Chicken-eating spider

[DR zuum]

Having spoke to Martin on the subject, he did note that it was young Chickens/ chicks that were reported to have been taken. Also, don,t forget that not all species of chicken are the size of the ones you get from the supermarket..

Yep you are right,we raised chickens several species as a kid growing up down south.But even a little banty(bantam) full grown would be too much for any T,had to be new chicks or youngsters.

Why would we need Mr West to go down there. There are plenty of people that are more than capable of working on this. For example Mr Nicholas.
Regards,

Stew.

What i said was not meant as a barb or insult stew.But Rick west is more well known,not saying hes superior or better or anything like that. He could probably get more exposure $$,maybe something on discovery for us to watch and it would help Mr.Nicholas become more known not saying he's any less as far as knowledge and ability go,just not as well known.West has probably been in that area before too,just saying it would be nice to see something in depth on tv on it over here.

Once again i offer snickerdoodles,yoo hoo,and a group shower and dancing in a gesture of peace. You see im tempted to use edited expletives in cross conversation which is frowned upon.So from now on i'm only going to give friendship love and joy in the face of adversity.Snickerdoodle anyone?

Regards
Reno

 

[Crotalus]

Why would we need Mr West to go down there. There are plenty of people that are more than capable of working on this. For example Mr Nicholas.

West have already been there.

/Lelle

 

[KennethM]

chicken

King Baboons have also been reported to communally raise/co-habitate with spiderlings in the mother's burrows. Hysterocrates also have. Both Old World spiders so this is a first for new world spiders.

 

[becca81]

King Baboons have also been reported to communally raise/co-habitate with spiderlings in the mother's burrows. Hysterocrates also have. Both Old World spiders so this is a first for new world spiders.

Are you saying that this is the first NW species that is known to live communally?

Avicularia spp. are known to live communally.

 

[Nerri1029]

OK OK OK


So Martin Nicholas found a LARGE species of Tarantula.. GREAT

But LEAVE THE WHOLE CHICKEN thing alone...

Until I see pics or some other hardcore evidence I will not believe..

leave the issue of killing/catching/eating chickens to the rumors and legends ..
I mean the issue of whether these spiders are even predatory has yet to be proven.. or do the chickens wonder close to the T's in the night? do these T's build there burrows close enough to the human population so as the chickens will be available??



It should have been prefaced CLEARLY as legend in a paper, or a documentary ...

Maybe it was the editors of the piece.. but I see NO credible evidence.

I have to agree that a chicken of any appreciable size would be more than capable of dispatching a T, even out running one ( easily )

I NEED TO SEE IT...

as with any Hypothesis .. it needs proof..
See: Cold Fusion..

 

[Mattyb]

OK OK OK


So Martin Nicholas found a LARGE species of Tarantula.. GREAT

But LEAVE THE WHOLE CHICKEN thing alone...

Until I see pics or some other hardcore evidence I will not believe..

leave the issue of killing/catching/eating chickens to the rumors and legends ..
I mean the issue of whether these spiders are even predatory has yet to be proven.. or do the chickens wonder close to the T's in the night? do these T's build there burrows close enough to the human population so as the chickens will be available??



It should have been prefaced CLEARLY as legend in a paper, or a documentary ...

Maybe it was the editors of the piece.. but I see NO credible evidence.

I have to agree that a chicken of any appreciable size would be more than capable of dispatching a T, even out running one ( easily )

I NEED TO SEE IT...

as with any Hypothesis .. it needs proof..
See: Cold Fusion..

:clap: :clap: :clap: :worship: :worship: :worship:


-Mattyb

 

[smokejuan]

Everyone's ignoring the really important question. When will we be able to purchase this T? (For ridiculous amounts of money, of course.)

Karen N.

Yeah! When are they going to be available? Maybe I will only need one large tank to keep the whole famly instead of a bunch of deli cups and single dwelling tanks like I have now.....of course I guess I will have to raise chickens now too Man, I thought my arachnid food bill was high now! Maybe its was those frogs in the burrow that taste like chicken OK, no more chicken comments :razz:

 

[AphonopelmaTX]

Wow, some people need to step outside the "Arachnoboards box", join some arachnological societys and read some books and articles. Apparentley some don't get that there's more out there than what's published on the internet and posted by popular message board members. Maybe some should invest more in interlibrary loans than tarantula collections. I know this post isn't productive in any respect, but i figure one more in this thread wouldn't hurt.

- Lonnie

 

[Scorpiove]

Ja, but you also say "reckon" thereby discounting the validity of "inside".

You got the wrong state there for the word "reckon".

 

[DR zuum]

OK OK OK


So Martin Nicholas found a LARGE species of Tarantula.. GREAT

But LEAVE THE WHOLE CHICKEN thing alone...

Until I see pics or some other hardcore evidence I will not believe..

leave the issue of killing/catching/eating chickens to the rumors and legends ..
I mean the issue of whether these spiders are even predatory has yet to be proven.. or do the chickens wonder close to the T's in the night? do these T's build there burrows close enough to the human population so as the chickens will be available?

Hmm ive been searching on Mr.Nicholas's background,so far from what i've found this isnt the type of guy that would just lie and ruin his rep.I believe him, i'd like to see it too though.Now it appears a lot of the chickens in that area are of a bantam varierty,along wih regulars now a bantam and i know we raised and ate them,at half grown is right at 4 or 5 inches in height,a reg at 2 months is around 4 to 6 depending on type,not too much for a 10 inch T to take down,especially if it has legs modified as the report was saying for the purpose of dragging/holding/pulling etc.So i think theres more here than just hypothesis especially if you read all the data.But video is best no doubt and more research needs to be done on its hunting/predatory/communal aspect.

But to dismiss it as poppycock especially if you're nowhere near the level/ experience/knowledge of the guy who's done the field work is kind of arrogant and close minded.I know my level is higher than a lot of people here,i also know there are people here who's level is greater than mine,we are a mixed crowd here.

Sometimes that leads to confrontation bad talk etc.But hey man lets give benefit of doubt in face of his research and field work,because there are a whole lot of people outside of this board with credentials and knowledge in this area as strong as,if not stronger in some cases than anyone here and thats a fact.

I remember reading a post here at least i think it was here a long while back about birdeating spiders catching birds on the wing i laughed at it.Well theres a species of large moth Hyalophora crecropia,i came across some of these and decided to use them as feeders. I keep a lot of my female T's in big tanks 30 to 55 gal,i started feeding them, no biggie the moths landed the T's got them.

Then i put one in with a large female A. versicolor it went ape at the moth flying around, it was moving around faster than id ever seen it go,trailing the moth until it leaped off the glass caught that moth on the wing midair and landed on the cork slab with it.So now im not so sure those bird on the wing stories are totally bs.The moths were at least comparable to a small finch species.No offense intended to anyone,peace,love and friendship to all.

 

[gusman1204]

I think the whole idea of a chicken eating tarantula doesn't deserve as much attention as it got. Afterall, a hungry T will eat anything it can actually take down and we as T keepers won't be that intrigued by it because most of us definately fed mice anoles and so on to our bigger Ts. The only reason why this "chicken eating tarantula" got so big is there's way too many people in this world believe that a "foot long" tarantula is way bigger than it actually is. Plus when an average person hears "chicken eating tarantula", he right away imagines this gigantic spider which is like 5 times the size of a chicken because that's the only way it could take down a chicken. T.V titles play on person's imagination using the fact that people assume things. On other hand, just take a look at this:

http://www.thebts.co.uk/gallery_images/eating1.jpg

OH MY GOD? THE BIGGEST T YET KNOWN? ITS EATING A CHICKEN? or how bout an average L.parahybana eating a chick...... thats probably exactly what was observed by whitnesses, but obviously with some other specie of a spider. Obviously "chicken eating tarantula" is a silly exaguration, but if a title for a documentary impresses people, makes them watch the show, raises raitings and generates money for more trips to discover new species...why not come up with a monkey eating Tarantula? its all good if u ask me, and if they guy on Tv has to sound a bit more "down to earth" instead of using latin terminology and so on, well he has to do that so an average person will keep watching instead of "WHAT THE @#$% did he just say?". Obviously he can't be judged by the way he talks on tv, otherwise they wouldn't show him, face it people, theres not that many people who watch discovery channel and know the difference between "poisonous and venomous", actually 99% of narrators misuse the terms. just think of that simple fact n lez hope we'll find a monkey eating tarantula n name it after me ;P

 

[FryLock]

Wow, some people need to step outside the "Arachnoboards box", join some arachnological societys and read some books and articles. Apparentley some don't get that there's more out there than what's published on the internet and posted by popular message board members. Maybe some should invest more in interlibrary loans than tarantula collections. I know this post isn't productive in any respect, but i figure one more in this thread wouldn't hurt.

One of the most "productive" posts here id say :clap:, ppl seem to be forgeting that there is another real "Chicken spider" down under Selenotypus.sp have been seen taking chicks (and a bit larger iirc) from near by farms/smallholding's then draging them back to there burrows to feed see >Here< at one of Steve Nunn's site's .

BTW: If someone comes across as a bit of a old school "naturalist" who knows his stuff but many not know all the terminology but still seems to have a passion and be clued up then I tend to trust there word as least as much as someone with a list of acronyms of academia behind there name but lofty manner to match, what seems to be forgotten is that a lot of the ppl doing serious work in Theraphosids have no qualifications in there chosen fields.

 

[Sheri]

Wow, some people need to step outside the "Arachnoboards box", join some arachnological societys and read some books and articles. Apparentley some don't get that there's more out there than what's published on the internet and posted by popular message board members. Maybe some should invest more in interlibrary loans than tarantula collections. I know this post isn't productive in any respect, but i figure one more in this thread wouldn't hurt.

- Lonnie

Oh it was productive - It locked this thread. :clap:

I am going to say this very loudly, and very clearly to reach very highest of horses.

Apparently, some don't get that that the hobby isn't a full-time job. Or that people have real full-time jobs, kids, outside interests...
I am not going to go over why many had the initial impression they did because that is obvious.
The point is that we all know who he is now - and the Arachnoboards "box" did take care of that in the end.

As for more research instead of more spiders, if that's the path you choose, so be it.
No thanks.

I research as required and what captures my interest. I have the relevant T care books, I subscribe to ArachnoCulture. I ask questions. I know how to take care of the T's I have. I had NO idea that in order to meet the criteria of hobbyist I had to read the BTS on a regular basis, or the ATS.

I mean, when I had 20, was that ok? What IS the magical number of spiders in a collection that requries serious academic investment?
And how absolutely silly of me to think that as long as I was learning as I went that I might be meeting the requirements of a hobbyist! Be sure to pay rapt attention to the classifieds.
Clearly, there is no way I can house or feed these guys not knowing the latest in tarantula chicken hunting achievements!

I did apologize for not looking before I leapt. Twice even. I was contemplating writing it out in blood but then decided I should reserve every last drop for signing arachnological society membership cards.

If anyone (popular or otherwise) has anything else productive to say, please direct it to my private message box. Just don't fill it up too fast, I mean, I need to save room for Martin Nicholas.

 

[MrDeranged]

Administrators Note

As statements regarding this thread seem to have pervaded other boards, I felt it time to make a statement of my own.

This thread was locked on MY behalf. I was the one that made the decision that it was going nowhere fast. The responsibility for closing this thread rests on my shoulders.

This is not the first time that the "Chicken Eating Spider" has been discussed here, but the third. The first time was lost when we transferred over to the vBulletin software, but the second time it was brought up can be found here. A thread almost 2 yrs old.....

I am sure that this is not the last time that we will be hearing of it either. Everyone is entitled to their own opinions, I just hope that in the future, those opinions will be more informed....

Thank you Sheri for closing the thread and thank you for apologizing regarding your original statement after looking further into the matter.

If anyone has comments regarding "powertripping mods" in the future, it may be more beneficial to email me regarding it rather than post about it elsewhere.

Any comments or questions, feel free to email me. My inbox is always open

Scott