True Story about a Cactus...

[WRT]

Camel spiders are over hyped. There's actually two in that pic, their fighting and if you look at the size of the hand and sleeve you can see its quite the close up. Still a reasonable sized spider (compared to most we see in NZ), but not the monster everyone makes out. Plus, if their really so dangerous, do you think that soldier would be picking it up with a bare hand?

What is it with people believing everything that they get emailed? Dont even get me started on the people who reckon that some dude in a god forsaken SA country is really going to deposit 50 million US in their bank account.

[Sniper]

WRT, don't let them onto my con.

[Cibby]

Fuck I hate spiders.

ug i know.. same.. *shudders*

[Patrick]

No such thing as the Camel spider, said some spidy expert... yet another hoax...

[scumdog]

Why are SO many people scared of spiders/mice/wetas and other things that are well shy of being able to grapple you to the ground and devour you???

[ManDownUnder]

ug i know.. same.. *shudders*

Poor little buggers - I actually quite like them, except the whitetails. Weta's too (no I'm not being a tough guy - you all know what a pussy I really am anyway), I just think they're so misunderstood, and do a lot of good work around the place

[Colapop]

Camel spiders do exist, but are relatively harmless. They're big f*ckers and run when given the chance. 99% of spiders do run when given the opportunity - how would you feel if someone our size (compariticely to them) came after ya?
People get freaked over the smallest things. I'm thankful they're not our size or us theirs - that would give me cause for concern.

[Cibby]

Weta's too ( around the place

UGH!!! Weta's are even worse... do you know what they do?? They get their bug ugly disguisting fang thingies and when they bite you they dont let go, they just sink into your flesh and hold on, the only way you can get them off is pull their fangs off and then extract their fangs from your skin or cut them out,...

yuk yuk yuk yuk yuk

ok so i may or may not be exagerating slightly but that is what i heard once.. not sure if it is true or not.

[Patrick]

from personal experience or from stories told...?

[Ixion]

No, it is pretty much true. One of them got Mrs Ixion a year or so ago. It was hiding in a bunch of flowers, and she put her hands in the bunch and started messing about with them (as women do), then started screaming.

When she pulled her hand out there was this honking horrible great weta stuck on it.

I tried to brush it off, but no way did it want to let go. Finally I smashed it off, but when it went it left its claw things (not fangs I don't think) embedded in her hand. I had to pull them (painfully) out. Bled quite a bit, and despite immediately soaking the hand in Dettol her hand swelled up something nasty overnight and she felt rather rotten. Swelling went down the next day.

Despite being smashed off, the bloody thing was still wriggling round on the floor, until it got my boot on its head.

She found the experience rather traumatic

I dislike wetas, one of the very few creatures where I do not have a "live, let live" policy. I smash 'em on sight.

[Coyote]

I dislike wetas, one of the very few creatures where I do not have a "live, let live" policy. I smash 'em on sight.

Why? Is this due to what you just explained or just cause you don't like them?

I for one wouldn't want a massive hand invading my home and then getting my head crushed for defending myself

[Sniper]

Fear of the unknown clouds so many judgements

[Colapop]

Best way to get them to let go is by holding a flame next to them (such as a lighter) Ya don't need to burn them, just close - they let go pretty darn quickly. And don't gimme any shit about leaping around the room - it's only pain.

[Ixion]

Just 'cos I don't like them.

Horrible things.

Completely unjustified , I'll grant you, for they are essentially harmless, Mrs Ixion's experience notwithstanding (She does not agree, but) .

In her case the swelling was probably due to dirt and crap on the claw things. But they cannot penetrate clothing to any extent.I once put my gumboot on, and something was scratching my foot. Pulled it out and a weta was clinging to my sock (I had shaken the boot, bugger must have been hanging on inside. Now I store them upside down Aussie style) . But he could not penetrate the thickness of the sock.

Just don't like 'em, never have. I invoke the right of the sword, as Lord of Creation , to smash them on sight. Bugger biodiversity, they can go and be biodiverse where I am not.

I read somewhere that there are three things that babies are atavistically afraid of, snakes, falling , and spider/weta/creepy crawly things.

Makes sense I suppose, if you think back to the days when we was apes, living in trees. Only nasties that could hurt an apeling baby would be falling out of the tree, and snakes and spiders that could sneak past Mummy and the ape guards.

EDIT: Don't mind spiders. Or even snakes, so long as I know they ain't poisonous.

EDITY EDIT: I ain't scared of wetas, I just dislike 'em.