12345, once I caught a fish alive .......♬

[Tropical_Trish]

Enormous Fish-Eating Spiders Surge In Numbers

November 4, 2015


Great news for conservationists, but maybe less so for those suffering with arachnophobia, Britain’s largest spider is seeing a remarkable comeback.
The fen raft spider can grow as big as the palm of a hand, and while it normally fills itself on pond skaters and diving beetles, it’s not averse to snacking on larger prey, such as newt tadpoles and even small fish.
Nearly driven to extinction in the U.K., the spiders are now thriving in the waterways of Norfolk and Suffolk.
With its chestnut colour and cream stripes, the fen raft spider is a particularly beautiful arachnid, if you’re that way inclined.
With bodies growing to around 2.5 centimeters (1 inch) in length, their leg span can reach 7 centimeters (2.7 inches), which allows them to walk across the water of the ponds and ditches in which they live.

[meebo1]

no visit to Norfolk and Suffolk for me then

[tony41]

I remember trying to find one of the few remaining one on Wicken Fen in the 1970s and not succeeding.

[buttons-and-bows]

no visit to Norfolk and Suffolk for me then

Well if i ever meet one it will be a visit to A&E and i don't mean for the spider

[Tropical_Trish]

Meebs, Tony, Buttons, we get some weird and wonderful critters here in Suffolk.
We get loads of Spanish slugs here and had a Mouse Spider in the house last summer ....
The European mouse spider is one of the few species of spiders found in the UK that are capable of inflicting a bite on humans. They have sufficiently large fangs to penetrate the skin and the bite is described as being painful. One report states the bite resembled a pimple with a pus-filled head surrounded by red. This led to the whole hand becoming infected.
https://www.facebook.com/lady.deltor...type=2&theater

[squern]

It's not the spiders you have to worry about.
Took this photo in Thorpeness (Suffolk) in the summer

[meebo1]

Did I really want to know that?

[Tropical_Trish]

It's not the spiders you have to worry about.
Took this photo in Thorpeness (Suffolk) in the summer

Squern, I have a dreadful, morbid fear of 'gators (and crocs) since I visited the Everglades and Gatorland in Florida and went on safari in Kenya and saw these huge vile beasts in the flesh.
I have recurring nightmares about these monsters ... I almost lost my son on two occasions when we lived in Florida, I cannot bear to even look at one now without trembling with fear .... I hope I don't have bad dreams tonight after seeing that pic of yours


BTW: I don't give 10/10 for whoever designed and modelled that 'gator - whassap with the back legs, I've seen fatter ones on the sparrows in my garden

[countryfeedback87]

it's the hairy legs that get me, ughhhh

[Tropical_Trish]

it's the hairy legs that get me, ughhhh

You should see mine after a few days with a blunt Ladyshaver ....