinating about the forum you don't know where a thread is going to end up and you learn something new everyday. I've never heard of it called a European Garden Spider before I've always known it as a Cross Spider, no not because it's annoyed, but because of the white cross pattern of circles on it's back.
Here's a .flv video file Spiders on DRUGS !

click the picture and it takes 5 seconds to load but I've never posted a video before so it might all go pear shape ?
cheers all Danny

 

[JonathanD]

Excellent. I remember seeing that a couple of years back, It's a cracking bit of nature observation

Thanks for putting it up, you've made my day.

I've always known them as garden spiders, or orb-web spiders. They also get the name cross spider from the leg positions they sometimes adopt when sitting centre of the web.

 

[Harvestman]

Those garden spiders have more names than all the other arachnids put together, or so it seems sometimes. Garden spider, Cross spider, St George's spider, Diadem spider, Holy spider...

Either way, they are gorgeous, and that's a great photo of one.

 

[JonathanD]

Here's a couple of pics I took in the Autumn of 08 late one night while I was watching badgers...

This fella was busy making his web above my head. And he was a whopper. No doubt he was the crack spiders bitch.

 

[Snarf]

That video is class!!!!!

Who on earth let that pass through animal welfare lol

 

[ged]

orrid thing !!

Nonsense. It's beautiful.

 

[ged]

Emporer scorps are great, I've always considered getting another.

Well if you'd settle for a few hundred of these, bring a shoe box or something:

http://www.jubileegroup.co.uk/JOS/misc/t4116877.jpg

They live with me at my house in France. Most of them stay in the cellar but a few make their way upstairs so we check our boots in the morning.