Furthering the cause...

[Iktomi]

Hey...everybody wish me luck! Tomorrow at my work we are having the annual auction, cook off, volleyball, etc. I will be donating one G. rosea for auction along with care books, etc. I will also be bringing nine of my T's to put on a bit of an expo...people will donate to have their pic taken with one of them...
Hopefully I can change some minds about "those disgusting spiders!"
I'll let you all know how it goes...

 

[MizM]

BEST OF LUCK!

I had that "photo with a T" idea... say $5.00 for a Polaroid. Do you know where to get the little cardboard frames from?

Be absolutey sure that do don't put any of your Ts on some woman (or man!) who will freak out if it moves and swat it off! THAT wouldn't be a pretty picture!! And, it is one of the things that I keeps me a little hestitant about the whole project.

Great job spreading the word... wo don't often get a chance to have ADULTS as rapt audiences!!

 

[deifiler]

Good luck! Hope you can get some pics for us all

Which T's are you displaying? The reactions I've had from my lividum and regalis before "WOW! Is that real? It's blue?!" and "wow! Is that real? It's yellow and white with black stripes?!"

 

[Iktomi]

Yeah...I'm going to be really careful about who handles her. I don't know about the cardboard frames...I was just going to shoot digital and send it to them. (Don't have enough time to do much more...)
Here are the T's I'm bringing...
1 A. geniculata
2 P. murinus
1 L. parahybana
1 B. angustum
1 A. versicolor
1 B. albopilosum
2 G. rosea

Unfortunatly five of them are slings...

 

[That Guy]

Slings are still cool!

hey! If people get bored with the slings, just show one of them eating a grown cricket(If you have done it before). And let them see how fast, and how direct a T really is.

 

[MizM]

The whole idea of "furthering the cause" is to TAKE AWAY the stigma that our fuzzy giants are fierce, mean creatures!!!!

We DON'T want to make light of the fact that even a baby T is actually capable of killing and consuming a cricket 2-3 times it's size! How much more encouragement does the general public need to reinforce the belief that Ts are KILLERS?!?!?

 

[Kristen]

MizM:

"I had that "photo with a T" idea... say $5.00 for a Polaroid. Do you know where to get the little cardboard frames from?"


I know you can get polaroid film that has a "built in frame" which is basically a border (of various design) that is printed on the film, so that when the picture comes out it has the border on it already. I'm not exactly sure how much it would cost, (I know Polaroid film tends to be more expensive than regular film), but you can probably find them at any camera store, ) or Walmart...good ole Walmart!

Hope that helps a little!

 

[Mister Internet]

Originally posted by MizM
The whole idea of "furthering the cause" is to TAKE AWAY the stigma that our fuzzy giants are fierce, mean creatures!!!!

We DON'T want to make light of the fact that even a baby T is actually capable of killing and consuming a cricket 2-3 times it's size! How much more encouragement does the general public need to reinforce the belief that Ts are KILLERS?!?!?

So what are we supposed to do, pretend they eat flowers?

What the general public needs to understand is that they are not dangerous TO HUMANS, when, and if, cared for correctly in captivity, and avoided in the wild. I fail to see how showing a T eating a cricket will somehow make people think they're harmful to humans if it's not presented that way. MANY people have chameleons, geckoes, beardies, and other carnivorous pets... all of which can be fed live prey. I think people understand that animals eat other animals...

Believe it or not, people are MOST fascinated by watching my pedes eating... they just make jokes like, "glad I'm not a cricket", and "they won't bite me, right?" to which I then reply with educated answers.

BTW, our Ts, pedes, scorps, and other carnivorous inverts ARE killers... it does the public no good to gloss over that fact... they just don't kill PEOPLE, and that's all it takes to set people's minds at ease...

 

[MizM]

Re: Slings are still cool!

Originally posted by hampton
hey! If people get bored with the slings, just show one of them eating a grown cricket(If you have done it before). And let them see how fast, and how direct a T really is.

Oh the written word... not sure how it was meant, but Hampton's tone sounded to me like, "Hey, let's show 'em how tough and fierce they are!" Sorry if I took that out of context!

What I meant was "Arachnophobia" and movies like that give the public the idea that these things actively seek out humans to bite. Yes, they are killers. So is my cat, my german shepherd and my doberman. But, I think the public has a skewed enough view of Ts (and pit bulls too for that matter!) I'm sure I took Hampton's post the wrong way. And yes, my audiences think the T eating the cricket is the coolest thing too. You, Mr. Internet, are just much more eloquent than I!

Kristen: Thanks for the tip! I'm goin' shopping!

 

[Mister Internet]

Re: Re: Slings are still cool!

Originally posted by MizM
I'm sure I took Hampton's post the wrong way. And yes, my audiences think the T eating the cricket is the coolest thing too. You, Mr. Internet, are just much more eloquent than I!

*blush*

Not really more eloquent... I just take it upon myself to be the Pragmatic Voice of Reason when hobbyists get too emotional.

 

[Iktomi]

I'm not sure any of my T's except the slings and the L. parahybana will eat after being moved around. My adult female P. murinus won't do anything if it isn't nightime (though I'd be lying if I told you I didn't plan on showing off her attitude.)
One of my G. roseas decided two days ago that she didn't want to be a display T anymore and boarded herself inside a half-log with a giant wall of dirt. She's also acting very skittish...she was the one I was planning on having the photo shoot with.

I also think the contrast will be good for people. On one hand they see the spider kill it's prey. Cool.
On the other hand they see it's grace beauty as it walks on my hand or their own. Fascinating. You can't help it. At least, I can't help it!

 

[Static_69]

I'd show them that T's are like people and how they range in their characteristics and personalities...show a pokie and refer to it as a grumpy person who just woke up and then show a b. smithi, rio grande, or g. rosea or a T on the more docile side as the people who live to be nice...


Risto

 

[belewfripp]

Originally posted by Mister Internet
So what are we supposed to do, pretend they eat flowers?

What the general public needs to understand is that they are not dangerous TO HUMANS, when, and if, cared for correctly in captivity, and avoided in the wild. I fail to see how showing a T eating a cricket will somehow make people think they're harmful to humans if it's not presented that way. MANY people have chameleons, geckoes, beardies, and other carnivorous pets... all of which can be fed live prey. I think people understand that animals eat other animals...

Believe it or not, people are MOST fascinated by watching my pedes eating... they just make jokes like, "glad I'm not a cricket", and "they won't bite me, right?" to which I then reply with educated answers.

BTW, our Ts, pedes, scorps, and other carnivorous inverts ARE killers... it does the public no good to gloss over that fact... they just don't kill PEOPLE, and that's all it takes to set people's minds at ease...

I agree. While we certainly wouldn't want to make a huge big deal about how voracious they can be in front of someone known to be utterly squeamish about such things, the whole point is to get people to accept Ts for what they are. Misleading them in the hopes that they will become less afraid is not going to fix anything.

Something analagous would be me handlng one of my goliaths or my regalis and then making a remark that they are cuddly, readily handleable animals that are completely harmless. Some folks might have a change of heart seeing such a thing, but what happens then when they or someone they know decides to try it?
Such a demonstration proves that they aren't evil demons bent on destroying my very existence but it doesn't make them kind, benevolent creatures with hearts of gold, either. I say present them for what they are, and replace fear with respect.


Adrian