Because Australia, that's why
June 17, 2019 10:26 PM   Subscribe

Pygmy possums usually aren’t on the menu for huntsman spiders. But an Australian man from Tasmania has captured the rare moment a huntsman attempted to devour a tiny possum at a lodge in the Mount Field national park, 64 km north-west of Hobart. CW: PICS OF A SPIDER EATING A MAMMAL (Possum-eating spider previously)
posted by Johnny Wallflower (37 comments total) 10 users marked this as a favorite
 
Your posts. They're usually so fun-loving, so full of light, so slanted toward dogs...

And then you do this.
posted by hippybear at 10:30 PM on June 17, 2019 [10 favorites]


I mean, don't get me wrong. Nature being nature is great, so yay! I just can't click on any of the links. But I hope they are interesting for those who can click on them!
posted by hippybear at 10:34 PM on June 17, 2019 [1 favorite]


I am a land of contrasts.
posted by Johnny Wallflower at 10:55 PM on June 17, 2019 [12 favorites]


MetaFilter: PICS OF A SPIDER EATING A MAMMAL
posted by loquacious at 11:03 PM on June 17, 2019 [6 favorites]


Huntsman spiders aren't dangerous to humans! And they're big, and don't really hide that much. The ones you have to be scared of are the red backs and funnel webs.

This was a public service announcement.
posted by Joe in Australia at 11:08 PM on June 17, 2019 [24 favorites]


If there's one thing that Tolkien taught me it's that big spiders who don't really hide that much are the ones which will fuck you up. Like, twice, across generations. Big spiders. Fuck You Up.
posted by hippybear at 11:11 PM on June 17, 2019 [4 favorites]


Just need to check with the mods for a sec; we're still not allowed to say "fuck you" to fellow mefites right?
...
I'll still take this over the poop
posted by Homo neanderthalensis at 11:34 PM on June 17, 2019 [12 favorites]


shelob is coming ! or maybe...U N G O L I A N T?
posted by clockzero at 11:41 PM on June 17, 2019 [2 favorites]


Yeah Huntsman spiders certainly creep me out and seem to like to run across floors with a confidence uncommon in spiders

But they're not the ones to worry about, they're good spiders, I'd prefer to have one in the house than not I think. I have some conception that it might keep the other, more concerning insect things away.
posted by AnhydrousLove at 12:31 AM on June 18, 2019 [3 favorites]


When I was a kid I had one that lived under the poster above my bed. I used to lift up the bottom of the poster and wish it goodnight fairly regularly. Until my mum found out.
posted by deadwax at 12:43 AM on June 18, 2019 [33 favorites]


He said it was more common to see huntsman eat small birds, frogs and geckos.

That's interesting, because I've seen a gecko eat one of these. A much smaller one though.

The above is correct, they're big but they're harmless. You can coexist with them. If you go near them they'll run away. They shed their skin, and sometimes you can mistake the empty skin for the real thing. And leave them in someone's drawer.

Here's one taking a drink at a watering hole.
posted by adept256 at 1:03 AM on June 18, 2019 [4 favorites]


As an Australian man from Tasmania, I endorse this post.

Much scarier than a huntsman attempting to devour a tiny possum is a feral or domestic cat easily devouring multiple tiny possums, which happens all the time.
posted by rory at 1:32 AM on June 18, 2019 [10 favorites]


They’re not entirely harmless. My sister got a line of nasty bites when we were kids and she got into bed with one. Less scary than, say, bees, but still...
posted by pompomtom at 2:23 AM on June 18, 2019


Relax, all you mammals. That spider is eating a marsupial.
posted by zaelic at 2:34 AM on June 18, 2019 [10 favorites]


Australians have a reputation as being fearless because we live on a continent with various terrors, like, for example, giant spiders that eat mammals. This reputation is, I'm sorry to admit, unearned. We're just not that scared of snakes and spiders. Instead, we're scared of magpies.
posted by Merus at 2:42 AM on June 18, 2019 [14 favorites]


I'm scared of jack jumpers. And bushfires.
posted by rory at 2:51 AM on June 18, 2019 [2 favorites]




Here's one taking a drink at a watering hole.

I don't think that's even a huntsman, and if the owner is Australian I hope someone dobs him into the RSPCA for trying to train a spider before it's an adult.
posted by Joe in Australia at 3:23 AM on June 18, 2019 [1 favorite]


1. Why label this an “attempt?” The Huntsman succeeded, right?

2. I liked the term “sizable mouse.” It would be a good user name.
posted by GenjiandProust at 3:31 AM on June 18, 2019


(Also: marsupials are mammals).
posted by pompomtom at 4:34 AM on June 18, 2019


The above is correct, they're big but they're harmless.

Not if you're a small bird, frog, gecko or possum they're not.
posted by jeather at 5:03 AM on June 18, 2019 [2 favorites]


One time I found the desiccated hind quarters of a mouse hanging from a black widow web in my basement.
I really don't like black widows.
posted by Tenuki at 6:14 AM on June 18, 2019 [4 favorites]


Our ramshackle old house has more or a more or less chronic mouse issue that we've been unable to do much about.

I now see a way forward - thanks, Johnny Wallflower.
posted by ryanshepard at 7:09 AM on June 18, 2019 [6 favorites]


So many links to not click on! Thanks, I hate it!

If you had told me there was a post on doggo eye muscles allowing them to bring the cute, and one about overgrown hellspawn eating the cute, and that one of them was by Johhny Wallflower, I would have guessed...anyway, enough about the Johnny I used to know.
posted by maxwelton at 10:18 AM on June 18, 2019 [10 favorites]


I just noticed that I've had a bunch of baby garden spiders and orb weavers show up, and I'm actually super ok with that because fuck mosquitoes! They're already making tiny little webs all over the place.

And a moment ago I noticed a cute little jumping spider or wolf spider roaming my desk and they can totally stay.

I would much rather have that spider there instead of the GIANT FRICKIN' WOOD ANTS that keep wandering in. Seriously, these things are often nearly an inch long, maybe more if you include their antennae and back legs at a stretch. I've seen much smaller cockroaches and beetles, these things are just terrifyingly large. I am deeply thankful they don't show up in force like common house ants and go after sugar and stuff - or army ants! - because that would be nightmare fuel.

I know there's a couple of house spiders in my room and they're actually welcome because they eat more annoying bugs that get in.
posted by loquacious at 11:11 AM on June 18, 2019 [1 favorite]


I'd prefer to have one in the house than not I think

cool. i'd prefer to walk outside, light the house on fire, wait for it to turn into a pile of ash, pour gasoline on the ash, light that on fire, and then shovel a half ton of concrete on the embers.
posted by wibari at 12:06 PM on June 18, 2019 [9 favorites]


loquacious, those carpenter ants will eat your house if you let them stay. I don't think spiders do much to them...I had an infestation of those ants in my workshop and they methodically removed the spider webs they encountered. They're in important part of returning trees and stumps to the ground, but they see houses, sheds and garages as just another thing to hollow out.

This planet is a hellscape, is what I'm saying.
posted by maxwelton at 12:20 PM on June 18, 2019 [4 favorites]


This spider is not just eating a mammal, it is casually dangling from a smooth surface by only three legs and weightlifting a mammal to its face for nibbling. That is like pulling a fully grown mastiff up to your face for noms while swinging from a trapeze with one leg. This spider is swole as heck!
posted by DSime at 1:01 PM on June 18, 2019 [13 favorites]


It always bothers me to see videos of lower order animals, like spiders and centipedes, eating higher order animals like reptiles and mammals. This is always Wrong, and yet, I cannot look away. Don't go searching for these on youtube because you will find far too many spiders eating mice. There are some pretty nifty videos of bullfrogs ambushing birds - less of an evolutionary gap (I know that evolution isn't comparative but still), and thus far more tolerable.
posted by Edgewise at 1:04 PM on June 18, 2019 [1 favorite]


I mean, at least with bullfrogs and birds, they're all vertebrates.
posted by uberchet at 3:49 PM on June 18, 2019


I never expected to find out that MetaFilter is a hotbed of endoskeletalism.
posted by Johnny Wallflower at 5:06 PM on June 18, 2019 [11 favorites]


[NOT CHITIN-IST]
posted by Mayor West at 5:08 PM on June 18, 2019 [2 favorites]


I'm just gonna leave this here.
posted by suetanvil at 7:50 PM on June 18, 2019


Instead, we're scared of magpies.

Well duh, you live in a country where the birds regularly get drunk and set fires.

Meanwhile, normal people live in countries like Canada, where the geese are ...

... nevermind.
posted by sebastienbailard at 8:02 PM on June 18, 2019 [1 favorite]


Merus, exactly. We're not scared of spiders and snakes (much) because they aren't out to get us. Fucking magpies though, they make a game out of attacking innocent people.

And at least you can walk through the woods at Mount Field without the slightest fear of meeting a bear.
posted by kitten magic at 12:18 AM on June 19, 2019


That is like pulling a fully grown mastiff up to your face for noms while swinging from a trapeze with one leg.

Wait, this... is... a notable... accomplishment? Huh.
posted by GenjiandProust at 2:15 AM on June 19, 2019




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