Australian spider killing a snake

[Squalus]

For non-Brits here. here's a series of slides of the British house spider (Tegenaria domestica);

http://www.arkive.org/house-spider/t...FUsMtAodOyv8_g

These are surprisingly scary for a lot of people, out of all proportion to their size and partly because of their speed of movement. I've even heard someone on the radio say that although he breeds *tarantulas, he gets nervous of the house spiders he encounters at home.

* The word "mygale" is a synonym for "tarantula", and it's probably the more correct term too.

[Squalus]

Originally Posted by Jake Featherston

I'm pretty sure that's just a regular tarantula. We had them in large numbers in the county (San Benito) just southeast of the one where I lived, back in Northern California.

No, it is a Goliath bird eater Jake. I've looked it up on Wiki and the Latin names correspond;

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Goliath_bird_eating_spider

Have to admit I find that video disturbing now. It looks like it was taken by the owner of one of these spiders who set the thing up to film what would happen; instead of feeding the spider a dead mouse which had been killed humanely, I'm guessing he released a mouse near the spider's lair. Feels almost if not actually sadistic to me in fact.

[Ignatz]

Do spiders take dead prey? I think it has to be live and kicking or they don't indentify it as food.

[Squalus]

Originally Posted by FelixTheCat

Do spiders take dead prey? I think it has to be live and kicking or they don't indentify it as food.

Close, Felix, but not quite;

What do they eat?

Insects, mainly. Spiders digest their food externally. They will generally only eat live food, although some will accept dead prey and some big spiders will apparently eat small pieces of raw meat. After catching and killing their prey, tarantulas inject it with powerful digestive enzymes that liquefy the insect's contents. When the insides have been sufficiently liquefied, the tarantula sucks the insect dry and throws away the empty husk.

http://www.jonwallis.btinternet.co.u...a.general.html

[Squalus]

I wouldn't recommend viewing this if you're at all afraid of spiders (I'm still shivering after doing so);


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vjtdwcseT1Q 

[Charlie Robespierre]

Originally Posted by Squalus

I wouldn't recommend viewing this if you're at all afraid of spiders (I'm still shivering after doing so);


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vjtdwcseT1Q 

Yeah, it's amazing what you can find on the...web.

[Gregz]

While they make webs. You should never kill house spiders as they help to keep other insects at bay.