Crazy big spider!!! Tarantula???

I can't imagine living someplace where tarantulas run around wild.

I went on a bicycle trip across Kansas a few years ago and on the morning after our second night of camping out, my buddy's teenage son called me over to his tent and asked me to bring my camera.

He gently shook out a duffle bag that was INSIDE his tent that night, and out dropped a big ol' Oklahoma Brown. Ackkk! It was the first tarantula I'd ever seen outside of a pet store. I acted like I was interested in it when in reality, I wanted to scream like a girl and drop a small boulder on it, then light it on fire, etc., etc..

I made darn sure my tent was zipped up completely each night after that.

Slightly arachniphobic,
desmobob
 
A boot would be my prescription.

The bigger the spider, the bigger the squish. :D

My apologies to lovers of big, hairy spiders.
 
LOL, when I was a kid I was out playing in the fields and came in for lunch. My Grandma looks at me and asks, "Who's your friend?" I ask her what she is talking about and she points at my chest. I look down and there is a huge spider on my chest. It was all orange and black and HUGE!!! I about pissed myself trying to get it off. Fortunately, I wasn't traumatized to badly and don't mind spiders if I know they are there.
 
Tarantulas are actually pretty mellow and not dangerous. I used to have one as a pet. A big female mexican red leg. I could pick it up and let it crawl all over me without incident. I did do a pencil test first to see how cranky she was, I'm only semi-stupid. Anyway, even if you get bit, I hear it's similar to a wasp sting. Now black widows and brown recluse spiders get the chop as far as I'm concerned.

Gordon
 
California native. Aphonopelm spp. Theraphosidae (Tarantula)
Harmless. you should really give them a break. There nearsighted, Can only see large objects about 6 feet small objects much closer. Not much of a sense of smell either. In the fall the males start wandering around looking for the females. They literally have to bump in to one to know they just got lucky.
 
LOL, you guys are hilarious!

I've always heard there were wild tarantulas at some of the places I've hiked and always hoped to see one, while my wife warned that if we did, it would be her last hike. I would never have imagined finding this guy/girl outside our door.

Just to avoid confusion, it was found outside! If they don't bother me, I try not to bother them. If it was a widow or recluse on the other hand...

My new pet tarantula is now named Hairy Bryant. And he/she now lives in the vineyard.

P.S. Thanks for the information and stories guys, they are much appreciated!
 
A friend of mine used to live up on Mt. Palomar in San Diego County. The field outside his place was filled with tarantulas. He would take a cooler and practically fill it with spiders, so he could sell them to the pet shops. They are mostly harmless but they sure don't look it.
 
A baby acromantula. Gotta be. It's gonna eat you.

I had a neighbor call me at 2am one day, up in the middle of the night being sick with her pregnancy. Her husband was away on business.

There was a tarantula in her kitchen. On a new five-gallon bottle of spring water. It was having a drink, through the side of the jug -- right through the side of it, just jabbed in and started sipping away. She refused to drink any of the water after we got rid of her midnight visitor, and threw out the bottle.

She still freaks out about it, 3 years later. :D

Freaky deaky thing. Right through the side of that bottle! I still ... there were freaking HOLES!!
 
stingray4540 said:
LOL, you guys are hilarious!

I would never have imagined finding this guy/girl outside our door.

QUOTE]

I think if I remember right that is a boy. There looks to be spurs on the 3rd leg segment on the front legs. Apparently they use the spurs to lock onto the female's fangs during mating. I think that the males only get the spurs during their final molt so that big boy is months from death most likely. Someone said that they come out more when they are looking for a mate so it would make sense then. I used to have one as a pet in my younger years too. I did get bitten by it once because I was holding it trying to get it to move around for my friends and it got me good. I've heard it's supposed to feel like a bee sting but for me it was just a pricking feeling and then a little bit of swelling. It didn't sting like a bee though. Maybe I was just lucky that round.
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One summer my buddy and I took on a job for a friend of my moms fetching her floating warf from way out in the lake where she had her camp.
After a long swim we were winded and decided to rest before hauling up the anchor and towing it back in.kickin back in the warm summer sun was sweet till we HEARD this thing come crawling up over the side of the warf.it was the size of the palm of a full grown man's palm.That''s freeking huge for around here.Neither one of us remember the swim back or the girly climb up the bank but the laughs we got from my mom's friend when she told us they were all over the place.At first we were unwilling to go back out but the prospect of not getting paid and the constant chorus of goading convinced us to go.we returned clubs in hand and faced down our nemisis.I won't go into details but the warf ws safely tied to the shore by the end of the day.
 
I'm sorry but it's beautiful! (in a scary/cool way) Spiders do so much good (not counting the harm widows and recluses do).
very nice shots bro ;) and kudos to you for putting it somewhere better!

see now you know why you don't have mice! (and small pets!) :D
their was a thread a little while ago about a "better mouse trap" I think you found it! :thumbup:
 
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I like to keep spiders around (excepting recluses, and I've only seen one widow in my life). We have a couple of wolf spiders in the house, a couple banana spiders inside and a couple outside including a neat variation being the golden orb spinner. Where I live there's so many damn bugs, it doesn't matter how much you spray or how clean you home, you have bugs. With the spiders around I haven't seen a bug inside for months. I'd rather have a couple of webs around than a bunch of bugs (the upside to wolf spiders being that they run down their prey and don't spin webs).
 
That is a male Tarantula. I don't know the species. Some male spiders tend to be very hyperactive. Do not confuse that with aggression. Nice pix. Spiders=Good!
 
Nice pics, glad you just did a catch and release. We have them in our yard but I've only seen two.

We were talking to one of the Zion NP rangers and he asked if we'd seen the Tarantula migration. We hadn't. He said they were all over the place in an area we call Cave Valley. He took out his camera and showed us pictures with one on his leg and another in his hand. He said he's saved many by scooting them off the road. We noted the dates and will be checking it out next year.

Win

Took this before I scooped him up for a release back behind our yard:

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That is a Tarantula. I think it is a Texas Brown. Judging by the small abdomen I would think it is a male. I have had many Tarantulas as pets over the years and that spider is a beautiful one.
 
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