Untrue Tarantula Myths You've Heard?

[CreepyCrawly]

At least she didn't freak out enough to grab a broom and start smacking it

Hahaha, yeah. It could've gone a thousand times worse. If it'd been my mom she would've started telling everyone she knew that her daughter set the big mean spider loose and told it to attack her mother - and it chased her down the hall... But her mom was very cool about it, just upset that the cage wasn't secured... the house could've been a big death trap for the spider - cats, dogs, people... there are probably a million things that could've killed it, including a fall from the shelf it's cage was on.

 

[common spider]

God is it that bad in the world????????????I think it is sad that people are so misled about the Tarantula.


But on the other had I think some of the myths I have read here have given me a good laugh................

 

[Strang Love]

Not sure about the boot but a guy i work with swears on his life that his T.blondi got out and was on a wall. hey took a cardboard box lid and tried to place it over the T and put some cardboard behind to take the T off the wall when all of a sudden the T jumped off the wall at him and bit through the cardboard. Hand to god he tells this everytime we talk about T's. Sounds impressive to me. :clap:

 

[common spider]

If the spider did that I tip my hat to her.

 

[arachnojunkie]

I went to the local pet store the other day only to walk in to an employee holding a rosea infront of some customers, (showing off I suppose) before I get to the display tanks where this is happening I hear a bunch of screams from various guys and girls alike and see the rosea upside down on the floor, it bit the employee....so the spider is on its back from a 3ft fall kicking around with about 10 morons circled around it trying to pick it up with a piece of notebook paper. I walk up move the herd of cattle out of my way safely scoop the spider up, check it for damages(surprisingly had none) and put it back in its cage.......looks of aww spread all over the place(you would have thought I parted the red sea or something) soon followed by a girl asking a seperate employee are they poisonous? Employee says no they have no venom.:cue me making him feel really stupid: "yes all tarantulas have venom and are capable of biting you, but rosea doesnt have enough toxicity to seriously hurt you, unless you are allergic, elderly or a child, and then it might not be (that) bad of a reaction. "
:8o employee :8o

This dissapointed me because the employee that told the girl tarantulas had no venom owns various species of scorpions....just would like to think he would have known better.

Another one not about tarantulas but spiders none the less:
A guy I know that just got back from Iraq was trying to convince me that there are these GIANT 3ft Desert Spiders all over the place in Iraq...I told him that surely if there were such creatures that they would have made it into the pet trade and would obviously be in the book of world records.....three foot spiders.......if only it were true :drool:

Myths get started about tarantulas all the time, I think mostly due to their(to most people)intimidating size. The sad part is that there will be no end to this nonsense, no matter how much we try to educate. In the eyes of the common man/woman, tarantulas, no matter what species, will (from one extreme) always have the potential to kill you, or (from the other) will not be able to harm you at all, depending on the what the person has "heard", there is no medium for these people. I have learned from my young age of 21 that most people I have encountered are stuck on their way of thinking and cannot possibly be convinced otherwise. It is amazing how many people will go to their grave believing that there are these gigantickilleveryonechasepeopledevourtheirbrainsjumpfrombuildingsliketobecuddledneedaffectionandaspongetosurvivewierdifyouownonespiders.....which is clearly not the case. Just like trying to convince the pope he isn't catholoc IMO.

 

[Blasphemy]

Another one not about tarantulas but spiders none the less:
A guy I know that just got back from Iraq was trying to convince me that there are these GIANT 3ft Desert Spiders all over the place in Iraq...I told him that surely if there were such creatures that they would have made it into the pet trade and would obviously be in the book of world records.....three foot spiders.......if only it were true :drool:

It is a myth of sorts...but there is a giant species of anthropod that looks similar to a spider and here is a link to a website that just about covers the myth: http://video.clipstream.com/content/c/camel_spiders/

 

[lta3398]

People are amazing when they are not educated in a subject, aren't they??? If one more person tells me my rosie or my seemanni will bite me and cause my hand to swell twice it's normal size and I will end up in the ER, I AM GONNA SCREAM!!!! And my blondi, forget it. He is the devil itself!!!! My poor A. avic seems to be the only one safe because she is small and pretty and doesn't look intimidating. But people still freak if they find out I handled her just to even clean her substrate. HMMMMMM.....and was that YOUR dog that bit the neighbors's kid? or YOUR cat that claws your furniture to shreds? I am sitting here looking at all my T's right now, and my hamsters and gerbils are scarier than they are. Go figure.

 

[IrishLad17]

watched an old movie showing this girl in a space-like suit supposedly to protect her from a bunch of rosies all around her from getting bitten, and another guy threatening to kill himself by letting a smith run on his chest..the T then...(computer generated) bit him and immedieately he fell on the floor dead...after the girl was bein rescued, they told her to go to the ambulance to get an antivenom..god...

OH MY GOD, I SAW THE SAME MOVIE THIS WEEKEND!!! lol, I've read this post before, so when I saw the movie, it just seemed so familiar. Now I know why!!!

 

[Elizabeth]

It is a myth of sorts...but there is a giant species of anthropod that looks similar to a spider and here is a link to a website that just about covers the myth: http://video.clipstream.com/content/c/camel_spiders/

Even these giant camel spiders are a myth. They aren't giant. There's been at least a couple of threads on these over in Other Arachnids.

Let me see if I can get a good link to one:

http://www.arachnoboards.com/ab/showthread.php?t=31753&highlight=Iraq

 

[Apocalypstick]

This isn't really a story of a stupid myth...just a cute incident.

I was in the pet shop last week where I always get my cricks... I had taken my little critter keeper because I only wanted a couple as I was almost sure my T was pre-molt (she was and has) and it's just easier for them to toss a couple in it than do the airbag thing.

The shop was fairly crowded with several kids among the lot. I got my two cricks in my keeper and then we decided to look at all the puppies. As we looked, a boy about six or seven pulled on my shirt. I asked what he wanted...he said, "Those are crickets in there aren't they" as he pointed to the keeper box. I said, "They sure are crickets". He replied, You have a tarantula don't you?" My reply, "How'd you know that?" "Because", he said, "Tarantulas are the only animals that would eat those crappy things".

To hear this come out of this little kids mouth in such a serious tone was hilarious...several people nearby burst into laughter. Our little boy genius then said, "What's so funny...tarantulas eat gross stuff like that. They think it tastes good... I think they must be kinda crazy"

Gawd did I LMAO in the car. It was so cute!

 

[bagheera]

"Those are crickets in there aren't they" as he pointed to the keeper box. I said, "They sure are crickets". He replied, You have a tarantula don't you?" My reply, "How'd you know that?" "Because", he said, "Tarantulas are the only animals that would eat those crappy things".

With a mouth like that you should have made him eat them ;P
Or told him that your OBT prefers 6 y/o's?

 

[MysticKigh]

I think one of my favorites has to be "They chase down, bite, and kill your pets"

Fortunately I can say that this statement was made by an 8 year old, not an adult. On the other hand ... who taught him that .. ahem, junk?
Good news, it was a statement made during one of our school presentation so I had the opportunity to fix it

 

[mo_2]

I agree about the massive fight between the household pets. If one more person sugests a death match between my animals I will choke the life out of them (not literally).

 

[Dragonhunter]

Originally Posted by jeffh_x
watched an old movie showing this girl in a space-like suit supposedly to protect her from a bunch of rosies all around her from getting bitten, and another guy threatening to kill himself by letting a smith run on his chest..the T then...(computer generated) bit him and immedieately he fell on the floor dead...after the girl was bein rescued, they told her to go to the ambulance to get an antivenom..god.../QUOTE/

So, is anyone going to reveal the name of this movie? I would really be interested in a good laugh.

 

[xanadu1015]

I was in a Petco checking out their rosies and I decided to pick one up. There were of course the usual: "You can actually handle that THING?". Not to mention this little gem: "Aren't you scared?". Um..hello genius? If I am holding a tarantula, one would infer that I am not afraid of said tarantula.


Then some idiot teenager comes up to me and proceeds to tell me, "You know, spiders are going to take over the world and enslave us humans, didn't you see the movie Arachnophobia?" I looked at him expecting him to break out in to laughs and tell me he was kidding. Instead, he looks at me and says, "What? Didn't you know already?". All I could do was stare and hope the men in white coats were around somewhere in the store with his medication.
He actually looked like he believed that statement.



Laura

 

[mo_2]

myths

The best one I heard was from a man who was visiting from Germany. I was working in a pet store that sold tarantulas and he asked m if we sold the antivenom for each species we sold. I said tat we had no need to sell the antivenom because the species we sold were not poven to be dangerous to people. he then told me that his friend back home had a "bird eating" tarantula that he let loose in the house and his friend had to own the antivenom because the spider was so deadly. I told him that his friendshould do some research because I think he was charged for something he dident need. He then went on to tell me that he saw the spider with his own eyes, jump from five feet away from the wall all the way to the ceiling. I argued myself blue but he would no hear of it. this "bird eater" was also about a foot long. my only question was why did he let this "deadly " spider run loose in his house?

 

[Dreadwraven]

Thought I'd do a search before I posted a new one and I found this. I've had an absolutely grand time reading all of these.

Anyway, the one I wanted to add was this:
(following the recent purchase of a king baboon)

Guy I work with: You gotta be careful man, them things can shoot their fangs at you!

Me: Don't worry, I've already had him defanged.

Guy I work with: Thats a smart move, but they'll grow back.

Me: (quitely sit back at my desk and chuckle)

 

[By-Tor]

I was at the pet store the other day and they told me it had a baby then ate it it was so much food that it got bigger too