Damn Orb spiders!

[toc]

Tonight as I was walking back from mucking about with the scope, I walked straight into a large orb spider web that had been constructed while I was otherwise occupied. Lets just say it was a good thing that I wasn't carrying the scope inside :eyepop: My girly screams where probably heard around the entire suburb :lol:

I know they cant hurt you, but a huntsman sized spider crawling over my face is not my idea of a good time. :scared2:

[TheDecepticon]

:eyepop::lol::rofl::rofl::P:D:)

You're not alone there!!:thumbsup:

[Liz]

:eyepop::eyepop:

[OneOfOne]

I actually walked into one of their little drag lines this morning on the way to the car. No spider though, just the one line left across the path...still getting bits off my face and out of my hair!

[lacad01]

Aaarrgh, I hate that feeling, very annoying :)

[Ric]

EEEK :eyepop:, an undie changing event for sure. :D

And who says our hobby isn't fraught with danger at every turn. ;)

[floyd_2]

I remember when I was young, my mother and father were walking up our tree lined driveway at night. Dad walked straight into an orb spider web, the spider immediately plonking onto his face. His immediate reaction was to swiftly brush it away. The spider then landed on my mother, who was beside him. Arghh :scared:

[kinetic]

Tim, all,
We have had a population explosion of them in the last month,
all in the driveway area too :)
My son and I have patiently watched a certain huge one build his/her
web each night. Some nights it's spectacular, other nights it's
so so. Anyway, I took some pics last night of last night's web creation
and 5 mins later was reading your post. Irony :)



Steve

[Liz]

... thats kinda funny, though wouldnt have wanted it to land on me!!

[pgc hunter]

got one of these buggers on the pool fence in my yard....keeps a watchful eye over the plethora of Redbacks lining the pool :scared:

And yes I always seem to put my hand straight into its web....

I remember when I was a kid I was at a friends place and we were running around the garden in the evening, and between a tree and the pergola railing was this massive web....and a giant hand-sized beast of a hairy huntsman-on-steriods spider in it......I stopped a couple of inches before I plowed right into that thing! Bird eating spider in face is not my idea of fun :eek:

[AG Hybrid]

That second picture is absolutely fantastic. What a georgous creature.

Now, I'm just as creeped out by spiders as the next bloke. But, I try to think of them as my friendly neighbour bug exterminator. We have some big orb spiders setting up their nets of death _above_ my drive way. So I might not find them as much of a nuisance as some. :P

[SMan]

:lol:

We seem to have a few more than usual this summer too. I now look out for them while walking down the side of the house where they like to build their web. But just this evening while heading out to catch the ISS flypast in a bit of a rush I ran into part of the web. No girly screams, just that funky dance with arms flapping around padding the hair and every part of the body to make sure there's no spider on me.

Great shots Steve.

[Jen]

:scared::scared::scared: after reading this i now feel like one is on me :eek::eek:

[Tom Davis]

Man, you guys downunder have the craziest beasts!! We have large spiders in the states but they tend to crawl not hang on webs. I get all creeped out by a Cat Face spider, ans they are only as big as your thumb!

http://bugguide.net/images/raw/KR3ZIRDZIR3Z6RAL2RKH4RSH2RZHGRRH4R1 L4ROLMZTL0ZTLSZOLQZBLKZRH0RPLHZNLYL WLLZTZ.jpg

Your spider would eat a Cat Face in one bite!!

Tom

[Spanrz]

I had once encountered a Orb spider, let me say it took me by surprise.

I was out on a hunting trip in Southern NSW and literally ran in to what I thought was a fishing line.
Looked up and wondered why someone put fishing line between 2 trees.
Then to my amazement, a large bodied "plum", was sitting in mid air.
It was a "huge" Golden Orb spider, ready for catching humans...
Backed away quite quickly, hahaha.

[Baddad]

Hi All, :)

I'm with you Adrian. The environmentally friendly bug exterminators.;)

It is good to know that it is rare that a tree or bushweb spinning spider is venomous. The Black House and Redback Spiders stay around fences, windows or buildings. Other venomous spiders burrow or hide under leaf litter.:D

So if you run into a web in the garden its not as bad as you may at first believe. :thumbsup:

Hi Tom, :)

Your spider would eat a Cat Face in one bite!!

Tom

In North Queensland I have been out on exercise (in the Army) and seen some huge spiders that live in the trees. Bird Spiders, They capture and consume small birds. :eyepop:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i4yRge0K2Oc

Cheers Marty

[adman]

At our place we call this the "Spider Dance". The extended disco version is always performed with the girly screams though....:lol:

Adam

[Jeffkop]

Cant tell ya how many Golden Orb webs ive nearly broke my neck in walking thru at night in the summer months. Those suckers are BIG spiders and their web is so strong. Someone told me that they use golden orb web to make bullet proofing in vests because of its great elasticity properties.

Doesnt matter how harmless a spider is ... if its crawling over your face and its body is blocking the sight out of one eye yer definately NOT HAVING FUN !!!!!

[telecasterguru]

I agree that it is not much fun having one crawl on you but if they keep the mozzies at bay they do all right by me.

Frank

[MuntiNZ]

Ha ha mate its times like these when I stop moaning about how dead boring NZ is!!!!!
The kiwis dont have any things like the orb.
My mates here say they dont even have any snakes in NZ.
Pretty great if you dont like crawlies to much but its still the most boringest place in the world. :lol:

[Ric]

Hey Daz, don't forget about the Weta's over there.

Big and ugly but harmless. They have been around since the dinosaurs and some species are quite rare.

Cheers

[Liz]

Whats a weta Ric?

[MuntiNZ]

wetas are short fat and hairy and made lord of the rings!!! :rofl: (http://www.foxnews.com/images/186006/0_22_peterjackson.jpg)

[Ric]

Hi Liz, here's a picture of a real Weta.

Cheers :)

[pgc hunter]

jesus, imagine that jumping on your face at night :scared:

no actually, imagine it jumping on Jen's face at night :P

[Liz]

OMG!!!!!! :eyepop:
What kind of a giant grasshopper is that???
Amazingly yucky :lol:

[AstralTraveller]

She'd achieve escape velocity!!

[Jen]

:scared::scared::scared: OMG thats an ugly looking thing :scared3::eek::eek:

[Baddad]

Hi Guys, :)

Lay off Jen, Look what you've done, Jens's gone blue in the face.

Hey Jen,
What colours are left for your avatar? Pink's gone, green, now blue. I can't keep up. But I know where I can get a pic of a blue Rolls Royce.
:lol::lol:

Cheers Marty

[Jen]

:lol::lol::lol: lol Marty :thumbsup: