# Sicarius terrosus



## taliban27 (Feb 1, 2011)

bless


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## Deroplatys (Feb 1, 2011)

Stunning spider and photo's, i would zip up your flame suit if i were you though


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## forrestpengra (Feb 1, 2011)

Deroplatys said:


> Stunning spider and photo's, i would zip up your flame suit if i were you though


I second... beautiful spider... however not overly intelligent.


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## VinceG (Feb 1, 2011)

Awesome spider and picures!:clap:
Really impressive to see them burrow under the sand!


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## Fran (Feb 1, 2011)




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## Widowman10 (Feb 1, 2011)

Deroplatys said:


> i would zip up your flame suit if i were you though


HAHA i seriously starting laughing out loud when i read that 

OP, very nice pictures though. clear, some good action shots, etc.


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## Venom (Feb 1, 2011)

Deroplatys said:


> Stunning spider and photo's, i would zip up your flame suit if i were you though


ROFL! Well said.

Honestly...these handling pictures are pointless. Nobody needs to be told how calm and non-defensive these spiders are. That's not the point. The point is...despite how docile they may be...they're still HEINOUSLY TOXIC. You can't rely on them not biting, even if 9/10 times you're right.

Edit: Aside from the handling issue....your pictures are fantastic--publication quality! Thanks for sharing those.


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## TomM (Feb 1, 2011)

Venom said:


> Honestly...these handling pictures are pointless. Nobody needs to be told how calm and non-defensive these spiders are. That's not the point. The point is...despite how docile they may be...they're still HEINOUSLY TOXIC. You can't rely on them not biting, even if 9/10 times you're right.


Couldn't agree with you more. Great pics though.


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## jbm150 (Feb 2, 2011)

Wicked looking spider, it's looks just exude "danger"


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## GartenSpinnen (Feb 2, 2011)

As far as handling goes, to each their own. 

As far as photography goes... I feel like I learned a great deal about this animal just by looking at the pictures. Thank you for sharing


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## Fran (Feb 2, 2011)

To each its own, but the more  hospital visits for this sort of stupidity, the higer the chances for the gov  to close down the whole party and the only spider youll see will be in the books.

So yes, go ahead and handle hots.


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## xhexdx (Feb 2, 2011)

Fran said:


> To each its own, but the more  hospital visits for this sort of stupidity, the higer the chances for the gov  to close down the whole party and the only spider youll see will be in the books.
> 
> So yes, go ahead and handle hots.


His username is taliban and he's not even in the States to begin with, so who cares? 

In all seriousness though:



Venom said:


> Honestly...these handling pictures are pointless. Nobody needs to be told how calm and non-defensive these spiders are. That's not the point. The point is...despite how docile they may be...they're still HEINOUSLY TOXIC. You can't rely on them not biting, even if 9/10 times you're right.
> 
> Edit: Aside from the handling issue....your pictures are fantastic--publication quality! Thanks for sharing those.


That pretty much covers my thoughts.  Well said, Venom.


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## elvasco (Feb 2, 2011)

I smell a troll trying to get a rise. Last two pics, last one in particular looks brutally shooped.


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## Sebastian S. (Feb 3, 2011)

elvasco said:


> I smell a troll trying to get a rise. Last two pics, last one in particular looks brutally shooped.


; )

I can assure you that the pictures are real , see other photos taken by taliban.

Great photos talip ; )

Cheers,

Sebastian_S


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## taliban27 (Feb 4, 2011)

I shared those photos with you just to admire the beauty of that spider not to discuss about handing....

thank you for positive comments

greetings from Poland:}



Shawn6 said:


> ; )Great photos talip ; )


thanks, buddy


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## elvasco (Feb 4, 2011)

Shawn6 said:


> ; )
> 
> I can assure you that the pictures are real , see other photos taken by taliban.
> 
> ...


I stand by my original opinion; a good shoop but still a shoop.


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## Deroplatys (Feb 5, 2011)

I dont see the need to photoshop it, if your already handling it. All you have to do is hold your hand up towards the camera with your face behind it :/


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## smashtoad (Feb 5, 2011)

But as someone else said, this type of activity does nothing but endanger the hobby for everyone.  He is in another country, though, so....I don't know...it's just weird.


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## taliban27 (Feb 5, 2011)

elvasco said:


> I stand by my original opinion; a good shoop but still a shoop.


this is my photoshop : 


cheers;P


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## smashtoad (Feb 14, 2011)

elvasco said:


> I smell a troll trying to get a rise. Last two pics, last one in particular looks brutally shooped.


This is driving me nuts.

It looks "brutally shopped" because of something photographers call Depth of Field.  There is nothing in the last shot that looks edited at all.  The camera is focusing on something small in the foreground, which forces a very short depth of field.  If it was shopped, maybe he would have tried to get the skin of his arm and his face closer in color and tone?

In any event, the first photos are great shots of an amazing spider.  They showed us the beauty of the animal just fine.  Handling an animal like this is nothing more than a serious danger to our hobby.  Glad you're in Poland.


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## Michiel (Feb 14, 2011)

taliban27 said:


> this is my photoshop :
> 
> 
> cheers;P


Now I have seen your banner, you was stoned in those pics! I am sure....  LOL


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## jbm150 (Feb 14, 2011)

It doesn't look photoshopped at all, it looks like a damn good picture.  Not a damn good idea, but a good picture nonetheless.


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## Protectyaaaneck (Feb 14, 2011)

jbm150 said:


> It doesn't look photoshopped at all, it looks like a damn good picture.  Not a damn good idea, but a good picture nonetheless.


My thoughts exactly.


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## ZergFront (Feb 14, 2011)

Fran said:


> To each its own, but the more  hospital visits for this sort of stupidity, the higer the chances for the gov  to close down the whole party and the only spider youll see will be in the books.
> 
> So yes, go ahead and handle hots.


 Exactly. In an ideal world, people would research the subject and try to understand it and the fact that there are responsible owners out there before writing to their senator. However, do I need to say we don't live in an ideal world?

 A venomous snake owner dies from a bite and the media jumps on it. Tarantulas are banned already in some places and "food-chain mess up" doesn't make a lot of sense because of climate in certain places. I don't think a mortality from a Araneomorphae would convince USPS that spiders (tarantulas included) are OK to ship.



Mack&Cass said:


> Well, here in Canada I can give you a list of cities in which tarantulas are banned:
> Ottawa: (only 3 kinds of T's allowed)
> "13 Arachnida and Chilopoda
> (a) all venomous spiders including, but not limited to tarantula, black widow and solifugid, scorpion, save and except the exception of the following species of tarantula: Chilean Rose (Grammostola rosea), Mexican Red-Knee (Brachypelma smithi), Pink-Toed (Avicularia avicularia), and
> ...


Thread 

 Animal Control seized 11 tarantulas from a residence in Sioux City, Iowa as well. Florida and Hawaii do make sense to me because of the year-round warm climate but what tarantula species known survives in places with snowing winters? I know Araneomorphae exist in places of different seasons but what about tarantulas? It's a genuine question because I haven't found any yet. :8o:?

 Debate aside, the pics ARE great. In some spots of the spider I had a hard time picking out what was sand and what was spider.


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## zonbonzovi (Feb 15, 2011)

ZergFront said:


> Florida and Hawaii do make sense to me because of the year-round warm climate but what tarantula species known survives in places with snowing winters? I know Araneomorphae exist in places of different seasons but what about tarantulas? It's a genuine question because I haven't found any yet. :8o:?


I see what you're getting at but tarantulas do exist in absolutely wintry places.  Much of the high desert in the U.S. is snowbound or at least frost-ridden for part of the year...places where Aphonopelma thrive.  Grammostola rosea comes from an area that has downright nasty extremes in temperature.  Could any of the hardier tarantulas become established?  Hard to say.  I do have a rosea that was found in January in an abandoned S. Seattle a couple years back:?


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## Blackbeard (Feb 20, 2011)

smashtoad said:


> This is driving me nuts.
> 
> It looks "brutally shopped" because of something photographers call Depth of Field.  There is nothing in the last shot that looks edited at all.  The camera is focusing on something small in the foreground, which forces a very short depth of field.  If it was shopped, maybe he would have tried to get the skin of his arm and his face closer in color and tone?
> 
> In any event, the first photos are great shots of an amazing spider.  They showed us the beauty of the animal just fine.  Handling an animal like this is nothing more than a serious danger to our hobby.  Glad you're in Poland.


You have it spot on.
He probably used a DSLR camera with a macro lens which gives a very thin DoF at that distance and wide aperture.

I'm not going to judge because there are plenty of people doing that already.
Amazing photo's.


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## ZergFront (Feb 20, 2011)

zonbonzovi said:


> I see what you're getting at but tarantulas do exist in absolutely wintry places.  Much of the high desert in the U.S. is snowbound or at least frost-ridden for part of the year...places where Aphonopelma thrive.  Grammostola rosea comes from an area that has downright nasty extremes in temperature.  Could any of the hardier tarantulas become established?  Hard to say.  I do have a rosea that was found in January in an abandoned S. Seattle a couple years back:?



 Learn something new everyday. Can't see a lot of the more sought-after tarantulas thriving there, though.


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## elvasco (Feb 22, 2011)

zonbonzovi said:


> I see what you're getting at but tarantulas do exist in absolutely wintry places.  Much of the high desert in the U.S. is snowbound or at least frost-ridden for part of the year...places where Aphonopelma thrive.  Grammostola rosea comes from an area that has downright nasty extremes in temperature.  Could any of the hardier tarantulas become established?  Hard to say.  I do have a rosea that was found in January in an abandoned S. Seattle a couple years back:?


>Grammostola rosea comes from an area that has downright nasty extremes

>Grammostola rosea is from the aticama desert which is one of the mildest climates in the world. One city there, Arica, is called the city of eternal spring. The lowest recorded temperature there was i believe 39F. I don't know if I would call that downright nasty...


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## zonbonzovi (Feb 22, 2011)

^^^

You are correct...for some reason I was lumping the two together and added Atacama to the equation, prob. thinking of another region altogether.  Patagonia?


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## Moltar (Feb 22, 2011)

Here's a thought; Somebody collected that spider and probably a bunch more for just a few dollars. For every person posting pictures of their (WC) ultra-hots there is a string of people from collectors to importers to sales who have also interacted with this potentially deadly animal. I wonder how careful they are, especially those doing the collecting. Do they even know how dangerous this spider is? I wonder how many locals have been tagged collecting Sicarius, Phoenutria, Buthidae, etc? That's a statistic we'll never see.


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## Athelas (Feb 22, 2011)

If not photoshopped then maybe a serious contender for the Darwin awards?  

Amazing photos!  

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Interested in animal behavior? Visit The Birds and the Bees: Things you were
afraid to ask about the secret lives of animals.  http://bird-n-bee.blogspot.com
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------


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## taliban27 (Feb 23, 2011)

Athelas said:


> Amazing photos!


thx


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## Moltar (Feb 23, 2011)

So is she just coated head-to-toe with dust or is some of that natural coloration/camouflage?


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## What (Feb 23, 2011)

Moltar said:


> So is she just coated head-to-toe with dust or is some of that natural coloration/camouflage?


Yes.


			
				http://legacy.lclark.edu/org/spidylab/objects/Duncan_etal_2007.pdf said:
			
		

> The same may be true for Sicarius and Homalonychus, which both possess densely distributed setae (Chamberlin 1916; Roth 1984) with which
> fine particles associate (Levi & Levi 1969; Roth 1984; figure 1).





> The sand remains attached for a long time and transforms their body colour to match the background substrate, resulting in remarkable concealment in their native habitats (figure 1a).


(Chars)


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## P. Novak (Feb 24, 2011)

Great spider and great pics! If you don't mind me asking, what kind of camera are you using?


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## Michiel (Feb 24, 2011)

Excellent shots! :clap:

but one ugly <edit> spider......


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## Venom (Feb 24, 2011)

Moltar said:


> So is she just coated head-to-toe with dust or is some of that natural coloration/camouflage?


Their setae are designed to catch and retain dust/ sand particles.


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## Malhavoc's (Feb 24, 2011)

Venom said:


> Their setae are designed to catch and retain dust/ sand particles.


with this in mind, patiance, and timing, would it not be possible to use some of those florescent died sands, to create a rainbow specimen after a molt?


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## Venom (Feb 25, 2011)

Malhavoc's said:


> with this in mind, patiance, and timing, would it not be possible to use some of those florescent died sands, to create a rainbow specimen after a molt?


LOL!!! I would LOVE to see that, oh my goodness. That would be the coolest thing ever--a customized killer spider!! :clap::clap:

I want a smiley-face on mine. ;P


You could put a pre-molt specimen in a sandless ICU, and then apply the died sands before re-introduction to the enclosure. Lol, or maybe dye the spider hot pink or blaze orange, for safety's sake so it stands out in the substrate!


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## ZergFront (Feb 25, 2011)

Venom said:


> LOL!!! I would LOVE to see that, oh my goodness. That would be the coolest thing ever--a customized killer spider!! :clap::clap:
> 
> I want a smiley-face on mine. ;P
> 
> ...


 This whole post was just pure awesomeness. 

 I'd be dusting on a skull and cross bones on the abdomen. Hahaha!


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