(no subject)

[crumpetsfortaenia]

holyschist inspired me to go out and take some macro shots this afternoon.

So, here's a wolf spider for you all.

Comments

[foxfirefey]

Oh my gosh this is amazing

AMAZING

I love it!

[crumpetsfortaenia]

Thank you!

[0jack]

OMG. THE LITTLE FACE. I want to kiss it. I love wolf spiders!

[crumpetsfortaenia]

I KNOW. They are excellent.

[0jack]

I love all the fluffy spiders. We had a little black and white hopping one that lived on the windowsill/jade plant for ages. I could put a droplet of water out on the sill and it would come and drink and it would stalk mosquitos and POUNCE them. Which was the best. It was like having the world's smallest cat.

[holyschist]

Jumping spiders are so much like tiny eight-legged cats it's ridiculous.

[0jack]

If I could, I would have them as full-time pets. I would breed a tiny spider army of poinging cuteness. I adore them. I've considered tarantulas but I tend to have bad skin reactions to things and I understand that the hairs of tarantulas are very irritating. I don't want to have to give away something I love. :(

[holyschist]

New World tarantulas have urticating hairs, and if you have sensitive skin, I'd probably pass, even if you don't handle them at all. Arthropods in general are very easy to develop contact allergies to.

Old World tarantulas do not have urticating hairs, but they are strictly look-don't-touch pets, and tend to be significantly more venomous (won't kill you unless you're allergic, but can make you very sick. And they don't have that first line of defense, so tend to be more tetchy).

[0jack]

It's sad that I'll be 4EVER ALONE about spiders, they really are lovely. I'm allergic to some of the smaller ones. I get bit once in a while because they end up in the bed or under the desk and I piss them off or something. I used to get bit working at camp, too. The bites are pretty distinctive. I don't have anaphylaxis but I get hot goose egg swellings that then swell up again if I get bit by another spider any time in the next few months. It's surreal.

Maybe I'll put four extra legs on my dog. Yeah. :)

[holyschist]

I think that is a pretty big strike against Old World tarantulas. :-(

[foxfirefey]

You could buy wolf spiders for pets!

http://www.arachnoboards.com/ab/showthread.php?229045-FLORIDA-WOLF-SPIDERS-%285-Photos%29

Or maybe other spiders that are not tarantulas?

http://www.kenthebugguy.com/pet-spiders-for-sale.html

I had a wolf spider I caught as a pet once and it was awesome. You can buy flightless fruit flies at PetCo to feed them!

[holyschist]

If she reacts that badly to bites from small spiders with mild venom, I'd probably avoid spider pets in general. :-( That kind of sensitivity doesn't improve on exposure, and even without deliberate handling there's always the possibility.

[rydra_wong]

EEEEEE tiny!spider!cat.

I once had a very large house spider that lived in my bathroom. I regularly removed it from the bath so that I could have a bath, and one day it sat on the soapdish and carefully cleaned its legs while I washed. It was so big and so close that I could see all its mouth parts in detail; it was wonderful.

[loligo]

What a fantastic picture!

[crumpetsfortaenia]

Thank you!

[holyschist]

Awwww! I shall happily take the blame for this awesomeness! Was this more reverse macro?

(Although you might want to consider cutting for the arachnophobic, because WOAH SPIDER, idk.)

[crumpetsfortaenia]

Yes. You were talking about it, and I was all "I have not actually taken pictures of wild animals with this setup." So I did.

Hm. Point. BUT IT'S A FUZZY SPIDER.

[holyschist]

I know! But I thought no one would find dragonflies disconcerting, and apparently even people who like them don't always want SURPRISE DRAGONFLY. (And one of my friends apparently has a visceral reaction to small rodenty animals.) So IDK, up to you--I cut all my photos now, just to be safe.

BUT IT IS A VERY CUTE FUZZY SPIDER.

[sid]

Oh, the cut was the way to go. You're all saying CUTE FUZZY LITTLE, but there's no such thing as a cute or little spider for some of us.

They're all GINORMOUS and EVOL! LOL

So I was glad to see a cut this time through my reading page. :-)

[crumpetsfortaenia]

Well, I am glad it helped you! I just tend not to think of things like that, because I think all the animals are cute.

Except ticks. Those must die.

[grackle]

So pretty! They look so soft, I always want to pet them but they're too tiny.

If you like spider photos you might check out http://adorablespiders.tumblr.com. It's one of my favorite things ever.

[crumpetsfortaenia]

Thank you for letting me know about this!

[grackle]

You're welcome. :D I wish spiders were more popular because I'm always wanting to reblog from that tumblr and I can't without upsetting people.

[grackle]

Another cool spider thing, if you haven't seen it: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9GgAbyYDFeg Peacock spider mating dance!

[lark_ascends]

Freaky yet cute.

[crumpetsfortaenia]

Fair enough. :)

[mythstothebank]

How can it be so darn cute?! Thanks for sharing! I want to show this picture to people who think spiders are creepy- it's so adorable.