On Oct 31, 9:27*am, Omelet > wrote:
> In article >,
>
>
>
>
>
> " > wrote:
> > On Thu, 30 Oct 2008 16:24:06 -0700 (PDT), merryb > wrote:
>
> > >Any of you see this? It's all over the news-I can't believe spiders
> > >could get that big. I bet they have a tough time finding stuff strong
> > >enough to build their webs from. Happy Halloween!
>
> > >http://news.ninemsn.com.au/article.aspx?id=655741
>
> > Reminds me of something that happened in Viet-Nam in 1969. We were taking a
> > break near
> > a cane hedgerow when somebody noticed a monster web ( about 12 feet across)
> > between
> > two segments of cane. The spider in the center was more than a foot across
> > the
> > outspread legs. We cut off a piece of cane and teased the spider into
> > dropping from
> > the web. Using the piece of cane to catch the strand the spider was dropping
> > from we
> > set it down in front of one of the guy's pet monkey. ( Thought it would scare
> > the
> > monkey.) It surprised the hell out of us by running up to the spider,
> > grabbing it by
> > bunching up the legs near the body and eating it. *SERIOUS Yukk.
>
> > Never did find out what kind of spider it was. But it looked sort of like
> > this one.
>
> We have some large native spiders here commonly referred to as "Banana
> spiders". *They are only maybe an inch or two long, but they spin some
> HUGE webs. *I've personally seen them anywhere from 1 to 2 meters in
> width.
>
> Many people (including myself) often feed them just for fun and
> encourage their presence in the garden as they are excellent predators:
>
> http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KEZg4HC4AXo
>
> Back when we used to do regular wildlife rescue volunteer work, I was
> called out to pick up an injured nighthawk. *Turns out the poor bird was
> simply exhausted and tangled in spider webbing! *I cleaned her off and
> let her rest for a day, then took her back out where she was found and
> set her free. :-)
>
> My heart soared into the air with her...
>
> http://birdweb.org/birdweb/bird_details.aspx?id=255
>
> Night hawks can be difficult due to their dietary requirements. They are
> purely insect eaters and eat on the wing scooping insects out of the air
> with a large gape, so they have to be force fed in rehab. I was relieved
> her case was so simple!
> --
> Peace! Om
>
> "Love and compassion are necessities, not luxuries. Without them humanity cannot survive." -- Dalai Lama- Hide quoted text -
>
> - Show quoted text -

We have Wolf Spiders- I've seen one that was probably 3 inches
across...ever see a camel spider? Uggggg.......