OT: photos of interest - not specifically about moto

[ckcarr]

I'm fairly sensitive to bees and wasps, so I wasn't too keen on provoking the guy. True they aren't severely poisonous like a black widow but some people have allergic reactions to the bite which can affect breathing. Plus I just read that you can get a strong itching reaction from the hairs too as they secrete some chemical. I hear they can jump pretty far when they put their mind to it also. Being about 30 miles from anyone changes your perspective on toying with it too much though. The surprise is when your sitting on a rock and the thing lumbers by. I followed it for a while, then it found it's hole and disappeared into the ground.

I did find this, which I'm always attracted to. Not a great picture, it was bad light and getting dark, but I love the little hand prints.

[chewie]

Spiders

This reminds me of a scary night I had once. I rolled onto my back in bed and felt a large warm thing land on my torso - I grabbed it with my left hand. Still semi asleep it felt like it was a hairless rat but really quite heavy. I threw it in the air and started to wake up. It landed on my torso again and I grabbed at it and kinda started screaming and threw it hard away from me - it landed on me again and by this time I was wide awake and really getting a bit worried. I tried again and again to throw it off me and each time it landed back on me just as quick, until I scrambled out of bed and into the kitchen, yelling and cursing as I ran.

Breathing heavily my heart pumping - My Mrs said "What's wrong!" I said "There's a bloody Rat or something in the bed"..."What?"..."There's a rat in the bed I toldya!"

...then I felt something else - my right hand had pins and needles and after a while the pins and needles subsided, then I realised what had transpired.

I must have been asleep on my stomach laying on my right arm and as I rolled over the dead hand and arm landed on my torso...

Maybe this should have been in the ran out of talent thread

PS
You can keep those big things Craig - they give me the heebee jeebies and as you can see I got enough concerns as it is.

[OwenM]

We don’t have Tarantulas down under but we do have Huntsman spiders that look similar. The body is flatter but they can grow as big as an open hand. They are fast moving and like to get into homes and cars where they are most unwelcome. There is something very unnerving about a large hairy spider running up the inside of the windscreen and over your head while driving. They get into the car by hiding in the door opening and run inside when the door is opened. Their other favourite spot is at the bottom of the windscreen where the wipers hide. When the motor gets hot they walk up the screen in front of you just to say Gday. Their ability to cling onto glass and polished paintwork is staggering, its almost impossible to blow them off. A friend of mine had one on the outside of his door mirror in the air stream and though, ok mate, lets see how good you are. He accelerated to 130mph before the spiders legs gave out and parted company with his body.
They are not dangerous but I’m not very tolerant of the little buggers. The way I figure it, they have plenty of yard to play in and feeding options so if I find one in the house or car he is dead meat. Its happy spider season here now and I’ve seen a couple of half grow one already, one in the house and one attempting to get into the car.



Redbacks are small and normally stay in the little webs they build for them selves. They are very poisonous but you would have to be very unlucky to be bitten by one, I don’t know anyone that has been. They tend to like dark places like sheds and under houses



Funnel Web spiders are more of a risk, they are much bigger then Redbacks, dangerously venomous, very aggressive and mobile in the breading season. Luck they are not common and tend to stay out of houses and cars.

[signit98]

Originally Posted by GotRoad?

This is not true. All spiders are poisonous ,& while a particular venom's content is species dependent (e.g. the Rose Tarantula; Grammostola rosea contains hanatoxin and the Black Widow spider, Latrodectus sp. contains alpha-latrotoxin) they all contains a mixture of kinases, phosphatases & peptidases which cause tissue destruction. Some spider bites, however, are more noticeable than others.

Ok, let me re=phrase that... they all use a fluid to pre-digest their food, that's just how they eat... but they do not have the amount of nerve toxin they inject to kill their food, Tarantulas do that predominately with their fangs.

Point is, even if you get bitten, it'll hurt because of the size of the bite, not because you have been injected with a nerve toxin... unless you are alergic, of course... in that case you are faced with a problem either way.

Better?

[chewie]

They're all horrible except for Daddy Longlegs - but I couldn't bring myself to kill something large like a Huntsman - I just try to get them on the end of a broom and flick them off outside somewhere, they're harmless...enough.

Can we get back to pics of other things, I'm getting twitchy in this little dark computer room, I'm pretty sure I just heard some scurrying sound across the wall behind me!

[RBMann]

More photos in the garden over the weekend. And some visitors.

RB









Too bad they don't eat maple leaves.

[wswartzwel]

Very nice.

[Steve Carlton]

Another Good Guys car show today. Some snaps...

[shreddr]

That bicycle was cool! it had a for sale sign on it do you happen to know how much he wanted?

[Steve Carlton]

No. I should have checked!

[SeabeckS]

Looks like that T-Bird has a fuel cell in the trunk...what was under the hood?

Bill J

[Steve Carlton]

Dunno. Should have checked! Probably a big motor. It was tubbed and had quad exhaust.

[ckcarr]

I always liked the old Boss 302, the Shelby wasn't bad either. Not sure about the new body style though (kind of like the R1100 and R1200 debate).

[SeabeckS]

Just wondered about the Bird, as I recall the engine compartment of the 55-57 models wasn't all that commodius and wouldn't have much room for a BIG motor, perhaps the go-fast look is all show? Though I suppose a turbo'd 351 might fit...whatever, always did like those early Birds....

Also +1 on the original Boss 302 vs the new version...I was more of a Z-28 in those old days, but always liked the Boss a lot too...

Bill J

[ckcarr]

The approach to a ruin. The metate is a bonus... The left side is steeper than it looks.

[Steve Carlton]

Testing out the DP1 Bill was asking about. Not user-friendly, but the image quality is nifty...

[shreddr]

the babe at Peets was smokin!

[Tirebiter]

So, what ya think of the detail you get with the DP1 Steve?

Brock

[wswartzwel]

Do you normally shoot "aperture priority"?

Who is the new Girlfriend??? Kinda rude, getting out of the vehicle... peeing on the passenger side of the Jeep, before walking around and taking her photo... Must not be first date...

[lennie]

Peets Coffee and Tea used to be one of my IT customers when I lived in San Francisco. Cool to see the board.