Spread the Disease
| We have actual tarantulas in NM. When I lived in Magdalena, I could see them crossing the road during my daily commute to graduate school. Quarter? HA! Try a saucer. 
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-- Fear is the mind-killer. Fear is the little-death that brings total obliteration. I will face my fear. I will permit it to pass over me and through me. And when it has gone past me I will turn the inner eye to see its path. Where the fear has gone there will be nothing. Only I will remain. --
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Prepared for the Worst, Providing the Best
| When I was in High School I went on a missions trip to northeast Brazil for a month. We guys were housed in a hut with a half-wall in the middle that divided the building in half. Half of us were on one side of the wall, and half on the other. The building was just wide enough to hang hammocks across from wall-to-wall, so we were basically just a big line of hammocks with a half-wall in the middle. Above the half-wall it was open to the rafters, and the roof was overlapping clay tile.
The first day there was pretty busy with travel and getting situated and we weren't paying as close attention to our natural surroundings as we probably should have been. When it came time to go to bed, we all kind of figured out our hammocks and got situated, when we heard screaming coming from the girls building about 100 yards away. Apparently one had found a tarantula in her suitcase.
Of course we thought it was hilarious, until we got to lying there and one of the guys on the other side of the wall said "hey guys, I think there's a tarantula on the ceiling right above my head". Turns out they love to hang out in the cracks between the roofing tiles, and sure enough there was one up there.
The next thing we know, somebody throws a shoe at it. From our side of the wall, all we saw was one thing go up, and two things come down. Then a bunch of screaming "it's on my face, it's on my face!" Then there were a bunch of sparks and more screaming. Finally something came flying over the half-wall and landed on one of the guys on our side, who's now scrambling to get out of his hammock in the dark (not the easiest thing to do) and evict the spider. By the time it was all said and done, the tarantula was broken into a bunch of little pieces (they kinda just disintegrate when you crush them) and one guy had some minor singes from breaking the sketchy light switch off the wall trying to turn it on.
The next day we were on the alert for them, and quickly realized the were everywhere. We also encountered the giant centipedes that also lived in the roof, and are apparently quite dangerous. It was a fun trip and a great experience with lifelong benefits (I met my wife on that trip), but I'm glad I live where I do! |
| | | Posts: 9179 | Location: In the Cornfields | Registered: May 25, 2006 | 
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Cogito Ergo Sum
| Out here at certain times of the year, the tarantulas get together and wander around in a group looking for love. The groups can get quite large and not fun to run into them on a motorcycle. Kind creepy to see so many at a time. |
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Member
| quote: Originally posted by .38supersig:
The good news is that Indiana doesn't have camel spiders.
FWIW: Camel Spiders (an arachnid, but not a true spider) have large jaws that can pinch you if you really work to provoke them, but they're non-venomous. We have lots of them here in AZ and they're good to have around as they kill and eat scorpions. https://youtube.com/shorts/z7A...?si=H5B8G1beYMr3hbcx
"I'm not fluent in the language of violence, but I know enough to get around in places where it's spoken."
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| | | Posts: 10259 | Location: The Free State of Arizona | Registered: June 13, 2007 |
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