Wild Tarantulas In Canada

[Rick_C_West]

British Columbian theraphosid spider

Apologies for the previous typing errors, however, I was so friggin' apoplectic about this! Please send me Dr. Adler's email address or phone number off line to rickcwest@shaw.ca so I can get to the bottom of this allegation.
Rick C. West
Victoria, BC, Canada

 

[Steve Nunn]

Re: British Columbian theraphosid spider

Originally posted by Rick_C_West
Apologies for the previous typing errors, however, I was so friggin' apoplectic about this! Rick C. West
Victoria, BC, Canada

Howdy pardner,
Nice to see you here What are the chances of any theraphosid (let alone those from the old world) firstly surviving the winter period and secondly successfully producing young that survive to adulthood (being that more then one have been located)??

Any Barychelids in that location?? We have doctors in this area (Mackay, Qld) who've ID'd mygales as funnel-webs with the end result causing people to pour poison down the burrows of harmless nemesiid trap door spiders. What these people don't know is funnel-webs don't occur this far north.

Cheers,
Steve

 

[Kugellager]

Steve, here is a link for the two Colorado locations I mentioned for the Aphonopelma ssp. I mentioned earlier in this thread.

Canon City
http://www.weather.com/weather/climatology/monthly/USCO0054

Alamosa in the San Luis Valley
http://www.weather.com/weather/climatology/monthly/USCO0004

You can see that for Alamosa that it barely gets above freezing in the winter.

John

 

[Rick_C_West]

Tarantulas in the wilds of BC, Canada

Hello Steve,
I avoid 'tarantula boards' as I have no time for all the threads, so, you don't/won't see me here much, however, I couldn't allow this one to slip by when it was brought to my attention.
There are no barychelids living naturally in Canada. Once I had a female Aphonopelma eutylenum escape one summer in Victoria, BC, Canada, and the police were called to a terrified woman's yard the following summer, 8 blocks away, to pick it up wander on her lawn. Other neighborhood kids knew who owned it and I got it back but obviously it survived somewhere through the winter. Victoria, however, is on the ocean where we get the mild Hawaiian and California ocean currents through the winters. Kamloops, on the other hand, is in the heart of BC and gets severely cold winters.
To add suspicion to all this, no one has answered me, givn me an email address or phone number. This won't stop me, I'll track this Dr. Adler down ... Kamloops is not a big place and I know the arachnologists in the region.
The comment that this tarantula looks like a 'Haplopelma' should give everyone a clue how ludicrous this is. Approx. 95% of all New World theraphosids possess uticating hairs, the other app. 5% are the small Ischnocoline-like species ... but a stridulating 'Haplopelma' tarantula naturally living in Kamloops, BC. All I can say is, don't buy a used car from these people! =D
I will post what I find out, if anything at all ... the original posters seem to have gone quiet.
Rick C. West

 

[Rick_C_West]

'Tarantulas' living in the wilds of BC, Canada

My added opinion ... if this mygalomorph proves not to be an escapes or released theraphosid, my money is on that it's Antrodiaetus hageni (Antrodiaetidae) ... which is found in this area.
Rick C. West

 

[LaRiz]

Originally posted by Kugellager
You can see that for Alamosa that it barely gets above freezing in the winter.
John

John,
My wife, Windie, grew up in Del Norte, which is not far at all from Alamosa. When I was stationed in Colorado, we even went down a couple of times, so she could spend time with her family, and me looking for bugs and stuff. I never did find any tarantulas, and Windie never seen a tarantula there. That's not to say they don't occur there.
She says Alamosa is cold, cold, cold.

 

[Kugellager]

Lariz,

The Colorado Spider survey reports that there are some in the northern end of the San Luis Valley though they did not mention the species or the exact location in what I read. They hope to have someone collect them so that they can be ID'd.

John
];')

 

[That_Guy]

where be the pictures:?

 

[Sean]

Originally posted by That_Guy
where be the pictures:?

I was wondering that same thing, im starting to wonder if this "story" is true or not??

 

[Steve Nunn]

Re: 'Tarantulas' living in the wilds of BC, Canada

Originally posted by Rick_C_West
My added opinion ... if this mygalomorph proves not to be an escapes or released theraphosid, Rick C. West

Hi Rick,
I'd doubt it's an escapee bcause they have more then one of them and there are reports of others being seen in the area. I'd guess that they've seen a large mygale in the area and got a little over excited.

I doubt we'll hear anymore on it either. Thanks for clearing that up.

Cheers,
Steve

 

[Rick_C_West]

Tarantulas Living in the Wilds of BC, Canada

Well, the rumor plot thickens.

Jacenbeers will not answer my posts and provide the information needed to check this 'story' out further and Jacenbeers wishes not be emailed through this forum.

There is no 'Dr. Adler' at any of the only University and College in Kamloops ... I just spoke to both institutions.

There never has been any escaped and establish S. American scorpion species along the Thompson river. The only scorpion found in south central BC is Vaejovis boreus.

The only mygalomorph spider found in the Kamloops area is Antrodiaetus hageni ... and no where near 5" in leg span.

I do not understand why anyone would initiate such a rumor thread then quietly disappear!

There is a very competent arachnologist in Kamloops if anyone
'really' wants to know what a local spider species is ... email me
and I will give you that contact.

I suspect, however, this will be the end of this 'story'.

Rick C. West

 

[Buspirone]

I had done a search online for a Dr. Adler two days ago. I couldn't find one in reference to Kamloops but I did find one from virginia that did work in plant taxonomy.

 

[RugbyDave]

well, i don't think he's lying or anything.. or pulling a prank..

an honest mistake, YES!
a malicious rumour, no!

I'm still interested to see a pic though!

and i know a couple other members who don't want to be emailed off this forum either...

But i still want to see some pics

peace
dave

 

[Kugellager]

Rugbydave...believe us..its not beneath him to do something like this at all.

John
];')

 

[Arachnopuppy]

I'm with rugby. I don't think Jacen did this on purpose. Well, then of course everyone knows about me and...

 

[RugbyDave]

haha, damnit.. i feel so naive sometimes... But i still wouldn't jump to conclusions without hearing a response from him...

but thanks for being honest john (seriously!)

wouldn't that totally ruin trust in him though?

peace
dave

 

[Arachnopuppy]

With regard to him not answering posts and emails, I'm not saying that I know for sure, but it is possible he's got his has tied somewhere.

Hey rugby, about the trust thing that you said, it's kinda too late for that. This excludes me, but I think many people already lost trust in Jacen a long time ago. I, however, remain neutral about him.

 

[Kugellager]

Yes that would ruin trust in him...but one must always be suspect of incredible claims...incredible claims require incredible proof...there is always someone here that will follow through on amazing claims in some part and sniff out the fabrication...eventually.

John
];')

 

[kellygirl]

Originally posted by lam
Here is my theory in the matter. 20 thousand years ago, people already had pets tarantula. When a number of them decided to cross the Bering Strait, which was frozen due to the ice age, some brought the tarantulas with them. How did the tarantulas survive the cold weather? Basically, those nomads kept the tarantulas inside their coats. You can pretty much guess the rest.

=D =D =D =D

That cracked me up.

kellygirl

 

[RugbyDave]

well i wouldn't just blindly go into that crap with no proof. I stray away from the religion thing too on that matter. Not saying that its not true, but.... I'm not all scientific, and i do believe in things that I can't neccesarily see, but.... Hey.. i've got the cure for cancer.. i just can't tell you what it is or show you =D

some people have enough faith to believe anything! Me, i'd def. need to see the T, and talk to whoever found it, described it, and possibly published it.

so don't worry about me, i won't be the sheep in the T-hunt
i'd be right up front like "come on guys.. let's get some T's"

man, that last thing really needed my voice inflection to come out sounding right.. whatever

later
dave