# How fast can a tarantula be?



## hennibbale (Sep 4, 2016)

I always hear about some Ts being lightning speed, but as I've never seen one doing that I can't really picture it in my head.
So, my question is:
_Is there a video that shows how fast a T can run?_

Reactions: Like 2


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## DragonizedGlory (Sep 4, 2016)

Well there aren't many interesting videos and I haven't seen one about people making T's run on purpose by provoking them. But here's a YouTube video or two.


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## Matabuey (Sep 4, 2016)

I'd never say they're lightening fast, to be honest.

They're reasonably quick. There are faster animals around. If T's are lightening fast, then how would you describe faster animals? 

They can look quicker over very short distances, like this video:

https://instagram.com/p/BIh2mn3AnEO/

Even if a tarantula could do 20 inches in one second, that's only 1.1mph lol.


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## basin79 (Sep 4, 2016)

How fast can a tarantula be? 

Surprisingly.

Reactions: Agree 1 | Love 1


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## antinous (Sep 4, 2016)

Too damn fast if you ask me haha. I've had a _Nhandu chromatus _pull a stunt like this:

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## Poec54 (Sep 4, 2016)

How fast?  Faster than you can react.

Reactions: Like 2 | Agree 14


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## Haksilence (Sep 4, 2016)

Matabuey said:


> I'd never say they're lightening fast, to be honest.
> 
> They're reasonably quick. There are faster animals around. If T's are lightening fast, then how would you describe faster animals?
> 
> ...



Gotta look at scale mph not raw mph

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## WhitenerJ (Sep 4, 2016)

Faster than even a camera can capture. My P. Metallica was in one spot one moment and clear across its enclosure the next millisecond. They can literally teleport in the blink of an eye. It's amazing and teaches you respect for caring for them.

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## Matabuey (Sep 4, 2016)

Haksilence said:


> Gotta look at scale mph not raw mph


No you don't.

In Physics (I'm a theoretical physicist by the way), speed of electrons are still measured in mph/kmh, just like any speed is measured from a certain point. The size of the object isn't a consideration when calculating ones velocity.

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## magicmed (Sep 4, 2016)

Well, as a reference, avics are said to be one of the slowest arboreals. 

Multiple times during feeding I have dropped a cricket into an avics tank, looked away for literally 4 or 5 seconds, look back and the Avic has the cricket, but the spider is in the same location that it was when I looked before...now that's speed, having caught cricket and returned to its web that fast.

Just my experience, and like I said avics are considered slow arboreals

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## Trenor (Sep 4, 2016)

It depends on what your asking. Are they fast at striking or fast over distances? These are two different questions IMO.

I do have quite a few tarantulas that are considered fast and here is my take on tarantula speed.

An ambush predator is going to strike quickly. If they did't we would know about them cause they would have died out. No matter if it's a tarantula or a snake they are quick when ambushing. I think this is where the 'teleportation' idea comes from. I don't think they teleport any more than I think my ball python teleports. They both do strike quickly though.

Over distances I really don't feel they are any faster then some of the lizards (green anole) we have here. I've not had one yet that I couldn't easily head off using a catch cup with little more effort than when catching a lizard for my nephews. The above OBT got away not because it was overly fast but because the idiot filming the video had tongs in one hand, a camera the other, and no catch cup. 

There are some species that are considered really fast (such as Taps) that I don't own so I can't speak for them.

Reactions: Agree 1


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## basin79 (Sep 4, 2016)

T's catch you out or more accurately surprise you. You either see then completely still or very slowly moving around or not at all. Then when you do see them whilst feeding etc they show you what they're capable of. 

In a Street race you'd beat one. 

In trying to close the door or put the lid on a tub you may not. They can run along the sides of their enclosures faster than you think. Watch a surprised pokie for example. A pita patter on the glass and a blur.


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## Trenor (Sep 4, 2016)

basin79 said:


> T's catch you out or more accurately surprise you. You either see then completely still or very slowly moving around or not at all. Then when you do see them whilst feeding etc they show you what they're capable of.


They can startle you with quick bursts of speed. Like most ambush predators they are motionless a lot of the time (which can fool you into thinking they are normally slow) and then can strike very quickly.



basin79 said:


> In trying to close the door or put the lid on a tub you may not. They can run along the sides of their enclosures faster than you think. Watch a surprised pokie for example. A pita patter on the glass and a blur.


I have a number of pokies and they can be quick. On occasion they have come out of the enclosure and I've easily rounded them up with the catch cup. That's why I work with all my Ts in a nice open area. It gives me time to react when they make a break for it. 

I feel like it's the confined enclosure that makes people think they teleport. A tarantula making a few laps around a 32 oz deli cup sounds impressive until you take that distance and lay it out on the floor. Then it's not as far as you thought and there are a lot of animals that can easily cover the same distance when it's adjusted for size.

They can be quick and you should always work with them expecting that. I have several catch cups on my work station with in easy reach at all times.

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## basin79 (Sep 4, 2016)

Trenor said:


> They can startle you with quick bursts of speed. Like most ambush predators they are motionless a lot of the time (which can fool you into thinking they are normally slow) and then can strike very quickly.
> 
> 
> I have a number of pokies and they can be quick. On occasion they have come out of the enclosure and I've easily rounded them up with the catch cup. That's why I work with all my Ts in a nice open area. It gives me time to react when they make a break for it.
> ...


Yep, don't panic is the answer. An empty cricket tub is all you need to catch a T should it escape. 

My juvi/semi adult P. Subfusca is a fast little sod. I thought the worst when she was out of her cork bark tube on the floor of her enclosure under the leaves of a plant. Touched her with a feather and boom. Face hugger running around. 

My little Ctenus red fang seems faster still. But she's in a smaller tub. She does teleport though.

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## REEFSPIDER (Sep 4, 2016)

well to answer your question OP some T's are pretty quick in short bursts but there are quicker animals out there. For example my first herp was a golden gecko (gekko badenii) from Vietnam. Possibly the fasted animal I've ever owned. We are talking as fast as a t goes around a deli cup, going around a 12x20 room. And all the while it was capable of propelling itself like a missile from wall to wall should running not be effective enough in evading my capture. This gecko also liked to bite, so it was a learning experience and it taught me to respect it, just like you should always respect the ability of a T.

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## BobBarley (Sep 4, 2016)

WhitenerJ said:


> They can literally teleport


How does that work?


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## Haksilence (Sep 4, 2016)

Matabuey said:


> No you don't.
> 
> In Physics (I'm a theoretical physicist by the way), speed of electrons are still measured in mph/kmh, just like any speed is measured from a certain pnt. The size of the object isn't a consideration when calculating ones velocity.[/QUOTe





Matabuey said:


> No you don't.
> 
> In Physics (I'm a theoretical physicist by the way), speed of electrons are still measured in mph/kmh, just like any speed is measured from a certain point. The size of the object isn't a consideration when calculating ones velocity.


I'm perfectly aware (I'm a mechanical engineering and physics major), but that's kinda irrelevant here. When we are talking about speed we are talking about how fast they can travel from point a to point b in relation to their body size. When viewed in this model they are incredibly fast animals. To look at it from a literal standpoint is deceptive since any human could react to a object moving 1.1mph but a tarantulas ability to traverse distance in relation to its size is what makes them formidable

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## hennibbale (Sep 4, 2016)

Phormic28 said:


> Too damn fast if you ask me haha. I've had a _Nhandu chromatus _pull a stunt like this:
> 
> 
> The owner didn't do the smartest thing.
> ...

Reactions: Agree 1


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## mistertim (Sep 4, 2016)

Like @Poec54 said, they're faster than you can react which is why I never try to "catch" one of my fasties if it makes a run for it. I just stay calm and still and keep an eye on them until they stop. They go in bursts until they find somewhere to hide or they feel that they have gotten away from the danger. Trying to catch them while they're still running is more likely to end up in a bite or an injured tarantula. Anyway, here's a vid of a P. cambridgei showing its speed (as well as an idiot keeper...notice the spider was doing just fine and dandy until this ass decided he needed to impress his friends).

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## Louise Nolan (Sep 4, 2016)

From my experience with p.regalis there extremely fast I only got it today and I already had to rehouse it so I opened its container up and I nearly cried because I th out I trapped it's legs that's how much I like it but they will bolt it trust me

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## Matabuey (Sep 4, 2016)

Haksilence said:


> I'm perfectly aware (I'm a mechanical engineering and physics major), but that's kinda irrelevant here. When we are talking about speed we are talking about how fast they can travel from point a to point b in relation to their body size. When viewed in this model they are incredibly fast animals. To look at it from a literal standpoint is deceptive since any human could react to a object moving 1.1mph but a tarantulas ability to traverse distance in relation to its size is what makes them formidable


A tarantula will cover a distance 4 times relative to it's body length, slower relatively than a cheetah that covering 4 times it's body length.

There is no scale mph in the sense you're trying to convey.

Scale mph only works when you're talking about T1 of x meters dls, and an *identical* model of that tarantula T2 which is 1/6 x meters dls*.* There is a scaling factor in place for T2, it will cover the same relative distance (a smaller distance due to the scaling factor) as T1 - but the overall velocity stays the same.

Scale mph, is used for models of the same object in question, whereby one is a scaled up or down version of the other.

It is not to compare one animals speed relatively to another, two intrinsically different things. Mph is the only measurement applicable here.

Let's say for arguments sake, a Tarantula of 6 inches, can cover 30 inches in one second (0.762 meters). That would give it's average mph to be 1.61mph. Let's take that and ignore the initial acceleration for ease of computation. In order for said T to cover 4x it's body length, 24 inches, it would take 0.83 seconds.

Now let's take a Cheetah, it has an average speed of around 70 mph, and a body length on average of 1.3 meters. So lets take a distance of 4x the body length of the Cheetah - 5.2 meters. It would take the Cheetah 0.16 seconds to cover that same relative distance.

But again, the velocity is exactly the same as before, they haven't suddenly become faster because you're looking at a shorter distance, rather than 1 mile.

Yes they are fast in a short distance. However compared with other animals covering distances that are relatively the same, they are not lighting fast. IMO lightning fast should be reserved for the absolute fastest of animals.

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## shining (Sep 4, 2016)

Matabuey said:


> I'd never say they're lightening fast, to be honest.
> 
> They're reasonably quick. There are faster animals around. If T's are lightening fast, then how would you describe faster animals?
> 
> ...



By saying something is equivalent to something faster than lightning. Lol

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## shining (Sep 4, 2016)

Matabuey said:


> A tarantula will cover a distance 4 times relative to it's body length, slower relatively than a cheetah that covering 4 times it's body length.
> 
> There is no scale mph in the sense you're trying to convey.
> 
> ...


Where did you get that T mph from? Make it up or has it been recorded like the cheetahs?

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## magicmed (Sep 4, 2016)

Oh yeah well i can divide by zero

What's up now?

*breaks math*

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## Matabuey (Sep 4, 2016)

shining said:


> By saying something is equivalent to something faster than lightning. Lol


Haha, yeah but the whole fast as lightning is usually what people use for the fastest things around.



shining said:


> Where did you get that T mph from? Make it up or has it been recorded like the cheetahs?


I made it up. But it's considerably faster than the fastest spiders recorded which are at around 1 mph. So I'm actually overestimating their speed, by quite some mile (0.52mph).

When my S.calceatum is a bit larger, I shall try and use our labs at the University to measure their speed and document it (If the professors let me...).

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## Trenor (Sep 4, 2016)

magicmed said:


> Oh yeah well i can divide by zero


No, you really can't.

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## magicmed (Sep 4, 2016)

Trenor said:


> No, you really can't.


But the magical elf told me I could...

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## shining (Sep 4, 2016)

Matabuey said:


> Haha, yeah but the whole fast as lightning is usually what people use for the fastest things around.
> 
> 
> 
> ...


It is true, Ts don't hold a candle to true spiders in terms of speed, webs and venom toxicity.


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## mistertim (Sep 4, 2016)

shining said:


> It is true, Ts don't hold a candle to true spiders in terms of speed, webs and venom toxicity.


Well, you also have to take size into account as far as the effects of venom on a human. Being so large for spiders, tarantulas have the ability to inject much more venom than a tiny true spider. I'd rather be tagged by most true spiders than by a full grown P. ornata for example. Latrodectus vs P. ornata would be a tough one...at least there's antivenom for Latrodectus.

Though if you're talking just about the potency of the venom itself, then yeah Latrodectus, Loxosceles, etc. have super potent venom but have tiny fangs.

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## shining (Sep 4, 2016)

mistertim said:


> Well, you also have to take size into account as far as the effects of venom on a human. Being so large for spiders, tarantulas have the ability to inject much more venom than a tiny true spider. I'd rather be tagged by most true spiders than by a full grown P. ornata for example. Latrodectus vs P. ornata would be a tough one...at least there's antivenom for Latrodectus.
> 
> Though if you're talking just about the potency of the venom itself, then yeah Latrodectus, Loxosceles, etc. have super potent venom but have tiny fangs.


Phoneutria, enough said.

Reactions: Agree 2


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## mistertim (Sep 4, 2016)

shining said:


> Phoneutria, enough said.


Yeah, no way you'd ever catch me keeping one of those. Same with Sicarius, but at least Sicarius aren't very defensive and will just run and bury themselves. Phoneutria will go after your ass.

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## viper69 (Sep 5, 2016)

hennibbale said:


> Is there a video that shows how fast a T can run?


Yes.



Matabuey said:


> I shall try and use our labs at the University to measure their speed and document it (If the professors let me...).


It sounds then that you aren't a theoretical physicist as you originally wrote, but a student, correct?

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## Matabuey (Sep 5, 2016)

viper69 said:


> Yes.
> 
> 
> 
> It sounds then that you aren't a theoretical physicist as you originally wrote, but a student, correct?


I have a degree in Theoretical Physics. And currently doing a PhD in Theoretical High Energy Physics.

You could've easily pm'd to ask, rather than trying to score some brownie points.

If you'd really like, I could even get one of my professors to send you a specialised E-mail, to commend your admirable detective work.

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## viper69 (Sep 5, 2016)

Matabuey said:


> I have a degree in Theoretical Physics. And currently doing a PhD in Theoretical High Energy Physics.
> 
> You could've easily pm'd to ask, rather than trying to score some brownie points.
> 
> If you'd really like, I can get my professors to write you a personalised E-mail too. Note, I'd always call them my professors until I am a professor, as they're above someone holding a doctorate.


Thanks for the information!

Relax, it was a simple factual question, no different than asking what's your favorite type of pizza. I asked because I like to know who has what body of knowledge. For example, when I have engineering questions I typically ask @bryverine , but now when I have a physics oriented question, I'll ask you. When I have a vet med question, I ask a forum member as well, as she has a DVM.

And even if you were a student w/out a degree, you would likely know more than me in that area, and thus I would ask you questions if needed.

I'm not sure what the brownie points is in reference to.

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## Chris LXXIX (Sep 5, 2016)

Matabuey said:


> I have a degree in Theoretical Physics. And currently doing a PhD in Theoretical High Energy Physics.
> 
> You could've easily pm'd to ask, rather than trying to score some brownie points.
> 
> If you'd really like, I could even get one of my professors to send you a specialised E-mail, to commend your admirable detective work.


Wow, we have the new Ettore Majorana here. My compliments

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## bryverine (Sep 5, 2016)

Matabuey said:


> I have a degree in Theoretical Physics. And currently doing a PhD in Theoretical High Energy Physics.


We taking plasma or that them there quantum physics stuff?

I think the problem you're going to find is that the fastest Ts don't always move in a straight line.

I think the best way to avoid/circumvent this is to utilize a clear tube and spook one down it. Some simple optical beam breaks would reduce video analysis time and since lasers are cool, I think this is a fun way to make measurements! 

I tried analyzing a video awhile back, but I gave up...

Also, I think the real interest should be acceleration, not velocity.

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## EulersK (Sep 5, 2016)

My two cents... I'm no physicist, but I am a mathematician. Working on my MS in industrial engineering, undergrad in mathematics.

@Matabuey has it down on numbers. His statements are based in numbers, which are hard to deny. But there's an element beyond numbers here - the human psyche. We're fighting against natural instinct here. There is an ingrown fear of spiders in general, regardless of experience level. Compare that with the speed and unpredictable movement (as @bryverine brought up) that these creatures exhibit, and we have a perceptually fast animal. It's a combination of speed, short distances, and psychology.

They're _fast_. Whether they look like it on paper or not.

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## louise f (Sep 6, 2016)

There is plenty of vids with fast tarantulas, but IMO the fastest must me the Tapinauchenius. And as @Poec54 said, they are faster than you can react.

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## louise f (Sep 6, 2016)

mistertim said:


> Phoneutria will go after your ass.


Yeah and if you`re unlucky as a human male if you are bitten, it will leave you with a erection, as I`ve heard  Viagra go home

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## Chris LXXIX (Sep 6, 2016)

EulersK said:


> My two cents... I'm no physicist, but I am a mathematician.


I had a slightly guess when I saw your 'mathematics' T-Shirt :-s

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## mistertim (Sep 6, 2016)

EulersK said:


> My two cents... I'm no physicist, but I am a mathematician. Working on my MS in industrial engineering, undergrad in mathematics.
> 
> @Matabuey has it down on numbers. His statements are based in numbers, which are hard to deny. But there's an element beyond numbers here - the human psyche. We're fighting against natural instinct here. There is an ingrown fear of spiders in general, regardless of experience level. Compare that with the speed and unpredictable movement (as @bryverine brought up) that these creatures exhibit, and we have a perceptually fast animal. It's a combination of speed, short distances, and psychology.
> 
> They're _fast_. Whether they look like it on paper or not.


Its also more than just speed...its acceleration. Tarantulas go from zero to top speed in almost no time at all. Sometimes I think my Psalmos or Poec actually quantum tunnel. Tarantulas have different probability waves than other animals.


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## Trenor (Sep 6, 2016)

mistertim said:


> Its also more than just speed...its acceleration. Tarantulas go from zero to top speed in almost no time at all. Sometimes I think my Psalmos or Poec actually quantum tunnel. Tarantulas have different probability waves than other animals.


Come one man. Lets get real here. They are ambush predators not quantum particles. Yes, they can strike quickly, that's what ambush predators do. They ambush (jump quickly) at things to get food. But lets not get crazy with wild claims.

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## Chris LXXIX (Sep 6, 2016)

Anyway a lot of people keeping both T's & Cats are concerned about venom, this is understandable but IMO Cats are by far badass predators, no matter the speed of T's.

See how much this OW is owned v 








In a "Cat VS T" fight, eight legged are those that seriously risks. Cats are lovely cold blooded Ninja.

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## Louise Nolan (Sep 6, 2016)

Chris LXXIX said:


> Anyway a lot of people keeping both T's & Cats are concerned about venom, this is understandable but IMO Cats are by far badass predators, no matter the speed of T's.
> 
> See how much this OW is owned v
> 
> ...


That's one fast t


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## mistertim (Sep 6, 2016)

Trenor said:


> Come one man. Lets get real here. They are ambush predators not quantum particles. Yes, they can strike quickly, that's what ambush predators do. They ambush (jump quickly) at things to get food. But lets not get crazy with wild claims.

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## Jeff23 (Sep 6, 2016)

Haksilence said:


> I'm perfectly aware (I'm a mechanical engineering and physics major), but that's kinda irrelevant here. When we are talking about speed we are talking about how fast they can travel from point a to point b in relation to their body size. When viewed in this model they are incredibly fast animals. To look at it from a literal standpoint is deceptive since any human could react to a object moving 1.1mph but a tarantulas ability to traverse distance in relation to its size is what makes them formidable


I agree with both of you (as another engineer in the mix).  Essentially it is the acceleration that comes into play.  Considering that the strike distance for a T attacking prey is only a short distance the comparison for the T versus other animals might be its acceleration from zero speed to its speed at the target which is probably a much more competitive number with some other high level competition.  It would be interesting to compare this number.

Reactions: Agree 1


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## Trenor (Sep 6, 2016)

mistertim said:


>


This is exactly what I think every time I read a post where someone is talking about tarantulas teleporting/quantum tunneling/ninja log substitution (fill in any over the top term for movement you want here). Maybe your joking... maybe not. I thought it was a joke the first time I saw someone posting about their tarantula teleporting only to find out they were serious. Regardless, I just don't get the crazy fast hype. I mean, my ball python can strike just as fast and over a longer distance. He has never been accused of teleporting or breaking the laws of physics. 

In reality, you just have a quick tarantula in a small box and people seem shocked when it shows some speed. If you took the tarantula out of the small box and watched it move in the open you'd see there are lots of things that are as quick if not faster.

Again, be aware of the speed but lets not get crazy.

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## shining (Sep 6, 2016)

Chris LXXIX said:


> Anyway a lot of people keeping both T's & Cats are concerned about venom, this is understandable but IMO Cats are by far badass predators, no matter the speed of T's.
> 
> See how much this OW is owned v
> 
> ...


Not to mention this crazy fact, our lovely domesticated felines have a max sprint speed of 45 mph. I need to familiarize myself with their reaction time studies again. Amazing animals.

Reactions: Agree 1


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## Jeff23 (Sep 6, 2016)

Trenor said:


> This is exactly what I think every time I read a post where someone is talking about tarantulas teleporting/quantum tunneling/ninja log substitution (fill in any over the top term for movement you want here). Maybe your joking... maybe not. I thought it was a joke the first time I saw someone posting about their tarantula teleporting only to find out they were serious. Regardless, I just don't get the crazy fast hype. I mean, my ball python can strike just as fast and over a longer distance. He has never been accused of teleporting or breaking the laws of physics.
> 
> In reality, you just have a quick tarantula in a small box and people seem shocked when it shows some speed. If you took the tarantula out of the small box and watched it move in the open you'd see there are lots of things that are as quick if not faster.
> 
> Again, be aware of the speed but lets not get crazy.


While I agree with you over the longer distances I would bet that a T competes decently with other fast animals over a 6 inch distance.  In fact I bet it out accelerates a Cheetah over this distance though I can't find any site that provides accelerations over this short of a distance.

Mantis shrimps throw the fastest punch of any animal. They strike with the force of a rifle bullet and can shatter aquarium glass (per some Google site).


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## mistertim (Sep 6, 2016)

Trenor said:


> This is exactly what I think every time I read a post where someone is talking about tarantulas teleporting/quantum tunneling/ninja log substitution (fill in any over the top term for movement you want here). Maybe your joking... maybe not. I thought it was a joke the first time I saw someone posting about their tarantula teleporting only to find out they were serious. Regardless, I just don't get the crazy fast hype. I mean, my ball python can strike just as fast and over a longer distance. He has never been accused of teleporting or breaking the laws of physics.
> 
> In reality, you just have a quick tarantula in a small box and people seem shocked when it shows some speed. If you took the tarantula out of the small box and watched it move in the open you'd see there are lots of things that are as quick if not faster.
> 
> Again, be aware of the speed but lets not get crazy.


Um, of course I was joking. I'm fairly certain that tarantulas do not violate the laws of physics or employ macro level quantum tunneling.

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## lunarae (Sep 6, 2016)

How's this, since there's debate over what 'turn of phrase' is acceptable now. T's can be to fast for you to react to. To fast for your eyes to track depending on the T in question and how terrified it is. Never underestimate the speed of a T compared to what you are capable of reacting to.


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## Matabuey (Sep 6, 2016)

bryverine said:


> We taking plasma or that them there quantum physics stuff?
> 
> I think the problem you're going to find is that the fastest Ts don't always move in a straight line.
> 
> ...


I do work with Lattice Quantum Chromodynamics, but in all honesty it's not something i particularly enjoy. So potentially looking to change to a PhD in Astrophysics/Cosmology so i can study more interesting things (in my opinion) such as black holes.

It's actually quite easy to analyse a video if you know the length of something.




__ https://www.facebook.com/video.php?v=1089617674439405



For example this video. It is a 30 frame per second video, thus each frame is 0.033333.. seconds. If you break the video down it takes around 0.53 (16 frames) seconds for the T to get from one end to the other.

That 1 litre bottle is 30 cm tall. You need to account for the hypotenuse towards the top, as this would give an increased displacement travelled , simply drawing up a quick rough model, would give total displaced to be 31cm.

Which would equate to 1.3 mph, and an acceleration of 1.1 (1dp) m/s^2 over the 0.53 seconds. However, from analysing other videos i would propose that constant velocity is achieved as quickly as 0.2 seconds, simply by looking at the distance displaced in each frame of a video. Therefore we recalculating the acceleration over 0.2 seconds, and obtain the figure 2.9 m/s^2 (1dp)

Which is reasonably quick, but to put it into perspective _Crotalus atrox _can accelerate it's head towards prey at 28G = 275 m/s^2. They will not even be the fastest striking snakes either, i can put money on the fact _Bitis_ _arietans_ or _Bothrops asper_ would be even faster.

Or comparing it to a Cheetah which accelerates at around 9 m/s^2.

We can also look at body lengths/sec as that's usually what people use for comparing animals of different size, for this T it would cover around 58 cm (22.8 inch) in 1 second, assuming the T is 6 inches - it would cover 3.8 body lengths. Now for the Cheetah, whose average body length is 1.3 metres, it covers 26 m/s, covering 20 body lengths.

Fun little test: http://www.humanbenchmark.com/tests/reactiontime

I averaged 251ms, as a 25 year old. Would be interesting to see other peoples average time, with your age (be honest, not a competition). However that is under perfect conditions, where you're kind of pre-loading a motor sequence into the brain, due to expectation of the green dot appearing.

There are lots of things that would significantly slow down your ability to react promptly in real life, such as age, fatigue, distractions, etc.

Let's put this into distances just for fun 

If you were sitting there knowing this T was going to come out and try to bite, sat there completely alert, and ready to move your hand the instant your brain picks up on the visual stimuli. Let's say you have average reaction times, which is 0.25, in that time this T could cover 14.5 cm. If you were any closer than that you'd be getting tagged.

If you were cleaning out some bolus and you are pretty sure the T is just hiding away and isn't too bothered by your presence, but a bite would be unexpected you'd react around 1.15 seconds (Taken from analysis of how long it takes drivers to react to unexpected visual stimuli on the road ahead, which is 1.05 seconds + 0.1 seconds to initiate an action response) - If you aren't tired, or distracted, as they'd further increase your response times. In that time this T could cover 67cm...

I am aware this is Psalmopoeus emeraldus and not an OW sp. But in my experience from having kept P.irminia, I'm pretty sure it was faster than some of the OW's i have. I would doubt, species such as T.gigas or S.calceatum are more than 10-20% faster than a Psalm. But will shall see, i will try and catch some higher framed footage of my T.gigas and S.calceatum to try and ascertain their speed to a better degree of accuracy in the near future.

I personally wouldn't call them lightening fast, but that's my opinion.

But yes, they're faster than you can react depending on your distance away.

Reactions: Like 3 | Agree 1


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## Trenor (Sep 6, 2016)

Jeff23 said:


> In fact I bet it out accelerates a Cheetah over this distance though I can't find any site that provides accelerations over this short of a distance.


I'd need to see some proof to show this was true before I'm willing to even entertain this. We often get wild with speculation and that's how we get telelporting Ts.



mistertim said:


> Um, of course I was joking. I'm fairly certain that tarantulas do not violate the laws of physics or employ macro level quantum tunneling.


Fair enough. If you want to see how crazy some people can get with their claims check out this link.

Can they move faster then you can react? Sure, that's why you should keep your fingers where they belong and work with them expecting this.

Reactions: Funny 1


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## DeanK (Sep 6, 2016)

Matabuey said:


> Fun little test: http://www.humanbenchmark.com/tests/reactiontime
> 
> I averaged 251ms, as a 25 year old. Would be interesting to see other peoples average time, with your age (be honest, not a competition). However that is under perfect conditions, where you're kind of pre-loading a motor sequence into the brain, due to expectation of the green dot appearing.


Averaged 425ms as a 31 year old

Reactions: Like 1


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## Matabuey (Sep 6, 2016)

Trenor said:


> Fair enough. If you want to see how crazy some people can get with their claims check out this link.
> 
> Can they move faster then you can react? Sure, that's why you should keep your fingers where they belong and work with them expecting this.


That post genuinely made me laugh out loud, the figures are hilarious haha.

Reactions: Agree 1


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## Trenor (Sep 6, 2016)

Matabuey said:


> I averaged 251ms, as a 25 year old. Would be interesting to see other peoples average time, with your age (be honest, not a competition). However that is under perfect conditions, where you're kind of pre-loading a motor sequence into the brain, due to expectation of the green dot appearing.





DeanK said:


> Averaged 425ms as a 31 year old


This would be cool to do on a thread in the watering hole.


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## Nicklikesbugs (Sep 6, 2016)

hennibbale said:


> I always hear about some Ts being lightning speed, but as I've never seen one doing that I can't really picture it in my head.
> So, my question is:
> _Is there a video that shows how fast a T can run?_


My ont ran off on me the other night and i still havnt found. Talk about speed it was gone before i could blink


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## basin79 (Sep 6, 2016)

The "problem" with tarantula speed is the unknown. Going for the water dish, taking out left over food. You're not expecting a bite. It would be very unlikely but a T could sense the disturbance and go full yolo. 

I don't like to use the word complacency but I'm sure we're all guilty of it with our T's if you've had them long enough. And it's that that will get you bit. 

Off topic but I used to own a couple of 50: dwarf reticulated pythons. Both sound as a pound. That was until Bia my 13ft beauty bit me. And she bit me again a few months later. 

Basically if you're careful and treat a T like a wandering spider you really shouldn't have any problems.


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## Jeff23 (Sep 6, 2016)

Trenor said:


> I'd need to see some proof to show this was true before I'm willing to even entertain this. We often get wild with speculation and that's how we get telelporting Ts.





Matabuey said:


> Or comparing it to a Cheetah which accelerates at around 9 m/s^2.


It would be different if we are just comparing over a very short distance where we are looking a reaction speed rather than a sprint.  I think that acceleration value for the cheetah is probably an average or maximum value.  The initial acceleration will not be linear since Frictional / Gravitational forces also come into play.  The tarantula has eight legs to accelerate its extremely light mass versus the Cheetah having four legs for its much higher mass.  I'll even go so far to suspect (I don't bet - ) that a Tarantula will win a very short race against almost all much larger land mammals over the distance at which a T might suddenly bite a person - 6 or 7 inches.  Now a better competition would be against a snake since it has only air as the friction and doesn't have a large mass either. I suspect that a snake might win over this short distance but I don't know much on either one's measured results.  Of course a person jerking their arm away from the spider isn't similar to a cheetah either, but generally the spider has already started its acceleration when the person tries to react so it can be scary close if the person doesn't get bit.  

EDIT* I think the "teleporting" and "lightening fast" are just fun terms people like to use.


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## JumpingSpiderLady (Sep 6, 2016)

louise f said:


> Yeah and if you`re unlucky as a human male if you are bitten, it will leave you with a erection, as I`ve heard  Viagra go home


Oh man.... I just watched a video about this.  Sounds awful.  Every part of the experience.  Bite=awful Symtoms=awful Treatment=horrifying.  gave me the willies.  My husband, understandably, took it even worse.  He was thoroughly freaked out.

Reactions: Funny 1


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## louise f (Sep 6, 2016)

JumpingSpiderLady said:


> Oh man.... I just watched a video about this.  Sounds awful.  Every part of the experience.  Bite=awful Symtoms=awful Treatment=horrifying.  gave me the willies.  My husband, understandably, took it even worse.  He was thoroughly freaked out.


Well it shouldn`t be this vid you are talking about or ??

Reactions: Like 2


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## louise f (Sep 6, 2016)

JumpingSpiderLady said:


> Oh man.... I just watched a video about this.  Sounds awful.  Every part of the experience.  Bite=awful Symtoms=awful Treatment=horrifying.  gave me the willies.  My husband, understandably, took it even worse.  He was thoroughly freaked out.


I think there is a damn good reason why they are not allowed in Denmark

Reactions: Agree 1


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## Trenor (Sep 6, 2016)

Jeff23 said:


> Now a better competition would be against a snake since it has only air as the friction and doesn't have a large mass either. I suspect that a snake might win over this short distance but I don't know much on either one's measured results.


I was unable to access the actual study that was quoted in this link (I'm at work) but they mention strikes accelerating about 100 meters/sec squared and lasting less than 1/10th of a second. This was for vipers and non-venomous snakes. I found it interesting that they all struck at roughly the same speed. 

Now if someone did the same for tarantulas we would know how they matched up.

Reactions: Like 1


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## JumpingSpiderLady (Sep 6, 2016)

@louise f This was the video.  I like this guy!

Reactions: Funny 1


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## JumpingSpiderLady (Sep 6, 2016)

louise f said:


> Well it shouldn`t be this vid you are talking about or ??


Oh my.  That is silly.

Reactions: Agree 1


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## louise f (Sep 6, 2016)

JumpingSpiderLady said:


> Oh my.  That is silly.


Yeah, i dont know if you really should believe this or not. It sounds more like they are blowing it all up.

Reactions: Agree 1


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## Matabuey (Sep 6, 2016)

Jeff23 said:


> I'll even go so far to suspect (I don't bet - ) that a Tarantula will win a very short race against almost all much larger land mammals over the distance at which a T might suddenly bite a person - 6 or 7 inches.
> 
> Now a better competition would be against a snake since it has only air as the friction and doesn't have a large mass either. I suspect that a snake might win over this short distance but I don't know much on either one's measured results.


No, and no lol. 

You cannot compare a T doing 6 inches to a Cheetah doing 6 inches. They're two different sizes. Which is why i stated it in body lengths per second.

But if you want to model them as particles, the Cheetah is still covering much more ground in the same time frame. The Tarantulas acceleration is not anywhere near to that of the Cheetah, from a standing start.

If you model them as particles disregarding their size only taking into account their acceleration, you can use equations of motion for uniform acceleration, it takes this Tarantula to cover 1 inch - 0.13 seconds, and the Cheetah would take - 0.075 seconds.

The rattlesnake being even faster than the two, covering 1 inch in 0.014 seconds.


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## Jeff23 (Sep 6, 2016)

Trenor said:


> I was unable to access the actual study that was quoted in this link (I'm at work) but they mention strikes accelerating about 100 meters/sec squared and lasting less than 1/10th of a second. This was for vipers and non-venomous snakes. I found it interesting that they all struck at roughly the same speed.
> 
> Now if someone did the same for tarantulas we would know how they matched up.


That is fast.  I suspect the snake is much faster than a T if both are poised and ready to strike a target.

EDIT* But it would be nice to see numbers


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## Jeff23 (Sep 6, 2016)

Matabuey said:


> No, and no lol.
> 
> You cannot compare a T doing 6 inches to a Cheetah doing 6 inches. They're two different sizes. Which is why i stated it in body lengths per second.
> 
> ...


Sure you can.  If a T is sitting next to a Cheetah and you want to see if the Cheetah can jump/move out of the way before the T bites it you would use this distance.  I suspect Cheetahs test this out all the time.  

I believe that is what the initial disagreement was about on this subject.  If you have your arm in the enclosure and need to out react a T we are not talking about much distance.  Once you see the T moving over a longer distance it doesn't appear to be so fast.  This is because it is the acceleration of the T that is so impressive, not its top speed.

Reactions: Like 1


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## Matabuey (Sep 6, 2016)

Jeff23 said:


> Sure you can.  If a T is sitting next to a Cheetah and you want to see if the Cheetah can jump/move out of the way before the T bites it you would use this distance.  I suspect Cheetahs test this out all the time.
> 
> I believe that is what the initial disagreement was about on this subject.  If you have your arm in the enclosure and need to out react a T we are not talking about much distance.  Once you see the T moving over a longer distance it doesn't appear to be so fast.  This is because it is the acceleration of the T that is so impressive, not its top speed.


That depends entirely on the reaction speed of said species. But in terms of pure speed, or acceleration over any distance even as small as 1cm, or comparing body lengths per second, the T is no match for a Cheetah (or lots of other animals).

I personally wouldn't say the acceleration is impressive, impressive is when a snakes accelerate it's head from 100 m/s^2 to over 270 m/s^2.

I don't even know what we are talking about anymore haha.

But yeah, they're fast for *us* in close proximity. But that's it. There are much faster animals in close proximity. We are pretty poor reaction wise compared to a lot of the animal kingdom, fruit flies can respond to turbulence within 5ms, which is 0.005 seconds - which is insane!

But yeah, I think I've said enough now about speeds/acceleration haha. If you want to talk more, feel free to PM me

Reactions: Like 2


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## REEFSPIDER (Sep 6, 2016)

Averaged 267 
24/m


Matabuey said:


> I do work with Lattice Quantum Chromodynamics, but in all honesty it's not something i particularly enjoy. So potentially looking to change to a PhD in Astrophysics/Cosmology so i can study more interesting things (in my opinion) such as black holes.
> 
> It's actually quite easy to analyse a video if you know the length of something.
> 
> ...

Reactions: Like 1


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## mistertim (Sep 6, 2016)

louise f said:


> Well it shouldn`t be this vid you are talking about or ??


It kinda irks me that an Entomologist was calling a spider "poisonous".

Reactions: Like 1 | Agree 2 | Funny 2


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## Scolopendra1989 (Sep 7, 2016)

I think that the OP is a really cool topic because Ts (especially arboreals) are capable of incredible speed. In a race between a human and a tarantula, the human would win but only because of certain size variables. If you were to get rid of the variables between a human being's size and height, I'm willing to bet the tarantula can move quite a bit faster. Just as men are as strong as horses if size and body composition was taken out of the equation, tarantulas move extremely fast relative to their size.


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## Scolopendra1989 (Sep 7, 2016)

I really want to be an entomologist one day and I feel confident that I'm up to the challenge considering I've started research and been acquainted with insects and arachnids my whole life.

Reactions: Like 2


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## hennibbale (Sep 7, 2016)

Matabuey said:


> Fun little test: http://www.humanbenchmark.com/tests/reactiontime
> 
> I averaged 251ms, as a 25 year old. Would be interesting to see other peoples average time, with your age (be honest, not a competition). However that is under perfect conditions, where you're kind of pre-loading a motor sequence into the brain, due to expectation of the green dot appearing.








16-year-old

Reactions: Like 1


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## hennibbale (Sep 7, 2016)

Trenor said:


> I'd need to see some proof to show this was true before I'm willing to even entertain this. We often get wild with speculation and that's how we get telelporting Ts.
> 
> 
> Fair enough. If you want to see how crazy some people can get with their claims check out this link.
> ...


Oh man.
I thought *you *were kidding when you said people seriously believed them teleporting.
Like... _WHAT?!_


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## hennibbale (Sep 7, 2016)

hennibbale said:


> 16-year-old


And that's bad, mate. Gotta try this with my non-wireless mouse.


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## Rocky (Sep 7, 2016)

I think stock they only run about 0-60 in 5 seconds... but put a bit of aboreal in them and your looking at another 100 AP (arachnid power) lol


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## Matabuey (Sep 7, 2016)

Scolopendra1989 said:


> I think that the OP is a really cool topic because Ts (especially arboreals) are capable of incredible speed. In a race between a human and a tarantula, the human would win but only because of certain size variables. If you were to get rid of the variables between a human being's size and height, I'm willing to bet the tarantula can move quite a bit faster. Just as men are as strong as horses if size and body composition was taken out of the equation, tarantulas move extremely fast relative to their size.


Compared to humans, yes. Humans aren't known for their speed, we are slow animals. If you model them as particles with their acceleration, in a race this T would cover 6 inches in 0.32s, where Usain Bolt would take 0.39s.

Obviously if the race were to be over a longer distance, humans would win because we can go much faster. Which is why comparing in this manner is kind of pointless. It's better to look at body lengths per second, as that is relative to the animals size.

Like for instance, a Hummingbird does 383 body lengths per second, compared with a fighter jet which does 150 body lengths per second.

Reactions: Like 1


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## Chris LXXIX (Sep 7, 2016)

Matabuey said:


> Humans aren't known for their speed, we are slow animals.


Yeah, because you don't know an acquaintance of mine here. He could beat Bolt hands down after all of those years of "Avoid Creditors Race Championship".

Reactions: Funny 1


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## Paulhodgkinson (Sep 11, 2016)

All this talk of erections has really got these mathematicians in a measuring contest


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## tonyb24 (May 24, 2021)

Haksilence said:


> I'm perfectly aware (I'm a mechanical engineering and physics major), but that's kinda irrelevant here. When we are talking about speed we are talking about how fast they can travel from point a to point b in relation to their body size. When viewed in this model they are incredibly fast animals. To look at it from a literal standpoint is deceptive since any human could react to a object moving 1.1mph but a tarantulas ability to traverse distance in relation to its size is what makes them formidable


Yes! (fellow mech engineer) also, how they can like navigate weirdly “complicated”/notflat terrain and squeeze into holes, and run around all those obstacles at those speeds also adds to how impressive they are! Like even if swinging your hand, your hand could technically cover distance faster, at those speeds, your hand would be massively clumsy.


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## Craig73 (May 24, 2021)

They can definitely be faster than a person can realize a thread is five years old.

Welcome to the board.

Reactions: Funny 1


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## jc55 (May 25, 2021)

I was at a friends house and him and his wife were rehousing some pokies about one inch leg span and his wife no sooner opened the top to the enclosure and this pokie jumped from the enclosure to her lap and went twice around her upper body and stopped on top of her head before anyone could react so teleport is pretty acurate,lol


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## 8 legged (May 25, 2021)

hennibbale said:


> I always hear about some Ts being lightning speed, but as I've never seen one doing that I can't really picture it in my head.
> So, my question is:
> _Is there a video that shows how fast a T can run?_


Depending on the species, bird spiders briefly manage about 50cm / sec.


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## kingshockey (May 25, 2021)

underestimate em and you will have an escape . short distances like a cage etc. they can be up and out in a blink of an eye



8 legged said:


> Depending on the species, bird spiders briefly manage about 50cm / sec.


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## l4nsky (May 25, 2021)

<----Zombie emoji for a zombie thread


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