Gaum under attack...

[Tyburn]

From foreign invaders :scared0015:

Authorities in the US territory of Guam have turned away a ship after thousands of spiders overflowed from its cargo.

The Guam Department of Agriculture said hundreds of large spiders and thousands of smaller ones were seen when workers began offloading insulation and beams for housing units from the ship, the MV Altavia.

The cargo was returned to the ship, and the Agriculture Department ordered that the ship not be allowed to dock. It was last ported in South Korea.

"When you get this many from this many various sizes, it's definitely an infestation," said Department of Agriculture Director Joseph Torres.

Agriculture officials said they didn't know what type of spiders were on the ship. But they said it was a type not normally found on Guam and there was concern the spiders could damage the island's environment.

"It's not on Guam," Torres said. "We don't want it here."

The ship was carrying housing units and accessories to be used at a work force village expected to house up to 18,000 temporary workers.

Before the ship initially docked, officers with the Guam Customs and Quarantine Agency boarded the ship and gave clearance for cargo to be unlocked for offloading, said Bernadette Meno, an administrator for the Port Authority of Guam.

But when port workers saw the spiders, the containers were ordered back on the ship and it was anchored in the harbour. The decision was later made not to let the ship return.

Marianas Steamship Agencies arranged for the ship's arrival and departure. Its vice president, Richard P Sablan, said he will follow orders of customs, agriculture and US Coast Guard officials.

:unsure-1: could be a problem on that sized island...I wonder how many Spiders surived :unsure-1:

[TexasRN]

This does not help my massive fear of spiders, Dave. :angry:


~Amy

[Dethbob]

Yeah, thanks Dave, that’s just great! I have spiders all over my front door. They eat the moths and bugs that come to the light, and they like to hide in the crack above the door because of the warm air coming out of the house. When I leave for work in the morning, they fall off into my coffee and hair. More than once I have had to pull over on the way to work to sort out a fangy hitch-hiker. Spiders seem to know I don’t like them and look for ways to hook up with me.

[cubsfan47]

"Itsy bitsy spider ran up the water spout......":laugh::laugh::laugh:

[NateR]

http://people.cryst.bbk.ac.uk/~ubcg60a/malaysia/trapdoorSpider1.jpg

[County Mike]

I get these groups of daddy-long-legs that perch in our gym door frame. When I open the door, they lose their grip and fall onto me. Half the time, I don't even notice because they weigh next to nothing. I'll be driving to work and one will crawl down my arm. I just flick 'em out the window.

[Tyburn]

This does not help my massive fear of spiders, Dave. :angry:


~Amy

Are you going to Guam on holiday or something :huh:

[Dethbob]

Are you going to Guam on holiday or something :huh:

If spiders can hijack a ship to Guam, there’s no telling what they’re capable of!

[Dethbob]

I don’t smoke, but I used to, and I was out on the deck once when I noticed out of the corner of my eye, a large wolf spider on the wall about forehead high and about arms length and two feet away. The instant I perceived it, the spider knew and pivoted like a very small tank to lock onto me. I measured the distance and took a step just large enough to bring my venomous foe within crushing range of my lighter. Before I could complete the shuffle, the arachnid leapt from his perch and dropped neatly through a quarter inch gap in the planks at my feet without touching wood on either side. It took me a long moment to realize what had happened and that I didn’t know spiders could do that. Imagining other things that spiders may be able to do, I decided to go back inside.

[Tyburn]

Yeah, thanks Dave, that’s just great! I have spiders all over my front door. They eat the moths and bugs that come to the light, and they like to hide in the crack above the door because of the warm air coming out of the house. When I leave for work in the morning, they fall off into my coffee and hair. More than once I have had to pull over on the way to work to sort out a fangy hitch-hiker. Spiders seem to know I don’t like them and look for ways to hook up with me.

The difference is that those Spiders are supposed to be there.

Let me explain. Natural ecosystems are fragile, and occasionally in the past things have naturally gone wrong with an important population of grubs being eaten or killed by another. Mans first impulse has always been to introduce some type of preditor to kill whatever is killing the important grubs believing that they are restoring order...when what they are really doing is making a matter even worse...because then they cant extract the preditor.

I use an example, a harmless example...When I went across to the United States the Second time and spent a few days in Chicago I was quite aghast at how many sparrows their were...the place actually has an infestation like England has with the pigeon...the difference is, that Sparrows are NOT native to the United States...or at least not these sort. These sort were the descendants of just a few sparrows deliberatly released from England/Europe on the Eastern Seaboard...in less then 100 years...they are swarming in the midwest also

Okay but the major difference here is that Guam is pretty much a closed Ecosystem, its on a small island, just like England, surrounded by water...so its unlikely to see new species pop up on it very often. There is no telling the untold damage even a handful of foreign spiders could do. They might start praying on bugs that are needed, they might deplete other animal food sources, they might damage crops if they burrow, they might be a danger to the public if they are venomous. They might even interbreed with native spiders and produce something altogether different....once you drop something like this into a system...you cant...short of an act of GOD, remove them.

If these Spiders turn out to be nasty...then you'd better hope for a serious tropical storm over Guam, THIS YEAR, and pray that the whole lot of them perish before spawning, or doing much damage.

In England, a form of the European Widow Spider landed on the Southern Shore...noone is quite sure how it got through customs...the warm and wet summers we have had, have been a blessing for the mite, and they have gone forth and multiplied. Last year they made it as far north as the capital city.

Its the fact they mention the word "hundreds" as if there were loads of them...by the time you spot them...its already almost certainly too late...they had already offloaded part of the stock onto the Island...loading it back on is all well and good...but the critters are not going to go peacefully, they will run and hide...they are illegal immigrants.

The reason I feel kinda passionate about this is because at work, I'm the one for our department that sorts out these types of things when they are found. We found such a nice baboon spider once it went to a "spider rescue centre" and then onto a private collector :laugh: He was a fine specimen, a young male I should think, just going through his first molt. Gave up quite a good fight before we caught him :frantics:

[Tyburn]

I don’t smoke, but I used to, and I was out on the deck once when I noticed out of the corner of my eye, a large wolf spider on the wall about forehead high and about arms length and two feet away. The instant I perceived it, the spider knew and pivoted like a very small tank to lock onto me. I measured the distance and took a step just large enough to bring my venomous foe within crushing range of my lighter. Before I could complete the shuffle, the arachnid leapt from his perch and dropped neatly through a quarter inch gap in the planks at my feet without touching wood on either side. It took me a long moment to realize what had happened and that I didn’t know spiders could do that. Imagining other things that spiders may be able to do, I decided to go back inside.

Where do you live? the United States is home to some LARGE arachnids which are known as "jumping" spiders...I know...I saw one in Illinois. It was during my first trip. Jumping spiders are big, usually, and they look venomous...but they are actually harmless, and usually very cautious and timid.

I was sat on a bench outside of Nathans house reading, and listening to my CD...when this...thing, jumped out of the tree, and scuttled across the table right infront of me. I went in and asked Nathan if there were any dangerous spiders around, and he said he didnt know, but if it looked dangerous to leave it alone :laugh:

[Llamafighter]

I don’t smoke, but I used to, and I was out on the deck once when I noticed out of the corner of my eye, a large wolf spider on the wall about forehead high and about arms length and two feet away. The instant I perceived it, the spider knew and pivoted like a very small tank to lock onto me. I measured the distance and took a step just large enough to bring my venomous foe within crushing range of my lighter. Before I could complete the shuffle, the arachnid leapt from his perch and dropped neatly through a quarter inch gap in the planks at my feet without touching wood on either side. It took me a long moment to realize what had happened and that I didn’t know spiders could do that. Imagining other things that spiders may be able to do, I decided to go back inside.

:laugh::laugh::laugh:

:scared0011:

[Dethbob]

I was sat on a bench outside of Nathans house reading, and listening to my CD...when this...thing, jumped out of the tree, and scuttled across the table right infront of me. I went in and asked Nathan if there were any dangerous spiders around, and he said he didnt know, but if it looked dangerous to leave it alone :laugh:

Did it look like the ten legged one in Nate’s picture?

[Chuck]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rABPA9LEp5c

[Chuck]

The difference is that those Spiders are supposed to be there.

Let me explain. (because you'd be lost without me.) Blahblah blah blah blah blahblahblah. Blah blah blah blahblahblah blah blah. Blah blah!! Blah Blah (insert trivial fact that I think only I know) blah blah blahblah. Blah blahblah blah. Blah blahblah (insert personal story to validate previous trivial fact) Blah. Blahblah blah blah blah blahblahblah. Blahblah blah blah blah blahblahblah. Blah blah blah blahblahblah blah blah. Blahblah blah blah blah blahblahblah. Blah blah blah blahblahblah blah blah. Blah blah blah blahblahblah. Blahblah blah blah blah blahblahblah. Blah blah blah blahblahblah. Blah!!! Blah blah blah blah? Blah blah!! Blah Blah blah blah, blahblah. Blah blahblah blah. Blah blahblah Blah. (insert another trivial fact that I think only I know)Blahblah blah blah blah blahblahblah. Blahblah blah blah blah blahblahblah. Blah blah blah blahblahblah. Blah!!! Blah blah blah blah?Blah blah blah blahblahblah blah blah. Blah blah blah blahblahblah blah blah. Blahblah blah blah blah blahblahblah. Blah blah blah blahblahblah blah blah.

Blahblah blah blah blah blahblahblah. Blah blah blah blahblahblah blah blah. (Begin overwhelming audience with long winded story or observation) Blahblah blah blah blah blahblahblah. Blah blah blah blahblahblah blah blah. Blah blah blah blahblahblah. Blahblah blah blah blah blahblahblah. Blah blah blah blahblahblah. (Educate Americans on their own country if possible)Blah!!! Blah blah blah blah? Blah blah!! Blah Blah blah blah, blahblah. Blah blahblah blah. Blah blahblah Blah. Blahblah blah blah blah blahblahblah. Blahblah blah blah blah blahblahblah. Blah blah blah blahblahblah. Blah!!! Blah blah blah blah?Blah blah blah blahblahblah blah blah. Blah blah blah blahblahblah blah blah. Blahblah blah blah blah blahblahblah.

Blah blah!! (Begin summary...don't forget the emoticon at the end)Blah Blah blah blah blahblah. Blahblah blah blah blah blahblahblah. Blah blah blah blahblahblah blah blah. (Don't forget to mention Jens Pulver)Blahblah blah blah. Blah blah blah blahblahblah. Blah!!! Blah blah blah blah? Blah blah!! Blah Blah blah blah, blahblah. Blah blahblah blah. Blah blahblah Blah. Blahblah blah blah blah blahblahblah. Jens Pulver. Blah blah blah blahblahblah blah blah.Blah Blah blah blah blahblah. Blahblah blah blah blah blahblahblah. Blah blah blah blahblahblah blah blah. Blahblah blah blah. Blah blah blah blahblahblah. Blah!!! Blah blah blah blah? Blah blah!! Blah Blah blah blah, blahblah. Blah blahblah blah. Blah blahblah Blah. Blahblah blah blah blah blahblahblah. Blah blah blah blahblahblah blah blah. :)


Fixed. :D

[J.B.]

Some more spiders....

http://www.jonco48.com/blog/spiders_small.jpg

http://bugmomma.com/images/t.blondi1.jpg

http://fightpastor.com/fightpastor.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/04/andersonsilva.jpg

[TexasRN]

I get these groups of daddy-long-legs that perch in our gym door frame. When I open the door, they lose their grip and fall onto me. Half the time, I don't even notice because they weigh next to nothing. I'll be driving to work and one will crawl down my arm. I just flick 'em out the window.

Daddy Long Legs don't bother me even though they are extremely poisonous. They are just goofy looking and can't bite so I can even pick them up and fling them on other people with no problem. Regular spiders however, make me run screaming like an idiot girl in a horror movie.


~Amy

[J.B.]

Daddy Long Legs don't bother me even though they are extremely poisonous. They are just goofy looking and can't bite so I can even pick them up and fling them on other people with no problem. Regular spiders however, make me run screaming like an idiot girl in a horror movie.


~Amy

Actually that's just an old myth about the Daddy Long Legs. :laugh:

[TexasRN]

Actually that's just an old myth about the Daddy Long Legs. :laugh:


Well they're still goofy looking. :tongue0011:


~Amy

[J.B.]

Well they're still goofy looking. :tongue0011:


~Amy

:laugh:

I used to see them around the house all the time in Illinois, but I never see them here in AZ. Maybe I'm just not paying attention..:ninja:

[TexasRN]

:laugh:

I used to see them around the house all the time in Illinois, but I never see them here in AZ. Maybe I'm just not paying attention..:ninja:

We had them en masse in TX at certain times of the year. They would get together in a huge huddle to mate. Talk about disturbing....:scared0015:


~Amy

[J.B.]

We had them en masse in TX at certain times of the year. They would get together in a huge huddle to mate. Talk about disturbing....:scared0015:


~Amy

Well, it's a good thing they aren't really dangerous or we would be in trouble! :laugh:

[flo]

Nate & JB are bad, bad men.

Of course, I had to click on Chuck's link.

:banghead:

[Dethbob]

We had them en masse in TX at certain times of the year. They would get together in a huge huddle to mate. Talk about disturbing....:scared0015:


~Amy

Why is that disturbing? I remember this one time.. oh wait, are we still talking about spiders?

[flo]

Why is that disturbing? I remember this one time.. oh wait, are we still talking about spiders?

:laugh::laugh::laugh:

[TexasRN]

Why is that disturbing? I remember this one time.. oh wait, are we still talking about spiders?


:laugh::laugh::laugh:


~Amy

[County Mike]

Spider Orgy!

http://www.toplessrobot.com/assets_c/2009/05/spiderman-mary-jane-black-cat-orgy-thumb-322x336.jpg