Random Thought Thread

Well, they do have some rather large spiders in Australia.

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But they’re not allowed to own “spider stabbers”!
 
Down here in S FL, we have these big ass wolf spiders that walk on water. This one was going for a leisurely swim in my pool this AM. Not venomous, but their bites hurt like hell, and they can jump high. That’s a mosquito in front and a small wasp behind, for size comparison. The wife can’t stand em, and once she sees one in the pool, she hollers for me to come quick and dispatch it with the ‘spider slicer’, a cheap small machete that I don’t care about repeatedly exposing to the corrosive chems in the pool water. She’s not happy until she sees 2 spider halves sinking down to the bottom.
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I like wolf spiders. They're made out of mosquito meat.

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Hand for scale
I’m all for mosquito control spiders, but these fuckers down here are aggro! I see the bigger ones eating lizards, small frogs, and even other spiders. Crossed paths with one in my house at night a few weeks ago. When we saw each other, she lifted her front arms, like ‘wassup then bitch’, and literally ran directly at me. When I stomped it, what looked like hundreds of little babies scattered in every direction. Neglected to mention that to the wife
 
Huntsman spiders aren't the ones to worry about in Australia. The Sydney Funnel Webs are the scary SOBs. Highly venomous, aggressive as hell, adult fangs long enough to pierce leather boots and even toenails... oh, and they can live underwater for a couple of days, breathing from a trapped air bubble.

One of my aunts in Oz, gave me a book of all the dangerous creatures of Oz. Hmmm... so everything on land and in the water can kill you? Got it. Brown snakes, Taipans, Funnel Web spiders, Box Jellyfish, Irukandji, blue-ringed octopus, sharks, kangaroos, cassowaries, salties.

Even the cute looking ones can be dangerous. The book had an account of someone who got too close to a wombat, trying to take a photo of it. While squatting to take the photo, the wombat charged and bit they guy, taking a chunk out of his inner thigh. His comment was, "I'm glad the bite wasn't a few inches over.".

Had a fun time there nonetheless. Just had to be cautious in the outdoors (and indoors in Sydney, eg. getting in the habit of tapping shoes out before putting your feet in them, which wasn't difficult, since anyone who's been camping a lot has learned to do that).
 
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