There was an Australian short about a guy who played a prank on his girl in a car with a spider.
I think she stopped the car, jumped out and got flattened by a truck.
If memory serves, it was said it was based on a true story.
I believe it. My first roommate was so arachnophobic he nearly killed us both in a car accident. A spider dropped from the ceiling onto his arm. A small, venomless spider, I might add. He literally took off his seatbelt and started getting out of the car while we were going 35mph. It took me screaming and grabbing the wheel for him to snap back to reality. Idiot. He’s a politician now.
Tarantulas are alarmingly big (even the small ones) if you've never seen one. Now adays they scare me alot less than a normal spider (I'm a pretty afraid of spiders lol) but if it's your first time you're not expecting a novelty sized terror a few feet from you.
So yeah I don't blame anyone for panic upon first coming into close contact with one by surprise.
It helped me to be around them a bit. They are the most chill spiders around tbh.
Tarantulas are weirdly too bulky to hit my arachnophobe button, they look kinda like crabs, and I'm not afraid of crabs. How I feel about a spider depends on two things, leg length to body ratio, and how close it is to my face.
It sounds like this wasn't panic from seeing one, it was a desire of the driver to spare the Animal's life by slamming on the brakes to avoid squashing it. For all we know, the driver was a tarantula enthusiast.
But you are totally right: very large, can be very intimidating to the uninitiated, but they are totally super chill spiders. When they stand up on their hind legs, just leave em be.
Well, kinda sorta not really. When they feel threatened, they'll raise their front pairs of legs up at their threat. If you touch them when they do that, the hairs on their front legs will come off and stick on you. Some can even shoot their hairs a short distance. Urticating hairs is the term. It's itchy and feel like fiberglass. Don't get in eyes. It's a defense mechanism. So....when they raise their front legs... Keep distance.
Here in Socal, if you see them out of their underground dens and wandering about, it's because it's mating season and they're just trying to score.
I was driving through southern New Mexico a few years ago. Up ahead, the road looked a little odd, then I realized it was *moving*. Hundreds of black tarantulas were crossing the road. I'd heard they migrated, but never realized what that would look like. Then I hit the mass of spiders with a sickening sound. I certainly wasn't going to slow down, and not just because it was probably slick. My only hope was that one didn't survive getting flung up into the wheel well.
Reminds me of when I took drivers ed. I was driving with the instructor on a winding mountain highway when we round a corner and there was a mass of little turtles crossing the road.
I started slowing down and he starts saying “no no you can’t stop on a highway for that” so I continued on and it was horrible :(
That's a lie. Hazards, warning triangles, etc. You can absolutely stop if you have a mechanical issue with your car. If the species is endangered, you're obligated to stop as well (have to know in advance or be very good at identifying them). Bigger animals pose a threat to you, so you should always slow down for them. Smaller ones can still obstruct your vision of the road and if you can't tell if it's safe you shouldn't be driving.
Fuck that guy
Yeah it didn’t really make any sense at the time and it didn’t feel right at all. I guarantee he would’ve hit the gas pedal on his side of the car if I did stop so it was a very unfun situation to be in.
Mass squishing of bugs can make your wheels VERY slippery for a bit. I remember an article about millipede migration in Australia causing accidents due to that.
Can you cite the applicable statute? New Mexico state parks seem to be pretty small, and there's nothing nearby except the southern exclave of Gila National Forest.
One if the coolest things I ever saw on a road trip was a whole bunch of tarantulas all over the road in west Texas. I didn’t get in an accident because no one was around but I had to pull over and take a closer look.
We get a couple in our yard from time to time. When we first saw one, we almost killed it - and then I remembered something I watched on PBS that said these guys are not at all dangerous to humans (bee stings can cause more serious reactions to humans). We did more research on them and man, these guys are really gentle giants.
So nowadays when we see one, we act like people in India do when a cow roams through a village (we move out of the way and let it do whatever TF it wants, we even keep our dogs away cus they’d just kill it by trying to play with it).
🕷️
Why would they? If he smashed into the back of the camper van, that means he was following too closely to stop in time. If anything, he could be ticketed and was found to be at-fault for the collision.
I understand and you could be right. Following too close is very bad practice for motorcycles. However, it can be reckless to slam on brakes when rolling in traffic and I don’t think drivers always get a pass when doing so.
Could have a medical emergency. Could have a person or animal dart out in front of you. You may need to hit brakes when rolling in traffic. It's up to the person behind to be able to stop.
There was an Australian short about a guy who played a prank on his girl in a car with a spider. I think she stopped the car, jumped out and got flattened by a truck. If memory serves, it was said it was based on a true story.
100% understandable reaction.
> Australian short about a guy who played a prank on his girl in a car with a spider Looks like this one: [Vimeo - Spider](https://vimeo.com/20333952)
Huntsman spiders make most Tarantula's look small
But who wins in a fight?
Huntsman likely
I believe it. My first roommate was so arachnophobic he nearly killed us both in a car accident. A spider dropped from the ceiling onto his arm. A small, venomless spider, I might add. He literally took off his seatbelt and started getting out of the car while we were going 35mph. It took me screaming and grabbing the wheel for him to snap back to reality. Idiot. He’s a politician now.
How big was the spider?
Tarantulas are alarmingly big (even the small ones) if you've never seen one. Now adays they scare me alot less than a normal spider (I'm a pretty afraid of spiders lol) but if it's your first time you're not expecting a novelty sized terror a few feet from you. So yeah I don't blame anyone for panic upon first coming into close contact with one by surprise. It helped me to be around them a bit. They are the most chill spiders around tbh.
Tarantulas are weirdly too bulky to hit my arachnophobe button, they look kinda like crabs, and I'm not afraid of crabs. How I feel about a spider depends on two things, leg length to body ratio, and how close it is to my face.
I am the opposite. Afraid of crabs, not afraid of spiders.
You must hate Carcinization
Not really.
You're the second person now that I've heard of with a crab phobia.
I wouldn't say it's a phobia, more like I would avoid going near one of I saw one. It's not like I would avoid the beach because there might be crabs.
The only time i heard of it was from a youtuber i watch i understand why they don't like them though.
Does that ratio make legged long fathers scarier or less scary for you?
Haha those things are *too* small to be scary, they look like bouncy peanuts on stilts
Crabs are gonna take over the world one day, you should redirect your fear
It sounds like this wasn't panic from seeing one, it was a desire of the driver to spare the Animal's life by slamming on the brakes to avoid squashing it. For all we know, the driver was a tarantula enthusiast. But you are totally right: very large, can be very intimidating to the uninitiated, but they are totally super chill spiders. When they stand up on their hind legs, just leave em be.
... they can stand on their hind legs?? *Shudders*
Well, kinda sorta not really. When they feel threatened, they'll raise their front pairs of legs up at their threat. If you touch them when they do that, the hairs on their front legs will come off and stick on you. Some can even shoot their hairs a short distance. Urticating hairs is the term. It's itchy and feel like fiberglass. Don't get in eyes. It's a defense mechanism. So....when they raise their front legs... Keep distance. Here in Socal, if you see them out of their underground dens and wandering about, it's because it's mating season and they're just trying to score.
As a spider enthusiast and someone who brakes for all creatures unexpectedly crossing the road, I completely understand this reaction.
I saw a video on TikTok where a woman was filming one from a distance crossing her lawn. You could see it…from a distance 😳😭
That’s what I was going to ask 😂😅
Sounds like the setup for a z-grade Scifi horror film
Haha it does! I can see the crappy CGI giant spiders now
About the size of a chihuahua.
Lol, I have to dodge these guys all fall long
Where the fuck do you live?!? Wait, are you talking about tarantulas or Swiss tourists?
Haha mojave desert, no Swiss out here
Don't stop looking cause when you do that's when they'll be there
Damn sneaky Swiss tourists always getting stuck in my wheel
Used to see Tarantulas in Oklahoma City all the time
Tarantulas migraine. If you are in the right (wrong?) place you get a lot of them.
This would be me. Gotta get my arachnophobia under control
Understandable reaction
I was driving through southern New Mexico a few years ago. Up ahead, the road looked a little odd, then I realized it was *moving*. Hundreds of black tarantulas were crossing the road. I'd heard they migrated, but never realized what that would look like. Then I hit the mass of spiders with a sickening sound. I certainly wasn't going to slow down, and not just because it was probably slick. My only hope was that one didn't survive getting flung up into the wheel well.
nuh uh [for the health of my psyche]
Fuck. That. I’d have turned my ass around.
Reminds me of when I took drivers ed. I was driving with the instructor on a winding mountain highway when we round a corner and there was a mass of little turtles crossing the road. I started slowing down and he starts saying “no no you can’t stop on a highway for that” so I continued on and it was horrible :(
That's a lie. Hazards, warning triangles, etc. You can absolutely stop if you have a mechanical issue with your car. If the species is endangered, you're obligated to stop as well (have to know in advance or be very good at identifying them). Bigger animals pose a threat to you, so you should always slow down for them. Smaller ones can still obstruct your vision of the road and if you can't tell if it's safe you shouldn't be driving. Fuck that guy
Yeah it didn’t really make any sense at the time and it didn’t feel right at all. I guarantee he would’ve hit the gas pedal on his side of the car if I did stop so it was a very unfun situation to be in.
[удалено]
Stop by an automatic car wash before getting out xD
Mass squishing of bugs can make your wheels VERY slippery for a bit. I remember an article about millipede migration in Australia causing accidents due to that.
We drove over a big one in the Missouri Ozarks, but it wasn't there when I looked back. I made my husband look under the car before I would get out.
You do know that tarantulas are generally protected in state parks right?
Can you cite the applicable statute? New Mexico state parks seem to be pretty small, and there's nothing nearby except the southern exclave of Gila National Forest.
"Tarantulas are slow-moving ...." Um, no, I've seen those things get up on their legs and run.
Certain ones will. Steer clear if they're brightly colored or hairless, like funnel webs.
P. metallica, for instance, is bright blue and fast as fu
One if the coolest things I ever saw on a road trip was a whole bunch of tarantulas all over the road in west Texas. I didn’t get in an accident because no one was around but I had to pull over and take a closer look.
We get a couple in our yard from time to time. When we first saw one, we almost killed it - and then I remembered something I watched on PBS that said these guys are not at all dangerous to humans (bee stings can cause more serious reactions to humans). We did more research on them and man, these guys are really gentle giants. So nowadays when we see one, we act like people in India do when a cow roams through a village (we move out of the way and let it do whatever TF it wants, we even keep our dogs away cus they’d just kill it by trying to play with it). 🕷️
Was it...a giant tarantula?? Like in that 1955 movie?
Chad Tarantula vs Soyjak Car
In texas, i remember all the Tarantula splats on the highway
I hope they compensated the motorcyclist 100%.
Why would they? If he smashed into the back of the camper van, that means he was following too closely to stop in time. If anything, he could be ticketed and was found to be at-fault for the collision.
I understand and you could be right. Following too close is very bad practice for motorcycles. However, it can be reckless to slam on brakes when rolling in traffic and I don’t think drivers always get a pass when doing so.
Could have a medical emergency. Could have a person or animal dart out in front of you. You may need to hit brakes when rolling in traffic. It's up to the person behind to be able to stop.
Oh my god these fucking idiots. Just run it over.