Midnight in the garage of good and evil

[seeker372011]

saw these little tableau in the garage last night

didnt know these guys were cannibals..thought they only eat other spiders

first the victor with his /her ? victim

[seeker372011]

and a close up of the loser-head bitten off I think

[xstream]

Someone correct me if I'm wrong but I believe the female of the species consumes the male after mating. Just like us Homo sapiens after marriage. :lol:

[[1ponders]]

I think you might find Narayan that one is the empty husk of the other. Huntsmans shed their skins pretty regularly so they can grow larger, like crabs and lobsters.

[seeker372011]

maybe the loser wanted to attend an astro meeting on their aniversary??

http://www.iceinspace.com.au/forum/showthread.php?t=15260

:lol: ;) ;)

[seeker372011]

no way ! that's cool

but would the shed skin remain as intact as it appears to be ? looks pretty solid

I might-if I work up the courage -go and poke it with a stick in a while to check

after a stiff drink or two

[[1ponders]]

They definately stay intact. We have a no insecticide policy in our house and rely on a healthy population of geckos and huntsman to keep the less desireable creepy crawlies under control. (And they do a damn fine job too.) We find these huntsman husks all over the place. They are just like cicada shells found on trees.

It scares the hell out of visiting NZ inlaws that's for sure. :lol:

[seeker372011]

I also generally dont mind huntsmen-they are especially welcome in the garden shed for the reasons you mention--but this is the first time I have ever come across one of these husks

[jjjnettie]

My husband always reckons he's just a shell of his former self.

[ving]

lol narayan!!

yeah it would be a shell.
interestingly we have a no insecticide rule in our house too... the rubber thong reigns supreme! :D
i personally dont like killing them tho, but cheryls arachnaphobic (sp)

[mojo]

Years ago I found one of those things on the wall and caught it in a jar. One minute after I caught it, I saw another one in the hallway. I put that one in the same jar as well and thought, great here's a friend for the first one.

I left the jar on the kitchen table and went to have a shower. When I get back 10 minutes later, one of the spiders ate the other. Or to be more precise it half ate it and was in the process of finishing it off.

I put the jar with the spider in the garage. That spider survived in that sealed jar for 9 months! I would have said it was cruel to try and suffocate a spider but hey, I wasn't the one that just ate somebody :scared2:

[Ric]

In our house beneficial spiders are evicted to the garden, all others such as Whitetails receive the order of the thong.

[[1ponders]]

Possibly heresay and nonsense,...but....I did hear once that huntsman spiders will keep you house clear of white tails. :shrug: I don't know if that is true or rubbish, but we live in an area where the neighbours regularly find white tails and we have never seen one in our house. I don't know how the neighbours huntsman populations are like (maybe the order of the thong works there as well).

[spacezebra]

Cool spiders.

Cheers Petra

[xelasnave]

I have to live with all these little creatures. The gekos keep things trimmed the only spiders I get are huntsman and daddy long legs (not the most venemous spider either) I have seen a huntsman demolish the daddy long legs webs by backing into them ..why who can say..territory I guess.
I try to save any creature I can by picking it up and taking it outside. Even a cockroach that jumps from a burning log, or the ants I save as many as I can. I wont kill a snake mainly cause thats an easy way to get bitten..browns particular seem to get the drop on a human in a fight. The dogs kill black snakes if I cant save them first but the dogs have them finished before I can intervene..Kangy also throws them up in the air and more than once the snack has nearly landed on me. So snakes ,except snakey I keep away from.. All creatures no matter how small deseve our respect and even our help. They are little lives so short but meaningful for them.. I respect their right to life. There we go another commandment respected.
Seeker go to the Museum near Mueseum station:D and go to the discovery room there are many specimens of all creatures animals, insects spiders one could spend days there. I rushed through but its for the kids this section but hey why should they have all the fun but so hands on so informative ..I plan spending many days down there when back in Sydney. The minerals and gems are also excellent.
alex
alex

[Ric]

Hi Alex, the locals at Wamboin when we started building told me to keep the grass short as the snakes dont like it because they can be spotted by Kookaburras, I'm not sure if they were having a lend of me or not but it seems to work.
When I was working in the field as a Geologist many years ago I was always told to walk with a heavy step as snakes pick up the vibrations and move out of the way, that one does work.

cheers

[xelasnave]

I think a snake wants as little to do with us as we with them and by vibrating the ground for them it may warn them a human is near so hide... is it.
Unfortunately the grass is beyond repair three foot and uncutable mostly ..brush cutter is the only way... mmm I will just do 2 acres maybe get a goat and another dog even.
alex

[Ric]

Hi Alex, I have 5 acres but half is Eucalypt forest and the rest is dirt thanks to the drought. I've seen a few browns and they do keep to the edge of the forest and mostly avoid the open areas.
Thats fine with me.

cheers

[Gargoyle_Steve]

My neighbour always kills all spiders, insects, etc, around his place, I try to leave mine alone (though I will try and put them back outside often enough). It's ironic then that in 11 years I have seen a total of 3 redbacks in my place, while my neighbour has had literally dozens of big adults and hundreds of juvenile redbacks come pouring out each time he gets the pro in to spray the exterior (every couple of years).

Our 2 houses were each built the minimum legal distance from the adjoining fenceline, ie his eaves and mine are about 12 feet apart - yet the redbacks stay on his side of the fence! I think my huntsmen, geckoes, etc, (even garden mice) keep a lot of other things relatively under control.

Cheers!

[Ric]

Hi Steve, I think that nature is not in balance at your neighbours place.

cheers

[spudrick]

Looks like the shedding theory is correct here. In the first photo the spider is a male and when they shed the shell remains generally intact.

[styleman333]

Yup is beneficial to have the huntsmans round the house , they will eat white tails and such . My day job is pest control so after reading all your quotes about conserving nature im feeling a little like a mass murderer. But i do agree , i kill thousands of bugs and crawlies all day long but i remove huntsmans from my house and put them outside, even if i have wifey screaming in the background " Kill it ! Kill it !! "
Still better to have spiders then termites ......

[ving]

better spiders than crabs too!

[jjjnettie]

A mate of mine has a turf farm and he sees quite a number of snakes.
Maybe the benefit of keeping the grass short is that you can see where they are instead of them hiding in the long grass waiting to scare the *hit out of you.
They'll only hang around where there is food anyway. Keep your feed sheds clean, then you'll have no mice or rats for the snakes to eat.

[ving]

alternatively keep your shed untidy to attract rats and mice and you'll have snakes to eat... i am told they taste like fish.... :rolleyes:

[jjjnettie]

Lol