Conservationists Bring Back Nearly Extinct Giant Spiders In The UK

a reply to: nugget1

You will know about 4-7 days after the bite...they cause necrosis and leave a gaping weeping wound that takes ages to heal.

originally posted by: RickyD
a reply to: nugget1

You will know about 4-7 days after the bite...they cause necrosis and leave a gaping weeping wound that takes ages to heal.

I know that from experience. It is a good thing I was a real good healer when I got bit. If I got bit at my present age, it would suck. But I still am not afraid of them. Not all of the recluse have the bacteria that actually causes the problem I guess, and if you do get bit you need a special expensive antibiotic.

I also hate swimmers itch. And getting stung by a bumblebee on the tip of the nose sucks too, it was looking right in my eyes as I was driving down the road and it's butt went up and slammed down. When I got to work, everyone was laughing and calling me Bozo. Even the people in the office came out to see when one of the other foremen went in and told them I was Bozo.

All I can say is thank # I live nowhere near Norfolk and Suffolk and have no real reason to ever visit the area again.
Which is a bit of a shame because I quite like Norfolk and Norwich in particular which is possibly the most easy going city I've been to in the UK.
Although I did have a very strange experience once in Wisbech which is literally like the Land That Time Forgot.

My wife - who is a tough old boot - would crap herself if she came across one of them spiders.
The frozen North does have some benefits.

originally posted by: DBCowboy
a reply to: nugget1

WHY????

Biologic diversity is important, we never know when we might need something that one species has/produces for our own use in medicine, for example.

And they are cuter than most politicians.

originally posted by: DBCowboy
a reply to: nugget1

WHY????

Well, we will all be eating insects soon, they just reintroduced the Sunday Roast.

2nd point....why do we continue to think we know it all and screw more things up!?

This will send something else out of balance.

We are idiots.

a reply to: nugget1

Im thinking a can of WD-40 a lighter might not be enough to tackle that big bastard.

Joke, i dont kill spiders but that's going to take more than a pint tumbler and a letter to remove too the back green.

a reply to: nugget1
I read the ITV article in your OP and I thought-How the heck have I never heard of these rat sized spiders in the UK?
The company ITV-should be reputable-being one of the UKs main terrestrial TV channels..

However-
I looked up the spiders on a couple of different sites and they claimed they have a body size of around 20mm-

D. plantarius is a large species within its range. Adult females can have bodies of slightly over 20mm in length with a span of 70mm including their legs

en.wikipedia.org...

Judgiing by the terror spiders generate in many Brits-can we launch a class action lawsuit against ITV for causing untold fear,alarm and distress to anyone believing they shared the island with RAT SIZED spiders?

No thank you. I would never go outside, with a spider that big running around. Those ones in Australia, Huntsmen spider? A good reason not to ever go there!


a reply to: 38181

In WA there’s these little jumping spiders, cutest little things!

I can no longer take anything you say seriously.

I have been trying to get over my fear of spiders. I really have. But anything that sneaky, and that fast, that can disappear in a blink of an eye, cannot be trusted.
I will let them live, when I see them outside.
But come in my house, and death to you all.

I warn them. They just don't listen.

a reply to: onestonemonkey

I looked up the spiders on a couple of different sites and they claimed they have a body size of around 20mm-

Whew; the UK can relax now! Unless....how big are the rats there?

theatreboy

.why do we continue to think we know it all and screw more things up!?

This will send something else out of balance.

We are idiots.

You bring up a very good point! Medicinal properties have long come from the natural world around us; now scientists synthesize the ingredients for maximum efficency and profit.

I also think about the history of *natural* evolution, where one species will die out and make room for another to become dominant. Maybe these guys were past their prime?

You're so right; when man thinks he can mess with Mother Nature to improve things it often has the opposite effect.

a reply to: nugget1

how big are the rats there?

Big bastards in a place called Govanhill.

Not that far shy of the size of a Yorkshire Terrier.

a reply to: nugget1

Cheers for that, conservationists.

Please stick to cute critters, like Beavers and stuff?

originally posted by: theatreboy
This will send something else out of balance.

Why, it's their natural territory.

originally posted by: nugget1
I also think about the history of *natural* evolution, where one species will die out and make room for another to become dominant. Maybe these guys were past their prime?

If that's true their numbers will go down again, but I think their biggest problem was pollution, as polluted water has less (or no) fish and other small animals for them to catch.

I happen to adore spiders, had a few Tarantulas and I appreciate every single spider in our home. I check before I hoover the carpet that I don't accidentally suck one up and condemn it to a slow horrible death.
They catch mosquitos and house flies.
To me, here in the UK, where we don't have poisonous spiders, the little guys are just eight legged cats, hunting those things we don't much care about, the natural way.

I never understand how a lot of adults can behave like little kids when they see a spider and kill it for no other reason than having an unfounded fear of these useful and good looking guys.

Nvm the size (the bigger the better), I will pick them up if they are in trouble and save them.

I don't know where humans, the most deadly, polluting, hateful, encroaching species can be such hypocrites and just kill what they don't like.

That said, if any species is dying out, all we see is evolution at work and to reintroduce any species which can't compete any longer is nuts. Humans make my head hurt with their stupidity.

We live on a rock hurtling through space at about 75 000 mph, dependent on anorher burning rock hundreds of thousand miles away. Our one keeps changing constantly due to this fact.
Yet those idiot fleas (humans) always want to keep everything exactly the same, as if we have a say in it.

I sometimes wish that animals were as nasty as we are and deliberately step on us just because we are so ugly and dumb.
But animals are never as bad as we are.

The world was doing just fine without us for millions of years, and for a few thousand years we think ourselves the Earth police.

Only humans in their egotistical minds could come to such a moronic conclusion.

Yup, I am one of those morons, but at least I don't think I am better than other living beings. I am but a humble helper of whatever Nature and evolution brings. And if there is reincarnation, I wouldn't choose being a great dumb ape ever again. It's too frustrating.

a reply to: Hecate666

We do have False Widows that are poisonous?

a reply to: Oldcarpy2

Several have venom, but it's too weak to affect us badly.

a reply to: ArMaP

Thank goodness.

a reply to: Hecate666

I don't think you're a moron. I actually envy you. I wish I didn't have this irrational fear, but I do.

Although, for some reason, daddy long legs don't bother me. Maybe because they aren't that fast, don't hop around or disappear so fast? (or I haven't woken up in the middle of the night to find one on the ceiling above my bed?)

I don't know.

originally posted by: ArMaP

originally posted by: theatreboy
This will send something else out of balance.

Why, it's their natural territory.

The entire ecosystem adapted to them being gone. Bringing them back is invasive.

If evolution is true, it didn't stop with us, we are not the peak of perfection.

The world adapts. Who knows what might have arisen...now we stopped it.

a reply to: theatreboy

Arachnophobia was a great film.