Spiders Never Forget
Quote: DJTeddyBearOh, man, I thought this thread was about renting a guest room in your own home while visiting Vegas. I'd pay real money for that. Sigh....
Mrs. Wizard would not be big on that idea. I let the guy who accepted my betting system challenge into the house, and my wife never let me forget it. For one thing, he slept out in the desert and in the morning came in the house with a live tarantula in a paper cup, asking if he could put it in our freezer.
Quote: Wizardhe slept out in the desert and in the morning came in the house with a live tarantula in a paper cup, asking if he could put it in our freezer.
And your wife found fault with that? My wife would have killed him.
Quote: Wizardand in the morning came in the house with a live tarantula in a paper cup, asking if he could put it in our freezer.
Was he afraid of spoiling his spider?
That is $&@! amazing ;)Quote: WizardFor one thing, he slept out in the desert and in the morning came in the house with a live tarantula in a paper cup, asking if he could put it in our freezer.
I take it you're not leaving Vegas, but rather this is a second property you own...
Quote: P90Was he afraid of spoiling his spider?
I think he said he wanted to keep the spider for his collection. Now I could be wrong about this, but I recall he said it would put the spider in a state of suspended animation until he got it back home to Louisiana. This was not the only bizarre thing he did, but made the best story.
Quote: sunrise089I take it you're not leaving Vegas, but rather this is a second property you own...
As Fonzie would say, "correctamundo."
Quote: WizardI recall he said it would put the spider in a state of suspended animation until he got it back home to Louisiana.
If he put it in the fridge, that might work, works with frogs I think. The freezer, nah, I don't think so.
Tarantulas are the biggest bluffers in the world, they don't generally scurry away but rear back and act like they are going to kick your a**. When push comes to shove they seldom give their non-poisonous* bite but will instead fling their body hair at you. Apparently these hairs are very irritating to eyes and nose, sort of a skunk defense. The last thing an arthropod wants is a real fight with something bigger.
Their real enemy are certain wasps that do parasitic egg-laying.
* foonote: yep I know some are poisonous but not in the US
Quote: odiousgambitTarantulas are the biggest bluffers in the world...
You are now officially the WoV go-to guy for spider questions.
Quote: WizardYou are now officially the WoV go-to guy for spider questions.
I take offense to that comment. Remember, Son of SOOPOO is an entomolgy post grad student. Although he has been specializing in moths, he is above average on arachnids, too.
Quote: WizardI have a nice 3,000 square foot house, with pool/spa. My asking price is $2,300/month, which is what the previous tenants paid.
The Wizard's asking rental price is the same as Zillow's Zestimate® for rent, so you know the price is not inflated. The house is within walking distance of Brazilian steak house which house unbelievable all you can eat steak for a reasonable price at happy hour.
The house is within 2-3 miles of Red Rock casino.
Not to mention you can practically drive your golf cart to Canyon Gate Country Club.
Although not a traditional resort community, many wealthy people are living in neighborhoods like Peccole Ranch as vacation homes.
Quote: SOOPOOI take offense to that comment. Remember, Son of SOOPOO is an entomolgy post grad student.
I've been told arachnids are not insects...
BTW if anyone ever came into my home with a tarantula, on purpose, he'd be helped on his way out faster than the speed of light.
On a side note...did they do that to Walt Disney for real??
Maybe they knew enough to avoid him.Quote: CrystalMathHe must have been pretty stealthy since neither the cat nor the dog found him.
Quote: WizardYou are now officially the WoV go-to guy for spider questions.
I have a small phobia for spiders, it used to be worse when I was a kid. At way too young an age, 3 or 4 or so, I saw the B movie from the 50s "Tarantula" where mad scientists create a giant spider, and I think that got to me. Nowadays I still don't like to be surprised by a spider, I turn into Miss Muffet for a split second. Whenever something on spiders comes on TV or whatever I am glued to it. Especially tarantulas; ironically when I was a teenager some of the local area was full of them. I am thus quite familiar with the bluff they put on.
Here's a trivia question and I bet you can't find the answer on the internet: "how is a tarantula sometimes like an elephant?"
Quote: CrystalMathWe have a pet tarantula. One time, he got out of the cage (I think a kid accidentally left the lid off), and was missing for about 2 months inside the house. Then, one day, we saw him just walking through the hallway. He must have been pretty stealthy since neither the cat nor the dog found him.
Good story! I have no interest in such a pet! If something like this happened in my house, I'd be hating life.
Quote: odiousgambit
Here's a trivia question and I bet you can't find the answer on the internet: "how is a tarantula sometimes like an elephant?"
Elephants occasionally eat their mates?
Quote: odiousgambit
Here's a trivia question and I bet you can't find the answer on the internet: "how is a tarantula sometimes like an elephant?"
.
They both have 8 legs sometimes?
Quote: odiousgambit
Good story! I have no interest in such a pet! If something like this happened in my house, I'd be hating life.
Yes, I had to lie to my daughters and tell them that it was found. It was easy to hide because the tarantula stays in the oldest boy's room.
Quote: odiousgambit
Here's a trivia question and I bet you can't find the answer on the internet: "how is a tarantula sometimes like an elephant?"
Is it something to do with Smashing Pumpkins?
hint: there is a characteristic of elephants that sounds like legend but is actually true, and is played out when their territory is infringed. A very knowledgeable Elizabeth Taylor fan will know what this is.
Quote: odiousgambitmissing it a mile on the trivia Q; actually even an expert might not have a ready answer, so I guess I will start dropping hints
hint: there is a characteristic of elephants that sounds like legend but is actually true, and is played out when their territory is infringed. A very knowledgeable Elizabeth Taylor fan will know what this is.
OK, I give up.
Is it something to do with elephants never forgetting and the film Elephant Walk?
Quote: odiousgambitHere's a trivia question and I bet you can't find the answer on the internet: "how is a tarantula sometimes like an elephant?"
The same way an elephant is sometimes like a bratty toddler.
Quote: pacomartinI think you should give the Wizard one thread to rent his house instead of filling it up with junk.
That's okay, I knew it was a long shot to work.
Quote: pacomartinI think you should give the Wizard one thread to rent his house instead of filling it up with junk.
You're right. Got side tracked by spiders.
Sorry, Wizard.
It would have been courteous to fight against topic drift, but I wonder if a gambler is an ideal tenant? A CW and a dealer might be good tenants.Quote: pacomartinI think you should give the Wizard one thread to rent his house instead of filling it up with junk.
Quote: victorimmatureOK, I give up.
Is it something to do with elephants never forgetting and the film Elephant Walk?
I am going to say you got it, Victor!
Tarantulas and Elephants never forget! Elephants never forget a lot of things, but in "Elephant Walk" they never forget their old territory and in that movie they were berserk about the plantation being built to block a trail they had always used.
Tarantulas and memory sounds strange, but if you ever lived in terrain that hosts a healthy population of Tarantulas and built a house on top of a Tarantula home, which is just a hole in the ground, you find out something about them. I know a family who did that, house was on a slab and you'd think, hey no problem. What happened though was the Tarantulas kept coming back trying to find the old homestead! The family would find them climbing up the brick walls, all confused. You can imagine the wife's reaction. They kept coming for years, presumably from young that hatched in the old hole. They live up to 10 yrs.
The original thread still exists.Quote: duckmankillahaha i got a kick out of the change to the title of the thread. Does this mean that you found a taker for your property Wiz? Or just that your initial request was derailed so far that you figured you might as well just change the title?
It's all these spider posts that got moved.
If you're getting sick of spider stuff, just let me know. I recently got the lowdown on Australian spiders so I got more if you want it!
If you know where the Tarantula den is, what is the best way to catch the spider? I attended one of these once.
Quote: odiousgambitGot another trivia question on Tarantulas.
If you're getting sick of spider stuff, just let me know. I recently got the lowdown on Australian spiders so I got more if you want it!
If you know where the Tarantula den is, what is the best way to catch the spider? I attended one of these once.
.44 Magnum?
Quote: odiousgambitIf you know where the Tarantula den is, what is the best way to catch the spider? I attended one of these once.
Does it involve a torch?
Quote: victorimmatureDoes it involve a torch?
Just the townspeople, all with torches, rounding up the monster. Those things can be big! No other torches or guns.
Quote: odiousgambitJust the townspeople, all with torches, rounding up the monster. Those things can be big! No other torches or guns.
I didn't realise they were that big.
Might pay to pack some insecticide as well.
*excluding those Australian ones, spiders that big ARE a little #$%ed up.
Quote: odiousgambitI have a small phobia for spiders, it used to be worse when I was a kid. At way too young an age, 3 or 4 or so, I saw the B movie from the 50s "Tarantula" where mad scientists create a giant spider, and I think that got to me.
Quick Trivia Note - This was Clint Eastwood's first movie appearance (uncredited). He played the Jet Squadron Leader that bombed the spider at the end of the movie. I saw it once - you can definitely tell it's him.
Quote: FaceCan someone explain to me what the big deal is about spiders? I mean, I know many grown men that are absolutely HORRIFIED by them, they will beat themselves senseless if they so happen to walk through a web, will jump in surprise and then fly with murderous rage to stomp one if they see one...there's even "mods" (computer coding to change gameplay in video games) that erase any and all arachnids from a game and replace with something else because so many people are brought to the edge of sanity by them they can't play the game. What is it?
I know, right?
And some people are afraid of sharks too!
Maybe they saw the scene in THE BELIEVERS,
Where Martin Sheens wife gets bitten in the face and later a bunch of spiders crawl out of her face!
I realize the answers are obscure but you have to admit they weren't easy to find using google!
Anyway, a friend who lived where there were a bunch of tarantulas naturally was quite fascinated with them; we were both teenagers when he somehow came across something about how to catch one if you knew where its den was. God knows where he got this information. One day he catches a bumblebee and keeps it in a jar with airholes. He has me come over and I am to bring a big hunting knife. He has found this hole in the ground and knows or is guessing it is a tarantula den. The bee is buzzing plenty and he puts it near the hole while I place the knife where, when shoved in, it can block the hole pretty deep. Sure enough the creature comes up to investigate, it can't seem to resist this sound. I shove the knife in and the spider comes out and winds up in this same jar, bee escaped. So that is how it is done. If I was to do it today I would use a shovel to block the hole, a step that actually I don't think is necessary, the spider was hot for that bee let me tell you.
A while back I saw a TV program where some South American Indians did something similar. A fairly young kid was able to make vibrations with a stick that got a similar sized spider [about the size of your hand] out of its den. This time the idea was to grab it behind the head and kill it; around there they eat them! ugh! I got the idea you had to be pretty good to get these vibrations right, but maybe not. Anyway it seems the beasts are very sensitive to vibration and that's how you can catch one of your very own!
