Mail a T, go to jail....

[Cooper]

to my non to extensive knowledge, it is true, but with the increase in pokie keeping it may not last for long

 

[MizM]

No human being has ever died as a direct result of a tarantula bite of any species!

 

[Cooper]

Tarantulas don't kill people; PEOPLE kill people!

Evidence enough?????

 

[Code Monkey]

Let's phrase this differently: it has never been successfully documented that a human being has died directly as a result of a tarantula bite.

That doesn't mean it hasn't happened, doesn't mean it can't happen, doesn't mean it won't happen.

What we know is that given the 'publish or perish' mentality in big hospitals and universities is that if anyone with 2 brain cells to rub together and a MD or PhD had a case of someone dying of a T bite they would publish it. Since it hasn't been published yet is proof enough that it must be so rare in westernized areas that it hasn't happened yet IN westernized areas. That's really all you can conclude, though.

We just don't know enough about Asian and African T venom to say whether or not someone might not die in the right circumstances. We also must keep in mind that much of our concepts of life threatening are tempered by modern medicine. If humans were just encountering widows for the first time today, it is unlikely we would call them potentially deadly because with modern medicine you would have to go out of your way to get killed by a widow.

 

[Cooper]

Let's phrase this differently: it has never been successfully documented that a human being has died directly as a result of a tarantula bite.

That doesn't mean it hasn't happened, doesn't mean it can't happen, doesn't mean it won't happen.

What we know is that given the 'publish or perish' mentality in big hospitals and universities is that if anyone with 2 brain cells to rub together and a MD or PhD had a case of someone dying of a T bite they would publish it. Since it hasn't been published yet is proof enough that it must be so rare in westernized areas that it hasn't happened yet IN westernized areas. That's really all you can conclude, though.

We just don't know enough about Asian and African T venom to say whether or not someone might not die in the right circumstances. We also must keep in mind that much of our concepts of life threatening are tempered by modern medicine. If humans were just encountering widows for the first time today, it is unlikely we would call them potentially deadly because with modern medicine you would have to go out of your way to get killed by a widow.

That, I think, sums it up nicely. When you read bite reports of pokies and such, I dont find myself wondering if it will happen, I think it is when........

 

[MizM]

Originally posted by MizM
No human being has ever died as a direct result of a tarantula bite of any species!

This phrase was in the book I just wrote. It was proofed and edited very carefully by members of the ATS. If it was not entirely true, believe me, it DEFINITELY would have been edited out!!! There really IS no record, in westernized areas or anywhere, since the beginning of time, that a human being has died DIRECTLY FROM THE RESULT of a T bite!

But yes, there is always the possibility that it CAN happen.

 

[Code Monkey]

Originally posted by Cooper
That, I think, sums it up nicely. When you read bite reports of pokies and such, I dont find myself wondering if it will happen, I think it is when........

That's going a bit far. Let's say I describe the symptoms of full blown bout with the flue to you...

Man, I was burning up and sweating constantly for four straight days. The weird part was that at times I felt like I was freezing even though the thermometer said I had a high fever. For the first two days I was throwing up every few hours; couldn't keep anything down....

Well, hopefully you get the idea. No matter how dire pokie bites may sound, there is no reason whatsoever to believe that isn't their limit for harm. The "I almost died" or "I could have died if that T were bigger" you see tacked onto these bite reports is pure conjecture based completely on the persons' very subjective perception.

 

[Botar]

If there ever were to be a death, the victim would probably fall into the "small and weak" or "old and infirm" categories. Although this is not my area of expertise, I doubt one could take down a healthy adult.

Botar

 

[PapaSmurf]

wow those are great charges let me tell u

 

[AllenG]

Can I ask about the mailing a T? IS it illegal to do it? Anyone who works at the post office know the laws on such a thing....any lawyers here? Cuz if it is...we are running quite the smuggling ring!!!

 

[MizM]

Every time I mail a package, they ask me a list of questions. I get the same guy every time, he knows me, but by law, he still has to ask:

Does the package contain anything potentially dangerous, hazardous materials, liquids, live animals, blah blah blah.

I forgot the whole list, but I SUPPOSE that a T could be potentially dangerous if you sent it to someone with arachnophobia and a heart condition. But I don't think we need to worry, we're sending them to (more than) willing recipients and they are not animals! Legally, when I answer "no" to his list of questions, I am being completely honest.

 

[Lycanthrope]

Every time I mail a package, they ask me a list of questions. I get the same guy every time, he knows me, but by law, he still has to ask:

i always say its tree frogs, an idea i got from a few others here on the boards. i pack my t's extremely well, a large outer box with panels of styrofoam inside, then a smaller box inside the styrofoam, allong with various paper shreddings and pieces of bubble wrap. before i used to tell them it was a tarantula in the box, but they would hold me there for a half hour while they looked up the rules in some huge book and asked questions. in the end they always mailed it though. all that being said, the idiot deserves anything he gets and i wish the tarantula would have survived the ordeal.

 

[Cooper]

I am trading some vaejovis boreas(northern scorps) to a guy in NYC and I live in Canada. What should I tell them they are, 'cause people know that scorps can kill people, even though these are not seriously dangerous species. Help please, I was oing to label it as either a gift, glass ornaments or homemade fudge, any advice would be nice!

 

[MizM]

Last package of Ts I received was labeled "LIVE, HARMLESS MILLIPEDES."

Gee, it's too bad the T didn't sink his/her fangs into that idiot BEFORE he put it in the box!;P

 

[Cooper]

what should I label it as?

 

[MizM]

Originally posted by Cooper
I am trading some vaejovis boreas(northern scorps) to a guy in NYC and I live in Canada. What should I tell them they are, 'cause people know that scorps can kill people, even though these are not seriously dangerous species. Help please, I was oing to label it as either a gift, glass ornaments or homemade fudge, any advice would be nice!

Label it "FRAGILE-KEEP FROM EXTREME TEMPERATURES" and if you HAVE to tell them what's in it, say candles or sex toys or something. In USA, they are not allowed to directly ask us WHAT IS IN THE PACKAGE. Privacy, you know.

 

[Cooper]

guess I will say that they are something like that, I will definatly say fragile though

 

[MrT]

Originally posted by TheDon
.. And even more astounding to them is that they shed not only the skin but the lungs, stomach and fangs and a few other things. Something someone said to me was interesting to and even I would like to know the answer to is How do they grow new internals and still use the old ones and then automatically switch over. .

peace

TheDon

Maybe the answer is: Thats why they stop eating a week or two before they molt. They don't just switch over. And, it may be one of the reasons they have booklungs, so they can shut down their mouth parts and stomach. :?

Ernie

 

[belewfripp]

They don't grow new internal organs, the ones they start with are the ones they have their entire lives. They shed the lining of the foregut (I hope that's the right name....) and the female sheds the lining of the sex organs, but no actual new stomachs or whatnot are grown with each molt. I think Ernie is correct about the not eating bit, though, they are preparing to shed their fangs/foregut lining, at least that is what I had attributed it to, could be wrong.

Adrian

 

[Mister Internet]

Originally posted by MizM
...and they are not animals! Legally, when I answer "no" to his list of questions, I am being completely honest.

Terri, you been hitting the crack pipe girl??

Tarantulas are most definitely animals... There are four main kingdoms used to taxonomize life as we know it...

Kingdom Protista (unicellular organisms, I think)

Kingdom Fungi (fungus, yeast, and other organisms consisting of threadlike filaments referred to as hyphae, I think)

Kingom Plantea (Plants, obviously)

Kingdom Animalia (The animals)

Of course, of these groups, T's and all other inverts and critters would fall under the "animal" kindgom... that means they're animals. Sorry to be making a liar out of you next time you go to your post office!