posted on July 12, 2004 04:20:09 PM new
BEIJING (Reuters) - A Chinese house spider sitting on its web waiting for lunch got the biggest helping of its life -- it caught a snake.
The 12-inch snake crawled into a farmer's house in Qingyuan county in eastern Zhejiang province, apparently oblivious of the spider patiently spinning its web in the corner, Xinhua news agency said on Saturday.
"Unfortunately, it got desperately trapped in the tough, sticky web of the spider," the agency said.
"The spider pulled the web higher and suspended the snake above the ground. It then managed to get to the neck of the snake, using its beak to pierce the snake and inject its poison."
The David and Goliath battle took 80 minutes, drawing farmers from all around to watch, Xinhua said.
"The snake died soon and the hunter spider began to suck its blood."
posted on July 12, 2004 04:25:37 PM new
Nice story Kiara.. it caught my eye because just this afternoon a kid killed a rattle snake on the property next door.. this will make 1 rattler and 2 cotton mouth in the past 2 months.. fun place to live...MM
posted on July 12, 2004 05:06:37 PM new
Yes, I love nature. Snakes are fascinating but I've never been able to get over my fear of spiders. I can tolerate them if they're not too close to me but I don't like them on me or in my house.
I was just reading about arachnophobia and found info on European history where some people delighted in eating spiders, especially the women.
W. S. Bristowe, author of The World of Spiders reports that although he had already tried eating cooked tarantulas he was surprised by a lady called Miss Jennifer Walker who assured him common British spiders were delicious eaten raw. She ate one after he had turned down the suggestion and he then followed suit. His report continues to tell us that during the after noon they sampled 5 different species.
posted on July 12, 2004 06:37:18 PM new
Snakes don't bother me, but spiders are a different story and they scare the heck out of me. Because of the extra mosquitos flying sround here due to wet weather, I have spiders spinning webs everywhere in my backyard. Yesterday, I ran smack into a web hanging from my tree to the picnic table. Yuk! Fortunately, the spiders doing this are tiny red ones. Wolf spiders are the worse!
posted on July 12, 2004 07:09:35 PM new
Now THAT would have been a neat thing to see!
I'm not afraid of either. Both eat things I do not want around. But any insect that comes in my home or lands on me has a death wish! We have Brown Recluse spiders here that are dangerous. Rattlesnakes too, but they are protected now. The cats kill most of the "snake food", so we don't see too many around this year.
My children handled snakes at a young age, as did I. As long as you respect them, as with all things, they aren't any trouble.
posted on July 12, 2004 09:31:15 PM new
That would have been pretty neat to watch Kiara! If you guys really hate spiders, you should see some of the ones on eBay. One guy offered one (a dead, mounted one) that was 10" across, from Africa. I'd love to buy something like that and pull a few pranks on some friends.
posted on July 12, 2004 10:24:42 PM new
Kraft, I'm trying to overcome my fear. Tonight I sat out on the porch steps and there is always a rather large black spider that comes out from under the second step at the bottom and he freaks me out but tonight I just watched him instead of chasing him away. Maybe he wants to be my friend because he always visits me.
TerryAnn, we were warned about Brown Recluse spiders so I hope I never see one. There are Black Widows here too.
Cheryl, after selling my house in another city I had to rent a Victorian house for a few months before moving to a house here. One night I was going upstairs to bed and there was something black on the bottom step. I thought it was a little mouse that moved but when I bent down I saw it was a wolf spider and it was super huge. I sucked it up the vacuum hose and I heard it go "thunk" when it hit the bag inside. I still shudder at that one.
posted on July 12, 2004 11:12:49 PM new
Spiders don't bother me except black widows. They aren't too dangerous because they stay outdoors and they don't wander around. And you can detect them without actually seeing them because they have very strong webs that are almost like thread. But those things look absolutely evil and I hate 'em! I don't pick anything up in the backyard without checking under it first.
"I voted for the $87 billion before I voted against it."
posted on July 13, 2004 06:41:51 AM new
We're used to critters around here. There are enough foxes and skunks close to the house to keep the rattlers away, and the chickens do a good job on the scorpions and centipedes, but on any evening ride you'll see or hear snakes.
I had my son and a friend move our firewood stack last week because I needed the space for something else. Moving about 5 cords of mesquite and oak, they killed 9 black widows.
___________________________________
Beware the man of one book.
- Thomas Aquinas
posted on July 13, 2004 02:25:22 PM new
I forgot about cane spiders! They live in the sugarcane fields in Hawaii! I have seen grown soldiers scream like little girls when they see one. I understand they have a nasty bite. I have only seen one, and that was one too many! It was as large as a man's hand. And fast!! They can really scoot!
I went to a friend's home on Schofield Barracks, which had a cane field just the other side of the fence. As I was driving home on the highway, about the time I had started speeding up, I saw one run across the hood of my car, toward the windshield. This monster ran across the windshield directly in front of me, toward the driver window. I remember wishing I didn't have electric windows, as I could have cranked it up faster!
