100 Tarantulas for $5!!!

[Eclipse]

I think I'm posting this in the wrong place, Mods please move it if it is. :?

As some of you may know, some countries such as Cambodia are teeming with wildlife. Tarantulas are one of them. In fact, there's so many that they fry them by the basketful and they still won't die out. They are one of the most common finger food there and can be easily obtained like a bag of chips.

Some of you may find it offensive, but here is a link I found that will make all us spider keepers go mad, I find it interesting.
http://www.flickr.com/search/?q=fried tarantulas&w=all&s=int

Here are one of the species that they collect, does anybody know what it is?
http://www.flickr.com/photos/eschwagerus/99977505/

They are sold by street venders, fried and wait for it.... LIVE! That's right, in Cambodia you can buy about 50-100 live tarantulas for about $5 American dollars. They don't know how lucky they are. I just wanted to share this with you guys because my mom's friend just came back from a trip in Cambodia and she just told us a story that I found to be really cool. Especially this tarantula part. This goes the same for centipedes, scorpions, and other insects over there. You can buy them by the basketful, dead or alive.

 

[GoTerps]

does anybody know what it is?

The common one fried up in Cambodia (which I do see pictured in those links) is Haplopelma longipes.

Eric

 

[kitty_b]

That's right, in Cambodia you can buy about 50-100 live tarantulas for about $5 American dollars. They don't know how lucky they are.

it should be noted that the live tarantulas typically have had their fangs cut off to keep them from biting. and then they're fried alive.

that said, i respect the culture and know that they consider these animals a food source, not a pet. but you won't find me eating them.

 

[Binky/Carol]

So even if you could buy them on the street, their fangs have been cut off and it is very very hard to feed them long enough for them to molt again.

 

[J.huff23]

I think that its just plain horrible what they do to them and the other animals that they torture. I dont hate them for it, but I still think that its wrong. Its a lot different over there. They dont think the same about animals as we do.

 

[Eclipse]

Actually my mom's friend just came back from a trip there yesterday, that's why I posted this up. They believe in respecting plants and animals the most. There and collecters and distributers. First the collecters will have to go out and look for them of course. They are not defanged by the collecters, but by the distributers. Animals are never tortured, they spoil their animals more than themselves. Also, they can only be collected seasonly leaving them time to reproduce. I'm going to Cambodia when I'm older for sure and I'll bring back pictures for you guys to see (Of the not so dead animals)

 

[barabootom]

The Ts may be plentiful at the moment but if they keep catching them and frying them up the Ts will eventually become scarce. The human population keeps growing and the wild areas keep shrinking. I wonder if the Ts became a food source because there wasn't enough other food to go around?

 

[LasidoraGT]

That is wrong, terrible, horrible, mean, cruel, um...cant think of any other similar adjectives lol. But yeah. I can't believe they do that. Thats just..GRRRR

 

[syndicate]

Its no more wrong than eating fish,lobsters,crabs ect..
These people have been doing this for a longgg time!Its part of there culture and its not the only part of the world where tarantulas are considered a delicacy!

 

[Eclipse]

I wonder if the Ts became a food source because there wasn't enough other food to go around?

They've been doing it for hundreds of years now and there's nothing wrong with the animal population so far. They're not like us, they know when to stop. You're living out on plain dirt and grass where wildlife,insects, and meat is abundant, its survival.

 

[Warren Bautista]

Come on, its part of theyre native culture! and besides, do we do things any differently around here? I go down a road in a china town, I see people chopping fish in half with a meat cleaver, still breathing! I og to a farm to buy a goat, and they stick a nail in its head while its still alive and moving! I still eat it, even though I know where it came from! And don't you all?

 

[Warren Bautista]

Oh god enough with the "Wuts rong wit deez peepelz I hayt dem grr" posts. Is it because they are pets? What if all of a sudden a lot of people started keeping cows and chickens as pets? They woud start suing and then American Society will have fallen.

 

[Eclipse]

Nicely put. An applause for you.

 

[Lick496]

I see nothing wrong with it. I'dlove to try it out. But not gonna pay fo them here to eat them. NomNomNomNom

 

[texascowboy1979]

Its amazing the diversty of food that different cultures from around the world will eat..

Cheers, and bon apitete.

 

[Warren Bautista]

LoL at the Nomnomonomnom and I would love to try tarantula! So expensive here though, I guess I shall try the cheaper alternative, scorpinos.