Wednesday 27 May 2009

Bird Spiders

Ah, Momstheword wants to know about Bird Spiders... you can read all about my exciting interactions with them here. But for some more information I offer you...





THE MUMMY McTAVISH GUIDE TO FREAKY BIG SPIDERS


Cute isn't she? Yeah, I don't think so either. Bird Spiders are also known as Australian Tarantulas to give you an idea of their general appearance. I have an eye witness account of a dinner plate sized one crawling into the "smallest room" while the loo was in use. I'd say that's the best place to be if you see one of these guys because they do make you want to... um... evacuate your bowels (being polite). They don't have scientific evidence that they eat birds (although this Australian spider obviously does) but what is scientific evidence? Do they throw a lame sparrow at it and if it gobbles it down it can keep the bird eating label and if it just gets cranky they taunt it by re-naming it The Australian Whistling Spider. I can hear the "scientists" laughing now... "haha, that'll show the big pansy spider... we'll give it a girly name since it can't even eat a bird". It can kill a doberman (I don't want to know how they got that scientific proof) so I'm figuring I'd rather not have one nip me, and I certainly wont be taunting one... well, not again, I didn't know what it was capable of last time I did that.

Around here they probably feast on our frogs (kinda like the snakes do) apparently their venom kills the creature then gets down to business digesting the innards of the animal while still in it's skin so that the spider can just suck all the froggy goodness out like a milkshake, sorry, frogshake. Sounds like fun, hey?

They can jump too. You can just see a spider the size of a VW Beetle pouncing after me ready to fang me and turn me into an MMM (Mummy McT Milkshake). Can you tell I'm freaked out by them?

Momstheword, the best time for a visit to North Queensland is now! Not too hot, not to cool, should I make up a bed for you?

17 comments:

  1. Seriously?! And you haven't left the country?! Sweet Lord that is by far the most frightening creature I've ever seen (today). He sucks the juices out of a frog! Why hasn't someone made a really bad straight-to-DVD horror movie based on that guy? Okay, I just read the post about your scary Australian wildlife. I used to want to go there. ;) Okay, I'd still go if I could afford it.

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  2. Listen, you go grab some Timtams. Lots of them. Hop on a plane and get over here. Quick! We don't have those things here! YIKES! I have goosebumps just looking at that picture.

    AND THEY JUMP?!?!?

    I will stop complaining about the little spiders that keep finding there way in my house.

    AND THEY JUMP?!?!?!

    Mrs. Nurse Boy

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  3. I am seriously distressed over these spiders. I have always wanted to visit Australia. I used to dream about living there. I feel that my dream is now shattered. I can't cohabitate with THOSE!!!!!! My Aunt used to have a pet tarantula. Yes, you read that correctly, I said a pet. It was caged though thank goodness.

    I have been known to have dreams about spiders anyway. I'm traumatized. Truly. We have spider crickets which fly. They are nowhere near as big as bird spiders but are scary nonetheless.

    I think I need some chocolate to calm me.

    Much love from NJ,
    Sue
    xoxo

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  4. ummmmm.....no, but thanks anyway! You can keep your bed and your bird-momstheword-eating-spiders.

    I even posted a link to that spider eating the bird on facebook. Just had to share that lovely, uhhhh picture.

    I don't think I'll ever complain about spiders again.

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  5. Ah, fear not. I have lived here for 28 years and haven't seen a spider like that. I guess it depends where you are. I think we can all happily cohabit as long as we stay away from each other.

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  6. Oh holy crud! I know, crud is not holy, but oh wow! I hate spiders...little, big..all spiders. And I would flat out have a heart attack if I saw this spider anywhere near me, let alone the bathroom. I would pass the heck out and scream and never stop screaming. They'd have to sedate me. Dear Lord, I am now glad I don't live in Australia. Sorry, Aussies, but I can not handle seeing one of those!

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  7. They jump? Really? Anymore than any other spider? We taunted one once and it just tried to bite the pole we were poking it with... and then it ran away. It didn't even whistle. We didn't know what it was at the time. When we found out it was a whistling spider and can make you sick, Adam Bury went barging back into the bush to find it so he could make it whistle. We mustn't have made it cranky enough to whistle at us.

    (Condensed story: we were helping Tim C and Adam B pack up their tent on family camp one year. Once it was all packed we found a hole beneath where their tent had been. We could see a spider sitting in the entrance. We presumed it was dead coz it had had a tent on top of its home for 3 days. It wasn't. So we got a tent pole and poked and prodded it and coaxed it out of its hole, made it a bit cranky, then it ran away. Went and consulted "Wildlife of North Queensland" book to ID it.)

    It was skinnier than the one in that pic too.

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  8. They jump? Really? Anymore than any other spider? We taunted one once and it just tried to bite the pole we were poking it with... and then it ran away. It didn't even whistle. We didn't know what it was at the time. When we found out it was a whistling spider and can make you sick, Adam Bury went barging back into the bush to find it so he could make it whistle. We mustn't have made it cranky enough to whistle at us.

    (Condensed story: we were helping Tim C and Adam B pack up their tent on family camp one year. Once it was all packed we found a hole beneath where their tent had been. We could see a spider sitting in the entrance. We presumed it was dead coz it had had a tent on top of its home for 3 days. It wasn't. So we got a tent pole and poked and prodded it and coaxed it out of its hole, made it a bit cranky, then it ran away. Went and consulted "Wildlife of North Queensland" book to ID it.)

    It was skinnier than the one in that pic too.

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  9. Seriously, you Americans have rattle snakes and bears and earthquakes and tornadoes... a spider like this is nothing! (Granted Australia has probably got a large % of the world's deadliest animals... but you don't see them most of the time).

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  10. Dragon did a project on spiders and he can tell you that for the most part spiders, even bird-eating spiders, are more scared of us than we are of them .... except the Brazilian Banana Spider and the Funnel Web Spider which attack anything that moves (according to Dragon.)

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  11. Lol @ Funnel Web Spider- "attacks anything that moves".

    Mummy McTavish, I linked to you on my most recent blog... your blog inspired me to do my own blog on Australia's dangerous creatures. Good fun ;)

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  12. Dear! dear! dear! will Mummy McTavish lose sleep tonight over all of the people she has traumatised with her very contagious spider phobia? You forgot to say that they are reputed to be very docile and bites to humans are rare and maybe even non-existant although I dare say that Tim C, Adam B and Leah should have been bitten by one. Ahh, there is no justice in this life.

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  13. I HATE spiders!
    They are freaky and gross and just plain ugly!
    That bird eating spider just gives me the creeps!
    :0 -Aaahhhhhhh!

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  14. I am pleased to report that I have never met a bird-eating-spider yet and long may that continue.
    Eww!

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  15. Yes, THEY DO JUMP!!! Most spiders are good jumpers but these guys are known for their jumping prowess.

    So, aparently I should be worried that Tourism Queensland is going to get all upset at me turning hundred of blog readers away from our fine state. Yes, they are docile spiders but if they are gonna come in my house they better be able to handle the bad press it brings. Mrsbear is still coming to visit:)

    I probably should point out that we don't live on your average suburban block. We have only one neighbour sharing a fence other than that we have lots of spider friendly gully and overgrown fields sharing our fence line. "regular folk" who live in non-derro suburbs don't get to see fun stuff like this spider... and our snakes...

    Sleep well my bloggy friends, sleep well...

    Oh, and Lisa, you would be pretty freaked out to be able to pass out and STILL keep screaming :) Don't you have creepy things in the Boondocks? Your squirrels can't be the worst there is??? (although I reckon they'd freak me out in the roof!)

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  16. We have a fake spider that looks very much like one of those! - lots of fun to plant in a room in an out of the way place!!!
    Thankfully I've never seen a really big spider in real life - I'm not usually afraid of spiders, but even big huntsman give me the heeby jeebies!

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  17. Grannysaurus - we used a very long tent pole! (I will also point out that I was not the one doing the poking, Tim C and Adam B were... I was just watching!)

    Oh and Mummy McTavish... as you'd know I grew up in a non-derro suburb but we still had bushland up to our backyard til I was about 8 and I remember the snakes and spiders we used to find! :) (Actually we still got them for years after the bushland behind us was developed!)

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