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Joined: Aug 2001
Posts: 2,605
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Aug 2001
Posts: 2,605 |
Congratulations on your newbility, hev!
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Joined: Nov 2000
Posts: 866
old hand
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old hand
Joined: Nov 2000
Posts: 866 |
Helen & wow - when you have spiders like we do in Straya it's smart to be very, very afraid!! Only two nights ago my son discovered a white tail spider on his bath towel - he was within seconds of towelling himself dry! White tails are feared for their bites - not only are they painful, but there is an as yet unknown substance (enzyme? bacteria?) in their venom which causes a creeping necrosis of the tissue around the bite. Amputations are sometimes performed - but if you are bitten on the torso then there's a problem. Post Edit: More info at: http://www.pharmacology.unimelb.edu.au/pharmwww/avruweb/wtspage.htm And don't you just love the acronym for Necrotising Arachnidism STudY - at the bootom of the page!!!I grew up in Sydney - famed for its Funnel Web, Trapdoor and Red Back spiders. Arachnophobia is commonplace there - it's a survival mechanism!! Ain't that right Hev!! I take your point about who's a spider person and who's not. My wife is not as afraid of them as I am and readily dispatches them. Guess she's not a spider person either.....after all, she is also from Sydney. stales
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Joined: Oct 2000
Posts: 5,400
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Oct 2000
Posts: 5,400 |
HEV--You might still be stranger.. but now you're also now a newbie..congrats!
actually, back in the dark ages of computers, i had a TI99/4A (lets say early, early 1980's) and there was a small software company i dealt with.. back then everything was small and cosy.. the companies name was Funnelweb, and i looked it up.. (hard copy in those days!)sydney based.. we had a user organizition, and bought software wholesale.. helped him out too, since he didn't loose as much on lots of small check and fees to change each one. One medium check was better than 5 small!
the brown reclusive (love to hid in the wood pile, and garage) has the same sort of venom, but not as strong. a bite on your finger can cost you the finger, and bite on the arm can require surgery and 6 months or more of rehab, but it usually doesn't kill.. does leave nasty scars, since muscle underneath is damaged..
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Joined: May 2000
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addict
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addict
Joined: May 2000
Posts: 679 |
You kill spiders? Those creatures that eat all the other bugs and hide in dark corners where you really have to look to find them. Besides, didn't your Granny ever tell you that killing a spider changes the weather?
I heard: If you want to live and thrive, let a spider run alive
Despite their unfair history, spiders (apart from ones in Straya, Zild, SA etc.) do not do any harm to humans and actually keep the pest-insect population down.
After a while they actually grow on you. Not literally!!
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Joined: Aug 2000
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Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Aug 2000
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Joined: Jan 2001
Posts: 1,156
old hand
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old hand
Joined: Jan 2001
Posts: 1,156 |
wow wrote: didn't your Granny ever tell you that killing a spider changes the weather?
I'd heard it as killing a spider will make it rain. I think it's not supposed to do anything if it's raining already. Maybe it's a prairie thing - most of the time there isn't enough rain - so it embodies the neverending hope for more rain?
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Joined: Nov 2000
Posts: 3,439
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Nov 2000
Posts: 3,439 |
spiders like we do in Straya it's smart to be very, very afraid!!
Oh my! Our spiders are far milder and beneficial. Thanks for a reason to cease moaning that I cannot afford the airfare to visit the beauties of Down Under.
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Joined: Sep 2000
Posts: 4,757
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Sep 2000
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it embodies the neverending hope for more rain?or the neverending hop e for fewer spiders?
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Joined: Jan 2001
Posts: 13,858
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Jan 2001
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It suddenly occurred to me that the spider bite necrosis might be a form of autoimmune disease. An important thing is that not all victims get the necrosis. There is a genetic background to autoimmune disease. I have it, associated with ankylosing spondylitis.And the long duration of necrosis suggests that venom may be long gone, but body autoimmune necrosis having ensued.
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Joined: Nov 2000
Posts: 3,146
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Nov 2000
Posts: 3,146 |
Didn't I see one of them in Jurassic Park III?
The idiot also known as Capfka ...
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