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Well, that's it. I'm out.

FAUlty Gator

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Oct 27, 2017
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If you haven't met the colorful, massive Joro spider yet, you may soon be introduced to the invasive species if you live on the East Coast, scientists predict.

The predominately yellow spider, which can get as big as the palm of your hand, was first spotted in Georgia in 2013. Originating from Asia, there is no clear answer for how it made it into the United States other than it likely came in a shipping container. But in nearly 10 years, the species has rapidly spread across Georgia and other parts of the Southeast.

Now, scientists from the University of Georgia say in a study published in the journal Physiological Entomology the Joro spider could take over much of the East Coast in the coming years.

“People should try to learn to live with them," Andy Davis, research scientist at Georgia's Odum School of Ecology and co-author of the study, said in a statement. "If they’re literally in your way, I can see taking a web down and moving them to the side, but they’re just going to be back next year."

Scientists came to their conclusion by comparing the Joro spider to its relative, the golden silk spider. Known as the "banana spider," the golden silk spider hails from the tropical regions of Central and South America, but made its way into the southeast U.S. around 150 years ago and similarly took over the region, making it the "perfect experiment" to use for comparison.

But as much as the golden silk spider population has grown, it has yet to expand into the North because the spider is susceptible to the cold. The scientists collected the two species and measured numerous physical traits as well as how they adapted to different environmental conditions, including brief periods of temperatures below freezing.
 
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These spiders took over north Atlanta last year. They are huge and spin massive webs. I killed several in my yard last year, one of the webs had caught a hummingbird.
Is their bite as dangerous as say a black widow, brown recluse or tarantula?

If so, then it sounds like a bad scene from the movie "The Mist".
 
Is their bite as dangerous as say a black widow, brown recluse or tarantula?

If so, then it sounds like a bad scene from the movie "The Mist".
Tarantula bites aren't dangerous, other than maybe from an infection if they were nesting in a human corpse and there were like hundreds of them in the human corpse. Sort of like this....

cZFYzatxTu12pIhg7SvAELzZrurDwf0lbHSspPN__Sc.jpg
 
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Banana spiders have been around for a long time and if you know places where they like to spin their webs they’re very easily seen. Not aggressive to humans.
Now brown recluse are another story.
🕷🕸was bitten once.
And don’t get me going on scorpions 🦂😳
 
These spiders took over north Atlanta last year. They are huge and spin massive webs. I killed several in my yard last year, one of the webs had caught a hummingbird.

Let's see the big bastards survive a February in Iowa. Pussies probably couldn't even handle mid 30s! As for the spiders.....🤣
 
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Last fall I took a Saturday to kill all of those spiders outside my house/lawn. I lost count after 20.
 
Tarantula bites aren't dangerous, other than maybe from an infection if they were nesting in a human corpse and there were like hundreds of them in the human corpse. Sort of like this....

cZFYzatxTu12pIhg7SvAELzZrurDwf0lbHSspPN__Sc.jpg

Those are maggots, not tarantulas.
 
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Where do you live and what's the best way to avoid the place where you live?
North Atlanta. They are actually very pretty and do not try to get in the house. But it got to the point of every morning letting the dog out I would walk through one of their webs and look like a crazy person trying to get out of it.
 
North Atlanta. They are actually very pretty and do not try to get in the house. But it got to the point of every morning letting the dog out I would walk through one of their webs and look like a crazy person trying to get out of it.

Thanks for making waking up to 14 degree weather this morning not sound quite so bad.
 
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Would love to have those around the patio in the summer to keep the pests away. Spiders are cool (as long as they can't kill you).
 
North Atlanta. They are actually very pretty and do not try to get in the house. But it got to the point of every morning letting the dog out I would walk through one of their webs and look like a crazy person trying to get out of it.
I let them be at our lake house on Lanier except when they spin webs across our path to the water. Always walk waving a stick in front of you so you don’t get caught in one. I figure the ones off the back deck will catch plenty of bugs that would bother us.
 
Tarantula bites aren't dangerous, other than maybe from an infection if they were nesting in a human corpse and there were like hundreds of them in the human corpse. Sort of like this....

cZFYzatxTu12pIhg7SvAELzZrurDwf0lbHSspPN__Sc.jpg
I gotta know the story about this dipshit letting his leg get to the point of hurting for some unknown reason but refusing to pull his pant leg up to check it out.
 
I gotta know the story about this dipshit letting his leg get to the point of hurting for some unknown reason but refusing to pull his pant leg up to check it out.

Sadly, it's a lot more common than you'd think. Crazy thing is for some types of wounds, it actually be helpful. The maggots eat the dead flesh and leave behind the healthy - often staving off infection.

 
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