I live in a remote rural region north of the town of Azua, on the Dominican Southwest. For some quirk of nature this place is oozing with tarantulas (cacatas), very large spiders usually the size of an adult open human male hand. Those found in the wild are left alone, however, those that enter our home encounter a tragic fate. Actually, I despise terminating them (last night three beautiful cacatas met their Creator). The local cacatas look like miniature hairy monkeys. I would like to start catching them, for anyone who would venture having them as pets. I just read that there are used as mascots in the US. Any cacata lovers in the DR?
- Thread starter jrmirador@alumni.iu.edu
- Start date
Tarantulas (cacatas)
As far as I know the worst can only give at best a bee like sting, why kill them if harmless, like chip said they protect the home. Mind I hate the thought of standing on one in the dark on my way to the toilet. Best way to keep them out the way is leave aight on in the night, I only ever encounter nasty thingswhen I switch likes on in the middle of the night.
Why not get one of those hotel dustpans on a long stick that can close, and return them to nature?
Or better yet, a couple of cats?
We have two cats and haven't hardly seen a cockroach, spider or snake in the house since...except when the cats bring their trophy in for praise...
Or better yet, a couple of cats?
We have two cats and haven't hardly seen a cockroach, spider or snake in the house since...except when the cats bring their trophy in for praise...
They can be big..... I felt one crawling on my leg one night and swiped it off towards the wall.
It made a 'splat' noise when it hit the wall..... it was a whopper.
SnakeEyes is right.... the cat keeps all insectos away.
It made a 'splat' noise when it hit the wall..... it was a whopper.
SnakeEyes is right.... the cat keeps all insectos away.
I don't mind them as long as they are not suddenly sitting on the wall in the house and staring at me. But we are lucky, have pretty sized lizard in house now who lives behind one of the paintings and since he arrived, no spiders anymore in the house yeaaaahh!!
I catched a cacata almost a year ago, here in Bavaro. I keep it in a terrarium and feed it mainly little lizards. I call it Renata. It has already shed its skin five times, each time it comes out bigger. It was blueish at the begginning, now more of a reddish hue. It is voracious, will eat anything you give it. It even attacks water when I am pouring it in the tray. Very interesting to watch, but I'm getting ready to free it again soon, as I've already studied it enough.
Dominican Spiders, from YouTube ....
"Dominican Republic, a guy with lots of spiders on his body. Amazing. That was on La vega's Carnival (February 2006)"
<iframe width="480" height="390" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/VB5Z3YJqMys?rel=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>
"Dominican Republic, a guy with lots of spiders on his body. Amazing. That was on La vega's Carnival (February 2006)"
<iframe width="480" height="390" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/VB5Z3YJqMys?rel=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>
for turistas doing safari trips there is a photo opportunity with cacatas. i love to touch them, so cute! sadly, they do not have a very happy life, i think.
I'll be keeping this little tidbit of info to myself. My travel companions don't need to know EVERYTHING, right?
If they are not threatened, they do not rear up and flash their fangs..they do no like to be cornered.
I am not sure that their brains are capable of understanding being a pet but they do appreciate diets of bugs, like cockroaches...as I have posted before, a friend of ours used to pay local kids a few cents per cockroach and then let them watch the cacata devour them....
Be nice to Nature..
HB
I am not sure that their brains are capable of understanding being a pet but they do appreciate diets of bugs, like cockroaches...as I have posted before, a friend of ours used to pay local kids a few cents per cockroach and then let them watch the cacata devour them....
Be nice to Nature..
HB
What hypocrisy...so it's OK for the Cockroach to die a painful death, but not the Cacata? It's like this lady the other day was talking about how she saw that movie The Cove and how those poor poor dolphins were killed and then next sentence was how much she loves Tuna...Save the Dolphins, kill the tuna!!!
What an odd comparison you make here between the killing of those Dolphins and eating Tuna.
i assumed they had their fangs or whatnot taken out but maybe they are just very full
in any case, sweet little things. i would not dare to touch a wild cacata, i saw one once only, right outside our house in costambar, on the street, we stopped the car, went out, marvelled at its beauty and let it cross the street before getting back in a car. i took some photos, from very close, miesposo would not even bend over
he is scared. a pet cacata, i can touch. if the owners do it so can i. cacatas are very cute, sometimes they would run up to hide in my hair, that makes people shriek
but i do not mind, cacatas are very soft and gentle.and no, no touching cucarachas. whenever i see one inside a house i go to fetch one of the cats. i don't even want to get as close as to step on them. gross little buggers.
but... i have seen them sold as pets, in poland. argentinian cucarachas, supposedly. the same nasty huge bastards you get in DR. 10 dollars or so, if i recall...
but... i have seen them sold as pets, in poland. argentinian cucarachas, supposedly. the same nasty huge bastards you get in DR. 10 dollars or so, if i recall...