29 Aug 2008, 9:00pm
Nature:
by prieurdp


rain spider

Update –> Well last night it finally rained in Pretoria, after months of no rain. The Rain Spider lived up to its reputation of signalling the coming rains by wandering into homes. We found this one yesterday morning (first of the season) . It was quite docile and it was releatively easy to take outside compared to others. </update>

A photo of a Rain Spider that we caught in our house a while ago. It was probably the biggest spider I have ever seen, staying next to a nature reserve it is not uncommon to find some pretty big Baboon or Wolf Spiders around. This thing dwarfed them all.

Catching it and taking it outside was quite the ordeal;

  • They are really aggressive as can be seen in the photo. No trying to run away, these things come right at you.
  • They are really fast… it almost got to my hand a few times. I took it out in a 5l ice cream container but it tends to not sit still as other spiders usually do.
  • Have a look at the fangs…
  • It freaken jumps at you.

But luckily I eventually got it outside and safely released in a far corner of the garden, where it now feeds on neighbourhood cats. And who says spiders are not usefull? Damn noisy parrot eating cats.

See here for a bigger version of the above photo.

19 Nov 2008, 9:43pm
by Rosemary


Talk about rain spiders and one shows up! We used to a get a lot until my husband chopped down the climbers over the driveway to build a garage. The past year we have had the odd small one but nothing like we used to. Last night my daughter was telling me that her mothr-in-law who lives on the other side of town has been bugged by them, and would you believe when I sent to the car to take my mother home low and beholf the biggest one this season was above my bedroom window!!! When we got to my mothers retirement village - yet another on the wall in the gardens! They say there is a time or a season for all things - keep a look out and dont get complacent - I think its the matng season!!!

Rain Spider mating season. Not a pleasant thought at all :/

Will keep my guard up and my ice cream container close by. Perhaps a broom as well - don’t want my hands close to one of these things again!

But I must say, for all the terror they instill in us poor humans, they are beautiful spiders. It is pity that most people always just try to kill them.

Oh dude… am SO glad I live in the UK where we have no poisonous spiders/snakes/scorpions etc… if that thing came into my house it would royally freak me out!

Hehe, Rain Spiders are quite scary but mostly harmless. They just put up a good show to scare South Africans and Scots alike.

6 Jan 2010, 8:50am
by Marius


I found one but don’t know if they are poisonous

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