Old South Creations Posted June 29, 2012 Share Posted June 29, 2012 This is what I found waiting on me in my hat this morning...yes, that's a black widow. This is why you should ALWAYS check your hat & gloves (or anything else left outside or in the shop) BEFORE putting them on! hard to tell from the pic but she was a BIG girl! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThomasPowers Posted June 29, 2012 Share Posted June 29, 2012 Why I want closed screened boxes to store my stuff in. They are quite common out here---last spider round up my daughter did she counted over 30 of them just around the outside of our house and their webs are all over my shop---I try to never put my hand where I can't see it without a glove on, (and beat out the gloves before donning.) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
macbruce Posted June 29, 2012 Share Posted June 29, 2012 I had one dangle down from the ceiling in front of my face after I filled the shop with coal smoke once and almost walked into it, Yikes! I had no idea I could keep my balance bent that far backward. My first instinct was to kill it but I decided to put her in a one gallon cider jug along with some sticks and leaves. She was fascinating to watch within her little universe. I'd pop in bugs to feed her and she even took on a big ol bumblebee once and scarfed him up too (as if she had a choice). Eventually she made her egg sack and died and I forgot about the jug. The next spring I happened to look inside and there were hundreds of teeny BW's inside.....They weren't as lucky as their Mum..... :ph34r: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wind Chapman Posted June 29, 2012 Share Posted June 29, 2012 Here the problem is scorpions. I hang almost everything on the walls even indoors because of them. Now to trivia... Can anyone tell me why it is bad luck to get rid of spider webs in a blacksmith shop? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tzonoqua Posted June 29, 2012 Share Posted June 29, 2012 That spider looks nasty!!!!! We get big fat hairy spiders here in England, absolutely harmless, but really evil looking if you are an arachnaphobe like me!! I have to shake out my welding jacket, apron and welding helmet when i first put them on, otherwise I just get freaked out if i find a spider crawling over me-- yes, I do the girly shreiking and dancing around bit!! At least here they are harmless!!! Wind, I don't know about american scorpions, but I do know about ones in southeast asia, and they can and do climb walls and even walk along the ceiling just like spiders. When I was there, I had the misconception that they couldn't do that and hung my bikini on a hook on the wall one day, got up on the morning and went to put in on and discovered a scorpion nestled happily in it's busom!!! It then got treated to a free ride back up to the ceiling and back as my reaction was to throw it back in the air, where it again landed on my hand!!! Luckily it didn't sting me, but I then learned to do the shake-and-look before putting anything on again!! Having said that I am a live and let live kinda person and don't actually go out of my way to kill the little critters. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Elemental Metal Creations Posted June 29, 2012 Share Posted June 29, 2012 Here the problem is Brown Recluse spiders. There bite is worse than a BW. they make the flesh rot and will leave a big hole that takes forever to heal. I was cleaning out part of the barn that my shop is behind and must have found 100+ over a couple of days. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThomasPowers Posted June 29, 2012 Share Posted June 29, 2012 Well we get *big* spiders as tarantulas live out here in New Mexico---creepy to see them crossing the road at that time of year when they are looking for a mate; but really harmless. If you want envenomed beasties Australia is the place to go! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
calala Posted June 29, 2012 Share Posted June 29, 2012 Yes Thomas we've got red bellied black snakes,king brown snake,inland brown snakes,western brown snakes,wip snakes,tiger snakes,coastal taipan snake,inland taipan/fierce snake,death adder snakes,copperhead snakes,red back spider/black widow) funnel web spider,trapdoor spider,white tailed spider,scorpions,sharks,crocodiles and blue ringed octopus. Seems like I forgot one, "o" thats right me! :rolleyes: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MOblacksmith0530 Posted June 30, 2012 Share Posted June 30, 2012 Okay why is it bad luck to get rid of spider webs in teh shop. I walked into two today and of course they are gone now. We have both the brown recluse and the Black widow on this side of the state. I really try and watch for the brown recluse because they will not try to run away and they will bite any chance they get. Black widows are easier to see and seem to tend to stay outside more. I will be more vigilant in checking the welding outfit and hats and gloves. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
calala Posted June 30, 2012 Share Posted June 30, 2012 Mo, don't know why its bad luck,but I'm thinking if you can see the web you know where the spider is. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pat Roy Posted June 30, 2012 Share Posted June 30, 2012 We have the nasty brown recluse spiders here and that's about it for poisonus biters. No poisonus snakes. We do have an abundance of deer ticks that carry several diseases including Lyme. Other than that there are the pesky black flies and mosquitos. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jmccustomknives Posted June 30, 2012 Share Posted June 30, 2012 I've had a widow hide in my jacket pocket, came out and said hellow to me. But the most painful, I had a pair of carpenter bee take up a winter residents in the fingers of my right hand glove. I didn't notice they were in there until they warmed up. That was a painful sting, hurt for 24 hours. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Robert Yates Posted June 30, 2012 Share Posted June 30, 2012 I Have 8 Tarantulas and 15 Scorpions as pets LOL one Pug , a cat , and 22 hens + a Rooster , not to mention the farm animals . Sam Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marksnagel Posted June 30, 2012 Share Posted June 30, 2012 Black widows, brown recluse, cotton mouths, copperheads, timber rattlers, water moccasins, wasps, mosquitos, yellow flies. Nothing freaks me out like a spider. I too have to shake out my gear before doning. Killing a spider in MY smithy is bad luck for that spider. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rlonstein Posted June 30, 2012 Share Posted June 30, 2012 Yes Thomas we've got red bellied black snakes,king brown snake,inland brown snakes,western brown snakes,wip snakes,tiger snakes,coastal taipan snake,inland taipan/fierce snake,death adder snakes,copperhead snakes,red back spider/black widow) funnel web spider,trapdoor spider,white tailed spider,scorpions,sharks,crocodiles and blue ringed octopus. Seems like I forgot one, "o" thats right me! :rolleyes: Don't forget box jellyfish. Just the exhibit on them in Darling Harbour aquarium was enough. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
macbruce Posted June 30, 2012 Share Posted June 30, 2012 Don't forget box jellyfish. Just the exhibit on them in Darling Harbour aquarium was enough. Don't leave this little blighter out........ The Irukandji is a stinging jellyfish, found around the coast of the northern half of Australia, from about Brisbane north (more commonly from Cairns north) to Broome. They need warm water to survive. There is a pretty low chance of getting stung; unless you are swimming in the sea during 'stinger season' (summer), when they move from open water to inshore areas. In these areas, during stinger season, the box jellyfish (Chironex) is much more dangerous; and a better reason to stay out of the water during the tropical summer (to quote the university of Queensland, "if you get stung (by a box jellyfish), you are not likely to make it to land, let alone to a hospital"). One of the most dangerous animals on earth; but the Irukandjii is much less dangerous. It has a 'double sting', which is a sharp pain and soreness to start, then an hour or more later, intense pain and nausea. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jimmy seale Posted June 30, 2012 Share Posted June 30, 2012 any of these critters will make for a really bad day,so ya'll be careful. as far as spider webs..maybe natural fly catchers? but the web helps blood coagulate iffin ya cut yourself. but it may be for luck (like a house spider) and we could all use some of that time to time Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BIGGUNDOCTOR Posted June 30, 2012 Share Posted June 30, 2012 I have BW's around my house, and in the basement where it is cooler than my smithing area. Steel gets really hot in the direct summer sunlight. Kinda hard smithing too when it is 100+ outside. We have desert recluse spiders, which are the only ones I smash. The Sun Spiders are nasty looking, but harmless, as well as the tarantulas we have. We have the blue bodied Hairy Scorpion , which is the largest in North America reaching 6", but I have never seen one over 4". There are some smaller tan ones that I used to see a lot of in the 1" range. The scorpions get tossed back outside to continue eating cockroaches, if they wander into the house. A small tan scorpion is the only one I have received a sting from, and it was on my big toe. Felt like a bee sting, and was gone in a minute. One of the first things I was told when I moved here was - shake, and tap out your shoes before putting them on. I have seen Wolf spiders at my friend's house in Las Vegas, but I haven't seen one out here in DaBoonies yet. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mat Posted July 1, 2012 Share Posted July 1, 2012 i think this is a funnel web its eating a lizard you can see the tail its at least 2in long my shop was not big enough for the 2 of us. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Judson Yaggy Posted July 1, 2012 Share Posted July 1, 2012 You guys all live in the wrong place. ;) Round here we have a few ticks that have arrived in the last few warm years, a small patch of poison ivy down by the river, and the usual May thru August mosquitos and black flies. Poisonous snakes are apocryphal, someone's granddad said he saw a timber rattler up on the big cliffs east of town back in 1973, spiders are harmless and fun to watch weaving webs that catch aforementioned mosquitos, and scorpions would drown in the puddles. Even the honeybees have never heard of a place called Africa. Of course you have to put up with freezing and sometimes sub zero F temps 5 months of the year and possible rain every day all year long. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
macbruce Posted July 1, 2012 Share Posted July 1, 2012 i think this is a funnel web its eating a lizard you can see the tail its at least 2in long my shop was not big enough for the 2 of us. This is a funnel web.......That one looks pretty formidable though, you could try my jug habitat thing but I think those spiders down there would need a carboy to live in and eat you out of house and home....... :ph34r: Did a little more digging and the one I posted was the super nasty Sydney funnel web which only lives in close proximity to Sydney. Yours may be the Victorian FW which is 'nice' by comparison.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Elemental Metal Creations Posted July 1, 2012 Share Posted July 1, 2012 RAIN? I dimly remember that, it was about a month ago we got about 1/2" Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThomasPowers Posted September 10, 2012 Share Posted September 10, 2012 Working on installing a door on my shop and I was horsing the heavy metal frame around to drill some holes to mount it. When I turned it over I found that on the backside was one of the largest black widows I have seen---the bulbous part of it's body was over a cm---close to 1/2 an inch. I have started tapping out my hearing protectors before putting them on... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
yves Posted September 10, 2012 Share Posted September 10, 2012 I have started tapping out my hearing protectors before putting them on... Mr Powers, that is not enough. You should move up here ... ok this is Canada ... try Vermont ... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThomasPowers Posted September 11, 2012 Share Posted September 11, 2012 No I figure living out here with poisonous spiders, scorpions and snakes is rather like "Australia---lite" and good practice in case I ever get to visit down there. Working in my unheated shop in my shirt sleeves in the dead of winter is *nice*! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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