Biggest Bloody Spider I've Ever Seen!

[jbhermes]

OH MY GAWD!!

No really, you should see me sitting here reading all this. How can you take it? See? One of the reasons I actually CHOOSE to live in Minnesota--the winters kill off the bugs so we don't get anything that grows too big. I mean it, I'd have to sell my house if I saw anything with legs as big as my fist. It's not that I'm afraid I'll get bitten--and has nothing to do with whether they are or aren't poisonous. It's hard to explain. A coworker that I commiserate with and me have come to the conclusion that it's the legs and the motion when they move that gives us the heebie jeebies. I've never seen a real live cockroach, so I'm not sure about those. Have only seen them on tv. Course, come to think of it, I've never really seen a tarantula except on tv either, so there goes that theory. Not sure where my phobia comes from...have been too scared to seek therapy because somehow I think therapy would involve me being in the same room with a spider

 

[Chris]

jbhermes, Sorry that this freaked you out. We live in the country, in a farmhouse, on the side of a mountain - lots of trees, underbrush, growth, old fallen logs, piles of stones.

In your resort, you'll probably not even encounter an ant.

Stop reading this thread, take a deep breath, grab the sunscreen and come on down here.

 

[Hlywud]

bugs

They make lovely pets,
<img src="http://www.worldisround.com/photos/334/99.jpg">

 

[jbhermes]

Wud

On my computer, whatever graphic you have there didn't work! I'm thinking that's probably a good thing huh?

 

[m65swede]

I would slip a piece of paper or cardboard under the glass and toss it off the balcony

Jane J. Riiight! So you are innocently walking down the street when this 14 pound tarantula comes flying through the air and lands on the back of your neck. That should be very entertaining!

On a serious note, photos of tarantulas are available at Google>Images. They are found in many different colors. Or you can click on the link below to see a sample; this guy has stripes.

http://www.boingdragon.com/fcpix/images/tarantula.jpg

Swede

 

[jbhermes]

laughing

Oh my gosh, Swede, that made me laugh out loud. And in regards to your link, no thanks, I'll take your word for it. See??? I'm REALLY sick because I'm still reading this thread! What the heck is wrong with me? Don't answer that.

 

[Chris]

LOL, all of these irreponsible ways of getting rid of spiders make me giggle.

Back in Africa, where I hail from, we mostly all have guns. So, I used to shoot the big old baboon spiders just to see them go splat. I was much younger then.

 

[jbhermes]

what the heck

BABOON spiders??? What the heck are THOSE? Please don't post a picture, just a description will suffice.

 

[lhtown]

I've seen a few at a friends house on a farm very close to SD(amybe about six inches across or so). I have never seen a large one at my house here in the city. However, I did see one on the highway going to Barahona recently maybe a couple of hundred feet or more ahead of my pickup(I was driving at highway speed). It was the biggest I have seen and must have been about eight inches or more(counting the legs) although it was smaller than a squirrel.

 

[Chris]

Baboon Spiders live in holes in the ground. They spin a web over the top of the hole and sit there and wait for unsuspecting prey to come by - and drag the prey into the hole. They are rather large but not as hairy as this one that I found in the kitchen last night. I believe they bite but they're not poisonous at all. In reality they're absolutely harmless.

 

[Ken]

Re: OH MY GAWD!!

I've never seen a real live cockroach, so I'm not sure about those. Have only seen them on tv.

Stay out of restaurant kitchens and pantries in the DR as well as in Minnesota if you don't want to see cockroaches. They are plentiful wherever food is stored.

 

[Jan]

jbhermes: Funny.You know how you look at a crash when you pass and yet you don't want to see any blood. My friend was scared to death of spiders but she always wanted to see the movie Aracnaphobia and when we went camping she always won the "search for the biggest spider contest"!
I had a pink toed tarantula. As far as spiders go he was quite handsome. He did give me the heebie jeebies( love that word..haven't heard that for years) but he was just so amazing. I even saved his skeleton when he shedded.

 

[Hlywud]

jbhermes: You cannot see the picture of the spider. You settings for your browser must be out of wack
Anyone else who can't see it.

 

[Jane J.]

So you are innocently walking down the street when this 14 pound tarantula comes flying through the air and lands on the back of your neck.

Yeah, so?

Just kidding, swede, I was imagining my back balcony, actually, which was lush and full of lovely spider-befitting vegetation...oh, and perhaps the neighbour's children...:nervous: Ooops.

 

[Drake]

Cacatas

Cacacatas are found in most parts of the DR. They actually have quite a strong sting to them. They usually do not attack unless provoked. They certainly do not jump and are quite slow movers. To sting they need to flip over as their fangs are on their under side. There is no need to kill them. They control lots of vermin like cockroaches. Just pick them up with a piece of cardboard and take them a long way from the house.

If I see a centiped then I will not hesitate to finish them off.

 

[Jan]

Thanks to this post I kept thinking I saw spiders all night. Every funny shadow and I jumped!

 

[andy a]

It's amazing how paranoid Dominicans are about cacatas. Maybe it's because there are so few dangerous critters in the DR that they have to invent some.

In a house in the countryside several years ago, I saw a gigantic one (maybe as big as any I have seen in TV documentaries). It must have been more than 6 inches in diameter. I called a Dominican to come see it - then called again and again. Finally he approached cautiously, with a mop handle. I stopped him and scooped it up in my cap and released it outside. He insisted that it's bite would mean certain death, and no amount of reasoning could change his mind.

 

[Chris]

andy a: It's 'cause they look so scary. The locals over here also told us that the cacata is very dangerous. Thanks to this thread I now know better. I hope I don't have an encounter with a real spider any time soon

 

[beckyred11]

Hello All!

I haven't posted a question or reply since my move to teach in the DR, but this thread caught my attention and I thought that I would share my "hairy" story.

I was about a month into my new job as a PK4 teacher (that's pre-kinder four years old) in Juan Dolio when I encountered my first "cacata" (good to finally know what it is called). I was unrolling a carpet for my children to play on and there it was, true to life! I screamed bloody murder and whisked my 15 children out the door! How did I deal with it? I called the "guard" to come and get rid of it, and you know what? He killed it with a broom handle too! Must be a Dominican thing - my choice of weapon would be MUCH MUCH larger! And, to top it all off, my assistant (who's lived in the Dominican Republic all her life) passed out AFTER the thing was dead! Now, and for the rest of my time in the glorious DR, I roll the carpets out VERY cautiously!

 

[andy a]

When I scooped up the cacata in my cap to rescue it and relocate it, I almost used my bare hands, but chickened out.

Even as the Dominican was yelling at me that it's bite would mean instant death, I knew that no tarantula in the world is dangerously venomous. But I also suspected that the fangs would hurt, even as I doubted that it would bite me.

I've seen several cacatas in houses in the country, but I've never seen one act aggressively toward humans.

Apparently no Dominican has ever been bitten, since the word would then get out that it's bite is harmless (well, almost).