Spiders the size of rats are breeding and colonising the UK .. Title:

originally posted by: TNMockingbird
a reply to: VashTheStampede

The Congolese Giant Spider!

Maybe a sighting in the U.S.

I don't think it has been proven/unproven but....

Crypto news

There have been a few sightings although no one has proven to my knowledge...yet...

JBA FOFI

Yes that is what I was referring to,I've been thinking about maybe starting a kickstarter to find it and film it,but I fear it wouldn't get the funds.I would want to try to find it though just to satisfy my own curiosity.If it was doable I'd probably need 30k to cover all expenses,if it worked out I'd have anyone who pledged 1.5-3k have the option of coming on the trip. But sadly I don't think there is enough public interest to find the Congolese Giant,or they don't want to know that a spider that big exists.

originally posted by: VashTheStampede
That's huge,but in some parts of the world they have the bird eating spider which is 12 inch diameter on average,makes you wonder how big those ones can really get.It seems like maybe there might be something to the huge spider sightings in the Congo.(2 feet to 6 feet in diameter according to some of the sightings)I bet a spider that big could stay hidden for a very long time in a place like the Congo,it could stay in caves resting during the day and hunt only at night,either way I would like to find out if it exists,if it does it probably doesn't make any webs,but if it does those webs could make good fishing nets for the locals.(yes some spider webs are that strong)Now if I was looking for it and I would if the opportunity arose,I would want to have at least three other people with me and they should be armed with elephant/big game rifles just in case.(preferably .700 nitro express,.600 nitro express,.577 Tyrannosaur,or .416 Weatherby)

I won't discredit any huge spider story, after seeing that one!! At first, I wanted to think it was a tarantula, that being Florida, but it looked like a huge wolf spider. I have even looked up that bird eater one, and it's about right size-wise, but looks different. Maybe a hybrid? That's all we could think, but my then-son-in-law said things just get bigger in those swamps, and maybe they really do. I would never, EVER, want to hunt one!! That one, I'd have shot had I been armed.

originally posted by: TNMockingbird
a reply to: LadyGreenEyes

It HAD to be the size of his hand!

I've asked him again how big he thinks it was and he says it had to be the size of a saucer. 7 inches around or so....

I know it is hard to believe.
If you have ever seen a banana spider...? Wikipedia Golden Silk Orb Weaver
They are really quite lovely, actually...their name is derived from "fond of spinning"....their webs are "golden" in the sun...when it is rainy or windy outside, they actual;y take the time to redesign their webs so that they will survive the weather....

They would (in FL) build their webs between trees. They would get the size of your hand also...
Walking through the woods/swamps you would duck and dodge to avoid disturbing them and their webs...

quite startling to walk up on one...quite fun/fascinating if you like them!

This cape was made from the silk of an orb weaver!

I can well believe it!! The one on the table was that big. I have seen pics of the "banana spiders", and we even looked them up after seeing that one, and they are pretty cool, but nothing like this was. Startling.....he he he......I almost walked face-fist into a solid red spider once, in Texas. Maybe 1.5 inches, give or take, on a web between trees. Had to have been a red widow, though it was ALL red, no markings I noticed. Not a fun moment!!!

The ones I always liked are the golden garden spiders. They can get decent-sized, but really are quite pretty. One can forgive them being spiders, lol!

That cape is really something!!!

a reply to: LadyGreenEyes

This?

Could it have been this...

Spiders just really get me going...
So do elephants...
Now...

the discovery of an elephant spider!

a reply to: TNMockingbird

That's one wild-looking spider! No, though. This one looked like a really big wolf spider. Long body with the typical patterns, though I don't recall whether the markings were more like a male or a female. Most like this -

link

Size-wise, more like a monster tarantula, but it wasn't like any of those I have seen. Unless there is one very close in appearance....possible, I suppose, and all sorts of nasties are imported to Florida! Brown widows live there, which aren't native. Nasty things, those!!! Had one charge at my face when I headed into an attic area once. Told the hubby, "Kill it and I see parts, or we move!" I wasn't kidding. He did get it, too.

Saw one in Copenhagen. It was literally as big as my stretched out hand from the the base of the palm to the fully extended fingertips. My mom sees it and says eww real quick before she swats at it with a shoe. You could literally see the meat on its legs. Fed us for a week.

I have a very bad spider phobia. My heart races and I have to leave wherever I'm at if I see one. People try to make fun of me over it, but I don't care. I stand by how terrifying they are. Webs are disgusting and no one has ever enjoyed touching one ever, the way they reproduce is something out of a horror film, and they are like vampires. So ugly and unpredictable. It's unreal that people can actually touch these things.

To a spider, a human looks much more scary than it does to us bi-peds.