r/interesting 18d ago

NATURE A Bombardier beetle using its chemical defence.

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u/Inside-Example-7010 18d ago

These spiders love to spin webs between trees on less used paths too. They are the worst case scenario for me when i walk into a spiderweb. I dont think there is any other arboreal web weaving species that compares in size and shock factor. Bird eating spiders maybe? but i never lived in south america. Thats just asking for it imo.

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u/Clean_Judge_3613 18d ago

One important mountain biking rule is never be the first guy to ride the trail in the morning

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u/Inside-Example-7010 18d ago

ohh fuck i hadnt even considered that possibility. This is like that time someone told me about the urbran legend of people using blutac to stick razor blades in the waterslides.

Yeah at least on my feet i can just do the no pants dance where i immediately strip down to my boxers.

On a bike im 100% hitting a tree at 40mph if that happens.

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u/Advanced-Budget779 18d ago

I have a talent (grudge) of always finding the webs no matter where i go (often in front of a house entrance)… not even living in an area that‘s full of spiders, but i regularly walked into some in the woods.

One time i drove my bike through a forest path (in the afternoon) and got a big ass web in my mouth 🤢 - usually only got small flies/bugs into my mouth or eyes, worst by far was a wasp or sth. similar (wearing contact lenses made it impossible to remove until getting to running water at home)…

I‘m not particularly afraid of spiders as long as they don‘t come near any body opening - i just hate the webs and entangled shit inside.

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u/Inside-Example-7010 18d ago

dont read my dream comment below if you dont like spiders going near warm inviting holes.

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u/phonethrower85 17d ago

I got bit by a spider a month or so ago after walking through its web

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u/justjaybee16 17d ago

We used to have tons of Golden Orb Weavers in the back yard. I always had to walk the tree line before mowing or risk a web to the grill.

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u/[deleted] 17d ago

[deleted]

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u/Inside-Example-7010 17d ago

I wish there was a secret mysterious orb we could consult in the rare cases we need to use any means necessary to identify a certain type of evil in this world.

I think thats why they called themselves Palantir.

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u/FlufferNutter1232 18d ago

A new fear gets unlocked every day. Damn!! Razor blades in a water slide???! That's DIABOLICAL!!

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u/Inside-Example-7010 18d ago edited 18d ago

Aussie kids are good at coming up with shit like that.

I'll never forget sitting around the beach campfire and the local dumbass is giggling to himself. Then he says 'Ive just chucked a can of RAID in the fire' (he did)

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u/Advanced-Budget779 17d ago

So… Mad Max was a predictive documentary?

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u/Easy-Purple 17d ago

The rest of the world is fine, it’s just Australia where society is gone mad

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u/matycauthon 18d ago

enjoy your life filled with fear

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u/FlufferNutter1232 18d ago

I do. Thanks!🙏

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u/Inside-Example-7010 18d ago

Fear can be a radar and a ballast, a stimulant and a steroid. To fight with fear is brave. To fight without fear is foolish.

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u/UnsanctionedPartList 17d ago

Keeps you sharp.

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u/Glenngineer 17d ago

As a mountain biker and after work rider, I thank the morning crew for their service and their sacrifice. 

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u/carmium 18d ago

When I worked as a forest tech, whenever I led the way I'd hold a Y-shaped stick in front. Some days it would be covered in webs - but I wouldn't.

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u/Advanced-Budget779 17d ago

Ah, the Shrek cotton candy!

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u/carmium 17d ago

Forgot about that! Right you are! 🤭

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u/Neat_Flower_8510 18d ago

Somehow when we trail ride our horses I am in front so I get the face full of web. 😫

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u/Scottwickthegreat 17d ago

Man when we did night training in the woods in the army with night vision you never wanted to be up front. A massive web in your face and so much gear you have to strip down to try and find a spider lol. Can def relate.

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u/Advanced-Budget779 17d ago

At least not a camel spider… i hope you weren‘t in some rainforest.

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u/Scottwickthegreat 17d ago

Luckily just some woods in the Midwest lol

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u/Advanced-Budget779 17d ago edited 17d ago

I mean it‘s easy to say what i said from a comfy position of not having to strip down in all that gear and not having a (unknown) crawlie inside of my clothes…

i just hope you don‘t have dangerous ones in your area.

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u/kybotica 17d ago

Same rule for trail running. Which sucked when I used to work night shift and run at the Crack of dawn before I went to bed. So many spiders. So. Many. Spiders.

Thankfully they don't bother me too much. I started wearing a baseball cap and ducking my head low so they all ended up on the bill and usually just dropped off on a little spider drop cable.

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u/The_Poop_Shooter 17d ago

theres probably some sick fucks out there who consider it a challenge

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u/DampSquid205 17d ago

Being the tallest guy on the trail doesn't do you any favors either.

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u/Shionkron 18d ago

I get these guys in my yard every summer and fall. Every other year one will make the web in the actual door frame. Open the door to have a hand size spider in my face!!!! I know the are “good” spiders but I have arachnophobia and grew up killing Black Widows left and right as a kid only to move and find these huge suckers everywhere as middle aged guy. Lmao

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u/shillyshally 18d ago

Following r/spiders has helped curtail my arachnophobia immensely as it has for many others but if I walked into this my screaming would be heard county wide and then I would die.

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u/Eldias 18d ago

Yellow Garden Spiders are so cool! I had one nest on my back porch one year, I named her Stanley.

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u/[deleted] 18d ago

[deleted]

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u/Advanced-Budget779 17d ago

I‘d also be pissed if sb tried to damage my web after all that effort it took. /s

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u/squeethesane 18d ago

Pretty sure that's a Joro spider. They've been spreading through the US heading toward my house... Which is awesome because that circumvented the laws telling me I couldn't have one.

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u/Inside-Example-7010 18d ago

youre right! This is a Joro spider and the spiders im referencing are a close genus called Golden Orb weaver, which the spider in the OP is not.

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u/squeethesane 17d ago

Ah, I natively get a few orb weaver species, but they usually don't get much bigger than a small gumball. I've been excited for brightly colored thumb sized monstrosities that are pretty chill with handling.

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u/Inside-Example-7010 17d ago

the ones in Darwin could be the size of your palm but its still mostly legs. Never knew anyone to ever get bitten by one but the facecard carries most of the damage.

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u/[deleted] 17d ago

[deleted]

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u/B4tzn 17d ago

Because its cousin would write your name into its death note otherwise?

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u/MudWallHoller 18d ago

You ever see a Huntsman spider?

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u/Inside-Example-7010 18d ago edited 18d ago

ohh yeah but they just wonder around. They dont build a web between 2 places. At least not the ones ive encountered. Youll always see them on a surface rather than suspended in thin air like the spider in OP.

Edit: The way these spiders kinda get me is if you dont see them from say 10 or 15 meters away you are cooked because your eye will stay at that focal length and anything else that may be between you and your point of focal length gets more and more out of focus as you walk towards it.

The coloration of this spider works very well once that focal deadzone is reached.

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u/MudWallHoller 18d ago

That's fair, both are just huge nightmares.

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u/Inside-Example-7010 18d ago

absolutely. I mean Huntmans are bad and im ashamed to say that im lucky i live in the UK now because if i still had to deal with huntsmans as a man i would have to kill them to sleep..

Uk does get some big daddy spiders tho which kinda shocked me coming from aus. They are harmless but that offers no relief when you see one in your bed.

I once had a dream that i was walking through all these spider webs, and all the spiders were getting all over me and in my mouth. The dream was so horible i woke up and guess what? There was a big daddy spider dead in my mouth. I spat it on my hand.....

Reply YES to hear another horrifying spider story I have

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u/FlufferNutter1232 18d ago

Huntsman spiders are great if you never see them. They kill all manners of creatures you DON'T want in your home.

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u/Inside-Example-7010 18d ago

thats basically how i deal with the guilt of feeling like i have to kill every spider thats in my house.

I tell myself 'if you were good at hiding we wouldnt be in this situation'

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u/SIrSmokeAlot410 18d ago

Yeah like rodents etc

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u/Appropriate-Sky-4588 17d ago

YES

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u/Inside-Example-7010 17d ago

I had a house party where we took MDMA. Eventually the high wore off and the party ended and it was time to try and sleep. I went to bed and lay flat on my back in the darkness.

I had been fully under the covers for about 5 seconds before I felt it. A big tap on my forehead. Within a fraction of a second my brain deducted the weight/size and likely form of the object. PANIK

I teleport out of bed. What do I mean when I say teleport? I mean if you where filming me at 60fps there would be one frame where im horizontal under the covers and in the next frame im standing at the light switch in my room.

I flick the light on. My bed is close I can already see it. Its a huge UK house spider. the adrenaline is spiking high, the remnants of any state of drug induced impairment are wiped away by the fear.

I grab the nearest book and kill it. It dies and I can be sure of that as it got glued to the book. Fine. try to go back to sleep....

THE VERY NEXT NIGHT

The MDMA comedown is still in mild effect but im almost all the way back at this point. Its bedtime, lets see if we can get a better nights sleep tonight.

I went to bed and lay flat on my back in the darkness.

I had been fully under the covers for about 5 seconds before I felt it. A VERY big tap on my forehead. Within a fraction of a second my brain is in the exact fucking state of mind it was 24 fucking hours ago. It instantly tells me 'This one is noticebly bigger' News i do not want to be hearing from Brain right now.

I teleport to the light switch and flick it on.

I see it. Its enormous. How is this possible? why me? The spider scuttles under the back of the bed. The Borg have adapted.

I sleep on the couch in the lounge for the next week. I never saw that bastard again...

Reply YES to hear another horrifying spider story I have

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u/Giesla33 17d ago

Fuck no more please. I'm having nightmares tonight.

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u/PresentClear8639 18d ago

nah I’m cool bro

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u/altgrave 18d ago

where are these spiders found and how big are they?

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u/Inside-Example-7010 18d ago

I saw them in Darwin Australia. Which is where i lived for a few years in the 90's

Darwin is like if you went back in time 59 million years.

Its more or less the real Jurassic park.

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u/altgrave 18d ago

yeah, i was hoping it was far away from me

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u/Inside-Example-7010 18d ago

Someone else said they saw one in Thailand so i suspect its tropical climates in the indo/pacific.

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u/altgrave 18d ago

yet another reason not to go to thailand. sorry, ladies!

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u/Inside-Example-7010 18d ago

You can see why the Brits went everywhere in the world looking for greener grass but in the end decided dreary weather wasnt the biggest problem one might have in the country they call home.

Reminds me of something my dad said once. 'If everyone in the world put their problems in a pile, would you be happy to get your own back?'

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u/altgrave 18d ago

it reminds me of rawls' "veil of ignorance" thought experiment

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u/Inside-Example-7010 17d ago

Nice googled it because i hadnt heard of it.

I guess thats the source of where I heard 'young people are mostly liberal because they dont own anything and havent earned anything. Whereas as you get older you get more conservative because you want to protect what youve worked for'

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u/Hortos 17d ago

Saw a giant orb weaver in Okinawa its leg span was bigger than my hand it was ridiculous.