Goliath Spider article on IFLS

The spider certainly did not appreciate Naskrecki being on the ground and photographing it so closely, so it let him know by creating a hissing sound. Humans are much too large for Goliaths to attack as prey, so such attacks are usually only done in self-defense. When threatened, Goliaths rub their serrated hairy legs together, which generates a hissing sound audible from 15 feet away. The rubbing also releases the urticating hair into the air, which are irritating to skin and are used to deter anyone from coming too close. Naskrecki’s face took the brunt of the damage from the spider, as several of the bristles entered his eye. He explains on his blog that the experience left him with sore, watery eyes for days to come.

———

Maybe we could introduce them to the Aussie mainland to take care of our feral cat problem

SKINNER: “No, that’s the beautiful part. When wintertime rolls around, the gorillas simply freeze to death. “

dv said:

SKINNER: “No, that’s the beautiful part. When wintertime rolls around, the gorillas simply freeze to death. “

Tassy Devil, Goliath Spider cage match

Good thing DA’s on holiday.

>>Good thing DA’s on holiday.

She said she was all hot and sticky today and rehearsing for the wedding.

Bubblecar said:

Good thing DA’s on holiday.

I thought that as well

Naskrecki notes that the spider is so heavy, its footsteps sound like tiny horse hooves as they pound on the ground.

A spider with its own built-in sound effects.

Speedy said:

Naskrecki notes that the spider is so heavy, its footsteps sound like tiny horse hooves as they pound on the ground.

A spider with its own built-in sound effects.

We have spiders here which make an audible click, click, sound when they are running across a hard surface.

Tamb said:

Speedy said:

Naskrecki notes that the spider is so heavy, its footsteps sound like tiny horse hooves as they pound on the ground.

A spider with its own built-in sound effects.

We have spiders here which make an audible click, click, sound when they are running across a hard surface.

I hope you don’t mean here, like, in Australia, like.

Speedy said:

Tamb said:

Speedy said:

Naskrecki notes that the spider is so heavy, its footsteps sound like tiny horse hooves as they pound on the ground.

A spider with its own built-in sound effects.

We have spiders here which make an audible click, click, sound when they are running across a hard surface.

I hope you don’t mean here, like, in Australia, like.

Yes. Tropical North Queensland, sometimes in my house.

I wonder what sort of pet it would make.. looks friendly

Ian said:

I wonder what sort of pet it would make.. looks friendly

Imagine taking it for a walk down the street, you could call it Metabelis

Cymek said:

Ian said:

!http://i.imgur.com/dTZ8RG0.jpg

I wonder what sort of pet it would make.. looks friendly

Imagine taking it for a walk down the street, you could call it Metabelis

I’d prefer my pet:

That Goliath spider looks to be a female, which means an equivalent male would be even larger, at least in the length of leg, although body size would be smaller. Great for keeping the mice down.

PermeateFree said:

That Goliath spider looks to be a female, which means an equivalent male would be even larger, at least in the length of leg, although body size would be smaller. Great for keeping the mice down.

Sexual dimorphism in spiders it is often the males are smaller than the females.

Mice shmice, it’d keep a lot of humans away.

PermeateFree said:

That Goliath spider looks to be a female, which means an equivalent male would be even larger, at least in the length of leg, although body size would be smaller. Great for keeping the mice down.

Not all spiders have the male larger than the female. What makes you think that in this case?

Witty Rejoinder said:

PermeateFree said:

That Goliath spider looks to be a female, which means an equivalent male would be even larger, at least in the length of leg, although body size would be smaller. Great for keeping the mice down.

Not all spiders have the male larger than the female. What makes you think that in this case?

Most do especially in this group, they have them so the spider can mate with the female without being eaten, plus they move around much more in search of females. The males are not heavier, only have longer legs.

party_pants said:

PermeateFree said:

That Goliath spider looks to be a female, which means an equivalent male would be even larger, at least in the length of leg, although body size would be smaller. Great for keeping the mice down.

Sexual dimorphism in spiders it is often the males are smaller than the females.

Very common with web building spiders.

There are some South American indigenous people who catch and eat those large spiders, which play a substantial part of their diet being easy to find and catch. Apparently they taste very nice.

PermeateFree said:

There are some South American indigenous people who catch and eat those large spiders, which play a substantial part of their diet being easy to find and catch. Apparently they taste very nice.

And no fighting over who get a leg

I wouldn’t want to have to pluck one of these critters.

Bubblecar said:

I wouldn’t want to have to pluck one of these critters.

Hairy little fellers aren’t they?

Bubblecar said:

I wouldn’t want to have to pluck one of these critters.

They just throw them in the fire to burn off the hairs, leaving you time to devise an accompanying spicy sauce.

I’d imagine they taste a bit like crab.

Bubblecar said:

I’d imagine they taste a bit like crab.

or lobster, so I have heard. So what type of sauce would you make Mr Car?

I’d have to try a plain one first to see what would work. And check that they’re actually worth eating.

Bubblecar said:

I’d have to try a plain one first to see what would work. And check that they’re actually worth eating.

They might be like crocodile. Too delicate a flavour to be eaten with any sauce.

Bubblecar said:

I’d have to try a plain one first to see what would work. And check that they’re actually worth eating.

Imagine the legs would make good dipsticks as you would not have the tough calcareous exoskeleton of their saltwater cousins.

Tamb said:

Bubblecar said:

I’d have to try a plain one first to see what would work. And check that they’re actually worth eating.

They might be like crocodile. Too delicate a flavour to be eaten with any sauce.

I’d be worried about ingesting parasites and suchlike.

Bubblecar said:

Tamb said:

Bubblecar said:

I’d have to try a plain one first to see what would work. And check that they’re actually worth eating.

They might be like crocodile. Too delicate a flavour to be eaten with any sauce.

I’d be worried about ingesting parasites and suchlike.

Deep fry them then.

Tamb said:

Bubblecar said:

I’d have to try a plain one first to see what would work. And check that they’re actually worth eating.

They might be like crocodile. Too delicate a flavour to be eaten with any sauce.

Certainly the South American natives don’t bother.

Tamb said:

Bubblecar said:

I’d have to try a plain one first to see what would work. And check that they’re actually worth eating.

They might be like crocodile. Too delicate a flavour to be eaten with any sauce.

Good roasted apparently.

and everyone gets a leg.

How the natives catch them, is to find where they are (usually on creek banks), where they build sizable burrows into the banks. They then feed down something that the spiders latch onto, then they are slowly drawn out of the hole. The natives then place their foot on their back and pull up their legs behind them, which are then tied enabling them to be carried safely.

PermeateFree said:

How the natives catch them, is to find where they are (usually on creek banks), where they build sizable burrows into the banks. They then feed down something that the spiders latch onto, then they are slowly drawn out of the hole. The natives then place their foot on their back and pull up their legs behind them, which are then tied enabling them to be carried safely.

We used to catch blue swimmer crabs a bit like that.
Throw in an unweighted line with a piece of meat attached. Slowly pull in & the crab grabs the meat. Bring to surface very slowly & net them.

Tamb said:

PermeateFree said:

How the natives catch them, is to find where they are (usually on creek banks), where they build sizable burrows into the banks. They then feed down something that the spiders latch onto, then they are slowly drawn out of the hole. The natives then place their foot on their back and pull up their legs behind them, which are then tied enabling them to be carried safely.

We used to catch blue swimmer crabs a bit like that.
Throw in an unweighted line with a piece of meat attached. Slowly pull in & the crab grabs the meat. Bring to surface very slowly & net them.

Tasty too.

PermeateFree said:

Tamb said:

PermeateFree said:

How the natives catch them, is to find where they are (usually on creek banks), where they build sizable burrows into the banks. They then feed down something that the spiders latch onto, then they are slowly drawn out of the hole. The natives then place their foot on their back and pull up their legs behind them, which are then tied enabling them to be carried safely.

We used to catch blue swimmer crabs a bit like that.
Throw in an unweighted line with a piece of meat attached. Slowly pull in & the crab grabs the meat. Bring to surface very slowly & net them.

Tasty too.

Much tastier than muddies.

Tamb said:

PermeateFree said:

Tamb said:

We used to catch blue swimmer crabs a bit like that.
Throw in an unweighted line with a piece of meat attached. Slowly pull in & the crab grabs the meat. Bring to surface very slowly & net them.

Tasty too.

Much tastier than muddies.

Lived off muddies for a few weeks when stuck in Brisbane without money. Caught them in a handmade trap in the Brisbane River.

PermeateFree said:

Tamb said:

PermeateFree said:

Tasty too.

Much tastier than muddies.

Lived off muddies for a few weeks when stuck in Brisbane without money. Caught them in a handmade trap in the Brisbane River.

I think I’ve hijacked the thread. Sorry ppl.

Tamb said:

PermeateFree said:

Tamb said:

Much tastier than muddies.

Lived off muddies for a few weeks when stuck in Brisbane without money. Caught them in a handmade trap in the Brisbane River.

I think I’ve hijacked the thread. Sorry ppl.

All related.

PermeateFree said:

Tamb said:

PermeateFree said:

Lived off muddies for a few weeks when stuck in Brisbane without money. Caught them in a handmade trap in the Brisbane River.

I think I’ve hijacked the thread. Sorry ppl.

All related.

I’m pretty sure spiders & crabs aren’t all that close.

Tamb said:

PermeateFree said:

Tamb said:

I think I’ve hijacked the thread. Sorry ppl.

All related.

I’m pretty sure spiders & crabs aren’t all that close.

No, you just don’t understand, your so juvenile…

Tamb said:

PermeateFree said:

Tamb said:

I think I’ve hijacked the thread. Sorry ppl.

All related.

I’m pretty sure spiders & crabs aren’t all that close.

Eight legs and all that, only separated by time and environment.

poikilotherm said:

Tamb said:

PermeateFree said:

All related.

I’m pretty sure spiders & crabs aren’t all that close.

No, you just don’t understand, your so juvenile…

What did I do to deserve that Poik?

Tamb said:

poikilotherm said:

Tamb said:

I’m pretty sure spiders & crabs aren’t all that close.

No, you just don’t understand, your so juvenile…

What did I do to deserve that Poik?

went to the keeper, never mind. ;)

Tamb said:

poikilotherm said:

Tamb said:

I’m pretty sure spiders & crabs aren’t all that close.

No, you just don’t understand, your so juvenile…

What did I do to deserve that Poik?

He was let out of school early and you were the first he encountered.

poikilotherm said:

Tamb said:

poikilotherm said:

No, you just don’t understand, your so juvenile…

What did I do to deserve that Poik?

went to the keeper, never mind. ;)

He’s new here :)

PermeateFree said:

Tamb said:

poikilotherm said:

No, you just don’t understand, your so juvenile…

What did I do to deserve that Poik?

He was let out of school early and you were the first he encountered.

In that case I’ll take my spider & go home. Ha can keep his crabs.

Tamb said:

PermeateFree said:

Tamb said:

What did I do to deserve that Poik?

He was let out of school early and you were the first he encountered.

In that case I’ll take my spider & go home. Ha can keep his crabs.

Ha = He

Tamb said:

PermeateFree said:

Tamb said:

What did I do to deserve that Poik?

He was let out of school early and you were the first he encountered.

In that case I’ll take my spider & go home. Ha can keep his crabs.

Poik was having a go at Perm

went over the head to the keeper

the third umpire has called no balls

The_observer said:

Tamb said:

PermeateFree said:

He was let out of school early and you were the first he encountered.

In that case I’ll take my spider & go home. Ha can keep his crabs.

Poik was having a go at Perm

went over the head to the keeper

the third umpire has called no balls

Thanks. Explanation noted.

Tamb said:

The_observer said:

Tamb said:

In that case I’ll take my spider & go home. Ha can keep his crabs.

Poik was having a go at Perm

went over the head to the keeper

the third umpire has called no balls

Thanks. Explanation noted.

Don’t worry about it Tamb, they like being nasty.