Arachnophobia!

Well, it had to happen sooner or later. This girl just crawled over my shoulder, as I was surfing the Web! I think she just wanted to check her email. To make the experience special, it was over my bare shoulder. Yikes!

My apologies for the poor video quality, but it's the middle of the night and I've put her inside a thick drinking glass (that was close-by and handy) so I could throw her outside. The thick glass really ruins the image quality, but I think you will still get to see enough. She is missing her left feeler, and is cleaning (I think) her right one in the first video.

This was taken with the 7D and 100mm Macro (that just happened to be attached at the time) straight after I caught her:

http://www.youtube.com​/watch?v=zuQdxmKPD3o


And this was a few minutes later, with the E-PL1 and 20mm prime, to give you a sense of scale - that is a software CD under the glass, and her legs span the CD when she stretches out:

http://www.youtube.com​/watch?v=nYuKNulbcWY

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Just a few days ago, I caught another one, in the same glass, and took some photos. This is what I wrote and posted on another forum at the time:

"I call him Laxative"

Found him in the toilet, late one night a few weeks back, but he was gone in the morning. Until tonight. Laxative is by no means the largest Huntsman spider that I've ever seen, that was about twice the size, but he still gets your attention. Huntsman spiders are usually quite still, but Laxative was being quite unpredictable tonight, and I really didn't want him to interfere with anyone's bowel movements, so I caught him and released him into the wild (one of these falls on your head, it's got quite an explosive laxative effect, let me tell you!). But before I did, I snapped some pics.

Excuse the thick and dirty drinking glass, it's one I've been using all day, it's not the most crystal clear (and definitely not optically flat). Here is Laxative, and that is an Olympus E-PL1 software CD under the glass:

HTTP response: 404 | MIME changed to 'text/html' | Byte size: ZERO

HTTP response: 404 | MIME changed to 'text/html' | Byte size: ZERO

HTTP response: 404 | MIME changed to 'text/html' | Byte size: ZERO

HTTP response: 404 | MIME changed to 'text/html' | Byte size: ZERO

HTTP response: 404 | MIME changed to 'text/html' | Byte size: ZERO

HTTP response: 404 | MIME changed to 'text/html' | Byte size: ZERO

HTTP response: 404 | MIME changed to 'text/html' | Byte size: ZERO

HTTP response: 404 | MIME changed to 'text/html' | Byte size: ZERO

Damn, that's a big-ass spider... Despite shooting them many, many times, I'd be freaked out if one of those crawled on me. Fortunately, the biggest variety we have here in the netherlands is like 1/10th of that... Nice to see a video though

big set fangs! lol

you can keep them down under!

phil

that thing crawled on my shoulder at night i would have screamed like a girl!!

Rudi,

must be mating season out there, those are two mature males. Your first video shows him grooming his secondary sexual organs (the embolus at the tip of the pedipalp), usually typical after successful copulation... maybe you have a big geirl nearby hidden in your house... and thousands of little babies to come eventually... congrats spider granpa!

Martin

edit: specified that they were mature males

G'day Rudi, Nice captures, love those fangs. We do live in the best country in the world, don't we !! ( I can hear the protests now)

Regards, Dutch

Martin G. wrote in post #11341096
Rudi,

must be mating season out there, those are two mature males. Your first video shows him grooming his secondary sexual organs (the embolus at the tip of the pedipalp), usually typical after successful copulation... maybe you have a big geirl nearby hidden in your house... and thousands of little babies to come eventually... congrats spider granpa!

Martin

edit: specified that they were mature males

Thanks for piping up, Martin! I will edit the YouTube details. Appreciate your comments and expertise here. Of course, what that means is that a much larger female lurks around the house somewhere! But it explains the influx of these guys we've had lately. "Our girl" must be popular, probably has a bit of a reputation.

So, are they friendly? I guess he didn't bite you.

TweakMDS wrote in post #11339170
Damn, that's a big-ass spider... Despite shooting them many, many times, I'd be freaked out if one of those crawled on me. Fortunately, the biggest variety we have here in the netherlands is like 1/10th of that... Nice to see a video though

It was a surprise, but finding one of these always is. They get your attention!

GOLDENORFE wrote in post #11340226
big set fangs! lol

you can keep them down under!

phil

Thanks Phil, thanks a lot! Actually, we don't mind them, the huntsmen are harmless (once you get over the initial excitement).

howzitboy wrote in post #11340635
that thing crawled on my shoulder at night i would have screamed like a girl!!

I gotta say, I was pretty proud of myself - I didn't! (scream like a girl, that is).

mangrovedutch wrote in post #11341136
G'day Rudi, Nice captures, love those fangs. We do live in the best country in the world, don't we !! ( I can hear the protests now)

Regards, Dutch

We sure do, Dutch!

canonloader wrote in post #11341492
So, are they friendly? I guess he didn't bite you.

They are harmless, although I'm told their bite is painful (you only have to look at those fangs to get an idea that it's going to hurt). To get them to bite, you'd have to accidentally maul them somehow I suspect, because they do everything they can to get out of your way. We're too big for them, they're interested in insects, and then they're lightning quick! When they strike, they move incredibly fast.

Of course for the people in this forum, arachnophilia is probably far more common than arachnophobia, but even the most spider-loving people would jump if that thing landed on their shoulder! Great set!!

Wonderful sequences !
Brian v.