Anyone want a laugh?

[mickthemaverick]

I have two friends who are both scared of spiders, so when I saw this come up at auction I couldn't resist the chance of a prank. (As Ryan observed the other day, I have too much time on my hands!) Anyway I put a £3 bid on and won the remote controlled tarantula!! Sadly when it arrived I was a bit disappointed in the reality. Ever seen a tarantula that looks like this?

As it came out of the box

So I did some research on the net and found this picture of what it should look like:

Borrow from the web,

Only one thing for it I decided and got the necessary together:

Materials and tools prepared.

Half an hour later I have a good chance of having some fun:

Spoiler: show

The finished artricle

It sits very nicely under the cabinet in the lounge and responds to my remote to run out!!

[Steve Walsh]

Love it !

[Sloppysod]

Yes, you really do have too much free time, has SWMBO not given you a list!

[mickthemaverick]

The list was exhausted weeks ago!! I sit here on the sofa dreaming up ideas to keep me busy, hence the grey water system and rain water systems, details of which you can find on the DIY with Function over Finesse thread here and here. I am awaiting delivery of 15 new hardwood ply shelves for the garage racks to keep me busy this week!! The original mdf ones are sagging!!

[Rp0thejester]

that has made my day! Hopefully you'll post some footage of it in action and the screaming responses.

[mickthemaverick]

Unfortunately the running gear doesn't work on carpet so I just ran a quick test of what might turn into a bathroom surprise

[myglaren]

My youngest son had a Tarantula, a Chilean Rose, called Rosie, of course.
No-one was the least bit bothered about it although several of them were scared of small spiders.
One day it was out of it's vivarium and on of my eldest daughter's friends was here, Rosie started reaching a pair of legs around her back and the friend went bright red, started choking and ran out.

Rosie had activated her defence mechanism that we were unaware of, stroking the fine hairs off her back and releasing them into the air. They were so fine they were all but invisible but Annika's friend was severely allergic to them. The rest of us were completely oblivious and unaffected.

[CitroJim]

Magic I love spiders of all kinds, big hairy tarantulas especially

And all this despite being bitten by a Redback whilst living in Australia and ending up in hospital as a result! They have a nasty way of killing you

[Vic Evans]

Our dog Jess would love to play with that.

[Rp0thejester]

My Mrs just reminded me that I have a remote control vacuum car. It vacs itself to walls and ceilings. I'm not suggesting you get a set (dirt cheap) or put a spiders body on it, that would be cruel.....

[Stickyfinger]

Do not talk to me about F-ing Spiders.....my foot at this very moment due to one of the little bu66ers

Spoiler: show

[Rp0thejester]

[CitroJim]

Do not talk to me about F-ing Spiders.....my foot at this very moment due to one of the little bu66ers

Spoiler: show

Generally, native UK spiders don't bite and only a very few species can pierce skin. One that can, and is on the rise, is the false widow. My conservatory houses a few. I'll bet it was one of those that took a dislike to you Alasdair.

We are lucky in the UK to have such a friendly collection of spiders; they do a lot of good for us. Other countries are not so fortunate and it's largely why humans have evolved a sensible wariness and fear of them.

Never kill them. I actively encourage them in my house.

Not sure it was much of a laughing matter to be fair...

[mickthemaverick]

I doubt if anyone will be surprised to know that SWMBO actively feeds our spiders!! She puts mealworms into their webs when most people, including me, would just brush the webs out of the way!

[CitroJim]

I doubt if anyone will be surprised to know that SWMBO actively feeds our spiders!! She puts mealworms into their webs when most people, including me, would just brush the webs out of the way!

Good for her