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October 23, 2008
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I was just about to be the 100th person to e-mail this story to the blog I'm sure.
Another Australian wildlife update.
Posted by: Dad-O-Lot | October 23, 2008 at 09:54 AM
Holy sh!t!
Does he know, I wonder?
Posted by: Jeff Meyerson | October 23, 2008 at 09:55 AM
Yum! Tastes like flies!
Posted by: Meanie the Blue | October 23, 2008 at 09:58 AM
Them's good eatin'!
Posted by: padraig | October 23, 2008 at 10:04 AM
Welcome to Dave Barry's Happy Hallowe'en Gross-Out Blog. Bring your own barf bag.
*my chair is sitting in a puddle of heeby-jeebies*
Posted by: random thunking | October 23, 2008 at 10:04 AM
*urp*
Is there ANYTHING in Australia that's not an over achieving killer?
Posted by: fivver | October 23, 2008 at 10:11 AM
Yikes indeed!
This is not the sort of picture a practicing arachnophobe wants to see as she's eating her Cinnamon Toast Crunch.
Warnings next time, please!
*wonders if the pool of heeby-jeebies under her chair will stain the rug*
Posted by: kristie | October 23, 2008 at 10:25 AM
a fine specimen...
of photoshopping skills, at least.
Posted by: Meghan | October 23, 2008 at 10:33 AM
Suddenly, I have an urge to buy a couple cans of Raid.
Or a couple of 55-gallon drums of Raid, even.
Posted by: Wes S. | October 23, 2008 at 10:35 AM
This genus, but not this species, is common in Florida. I've never seen one eat a bird. Sometimes, I play with their minds by touching them (they are functionally blind) to see if I can fool them into thinking I am edible. Only once have I gotten one to lunge for me and she missed. The rest of the time, they ignored me or retreated.
I have only a limited supply of fear and I won't waste any being afraid of something that is harmless.
Posted by: Steve | October 23, 2008 at 10:43 AM
Steve's last words will be: "Hey, watch this!"
Posted by: Margaritaville | October 23, 2008 at 10:51 AM
*burp*
Posted by: Aragog | October 23, 2008 at 10:54 AM
Marg - you forgot, "hold my beer."
Posted by: Diva | October 23, 2008 at 10:55 AM
I think Steve's last words would be "Hold my beer while I..."
Keep in mind, Steve, that you are actually edible.
Posted by: Not My Usual Alias | October 23, 2008 at 10:59 AM
Reaction to a normal spider at my house:
Me: "EEEk...honey could you kill that spider please?"
Hubby: *rolls up newspaper and whacks the spider*
Reaction to this spider:
Me: "Holy Sh!t!!! Honey, we need to move, NOW!"
Hubby: "Get my gun"
Posted by: Dorakay | October 23, 2008 at 11:11 AM
*shudders at the thought of what kind of picture Dave will post next*
Posted by: Dorakay | October 23, 2008 at 11:20 AM
*Snork* at Aragog!
Posted by: Boris | October 23, 2008 at 11:44 AM
I will surely be having nightmares tonight. *shudders*
Posted by: Suzy Q | October 23, 2008 at 11:53 AM
Meanwhile, in Liverpool....
Posted by: Meanie the Blue | October 23, 2008 at 12:05 PM
And the spider thought. "Mmmm, this tastes like chicken"
Posted by: Mot the Hoople | October 23, 2008 at 12:10 PM
Hey, Steve....pull my finger.
Posted by: Miami Arachnid | October 23, 2008 at 12:11 PM
The great, big, honking spider climbed up the water spout.
Down came the bird to take the spider out.
Out came the fangs to stun the birdie's brain.
And the great, big, honking spider had bird for lunch again.
Posted by: Hammond Rye | October 23, 2008 at 12:21 PM
*Waves @ Hammie!*
Posted by: Miami Arachnid | October 23, 2008 at 12:25 PM
*Waves @ Annie!!!*
Posted by: Hammond Rye | October 23, 2008 at 12:35 PM
The Liverpool critter looks like something out of The Matrix.
Posted by: circuit7 | October 23, 2008 at 12:46 PM
Mrs. Layzee is terrified of spiders. One day, while she was sitting on the couch, I heard her screaming. A spider about the size of a quarter was crawling behind her. I valiantly beat it to death. Later, she told her mother about it and her response was, "I hope there's not a nest in your couch." It was months before she'd sit there again.
I'll make sure she doesn't blurk today.
Posted by: Layzeeboy | October 23, 2008 at 12:59 PM
*SNORK* @ Mrs. Layzee. Sounds like something I'd do!
Posted by: Diva | October 23, 2008 at 01:13 PM
PS
*WAVES @ Hammie!!!*
Posted by: Diva | October 23, 2008 at 01:14 PM
joel shakespeare continued "As my famous relative might say, 'Oh, what a tangled web we weave, when we practice on birds, but really want Steve.' "
Posted by: insomniac | October 23, 2008 at 01:20 PM
Even grosser, er, I mean more scientific pictures may be found here.
Posted by: padraig | October 23, 2008 at 01:23 PM
This is exactly why I do not live in Australia
Posted by: Cheryl Howard | October 23, 2008 at 01:26 PM
*Waves @ Diva!!!*
Posted by: Hammond Rye | October 23, 2008 at 01:38 PM
insom--
that was sir walter scott
Posted by: Danny | October 23, 2008 at 01:59 PM
Why oh why did I click on Pad's link?
Where's the brain bleach?
*puts giant bird-eating spiders on "cons" side of reasons to visit Australia*
Posted by: kristie | October 23, 2008 at 02:29 PM
And you wonder why Australians are drunk almost all of the time !
I'd party daily too, if I lived through half of the horrors they do.
*although SoCal DOES give them a run for their money*
Nah, now I'm just looking for excuses to party every day - never mind.
Posted by: Telecomdropout | October 23, 2008 at 02:57 PM
*hurries to whisk extraneous "of" from post*
Posted by: Telecomdropout | October 23, 2008 at 03:07 PM
NATURE UPDATE
Well, Nature must be stopped! Barack? John? Who's gonna put and end to this Nature nonsense? Hmmmmmmm!?!?!??!
Posted by: Cat R | October 23, 2008 at 04:26 PM
And which one of you is going to yank that extra "d" from my post? Hmmmm?
Posted by: Cat R | October 23, 2008 at 04:38 PM
First Mouse bites snake, then spider vs. snake, now this.
Posted by: oneblankspace | October 23, 2008 at 05:45 PM
I helped out a lady in Florida last month by plucking one of these spiders off her truck mirror. It had been holding on for dear life on the way to work. The spider crawled up and over the back of my hand (where the skin is tender and tasty). I let it go in a nearby bush. The spider was almost 3 inches long but she never even tried to bite me. There isn't a spider on earth that can eat a person and they don't bite if they don't have to.
Posted by: Steve | October 23, 2008 at 10:35 PM
Steve, maybe spiders can't eat a whole person, but don't tick them off. I had a nasty bite from one of these in August, and had the fang marks on my leg for a month to prove it!
(In Wolf Spidey's defense, I inadvertently kicked it under a table. Mean little bugger -- and fast, too!)
Posted by: Cat R | October 23, 2008 at 11:05 PM
Now them's good eatin'!
Posted by: circuit7 | October 24, 2008 at 10:49 AM