Are spiders turtlely enough for the Turtle Club?
Are spiders turtlely enough for the Turtle Club?
85 comments
-
Thanks, I hate it.
-
Poor turtle :( he's just a little fella
-
-
How strong is that spider that it can lift a turtle? Will one nuke be enough?
-
Let's see how strong they are under a blanket of napalm.
-
-
"Laughs in australian"
-
-
“This silk used to lift the prey, it’s very strong, comparable to steel, but it is as elastic as the normal silk you would use to make clothes”
That’s crazy, and awesome.
-
-
-
Sleep tight.
-
Not entirely accurate, there are some save zones in North- an West Alaska.
-
Why limit it to the US? Dolomedes is international.
Also yes I will sleep tight, knowing these adorable and accomplished spiders are out there living their best lives.
-
there's the slight alleviating factor of most people not living in lakes
-
But the spiders is Australia are worse right? Thats how I justify sleeping at night. Tell me its true.
-
....and with closed mouth
-
-
That's gotta be in Australia...
-
Nope, southern US. Found in a local group.
-
Great find! There are various members of Dolomedes in other countries. Some specialise in rivers, other lakes.
-
-
Nope, that's a north American species.
-
That's it, I'm petitioning the Army to let me have my M203 back.
-
-
In Australia the don't have so little Spiders
......
-
Not us this time... though we do have spiders that catch fish, snakes, lizards and birds
-
Sure you do, you got the same genus of fishing spiders. In fact, Australia has 14 of them (the US has 3).
-
I thought golden orb weavers would occasionally trap birds in their webs. I've definitely seen skinks caught in redbacks webs too
Not sure on the snakes and fish tho
-
-
I'm going pretend this is AI and move along. With climate change we are affecting their eating habits. Soon they may wise up and decide humans will make a better meal then turtles and fish.
-
-
Fascinating is not the word I would use to describe that
-
How about 'fucking nuts, dude'?
-
-
Neither are humans, but there is always a first
-
I know your age range just from the master of disguise reference
-
Saw that shit in theatres. As well as Baby Geniuses 2 and Meet the Spartans.
-
You're my exact age 31. And 32 in a few months
-
-
-
Turtle, turtle, turtle...
-
Haven’t thought about that movie in forever
-
-
This is basically the plot of IT.
-
Ofc not, turtles aren't fish!
-
Don't spiders actually sort of rather drink their prey than eating it? We digest food inside us, spiders just vomit up shit onto paralysed prey that liquifies it so the spider can just sort of slurp it up.
So I wonder how he'll do with a turtle. It's easy enough to imagine on a fish, but...
-
It's a guilty pleasure that I love The Matter of Disguise.
-
This is AI right?
Right?!
…it is though - the ripples make no sense, nor does the ant-spider in size or shape.
-
This is not AI.
-
Even if that particular picture was AI (I don't think it is), there is nothing surprising or exaggerated going on here. More like it's a rather rare/undocumented behaviour. Bit it's totally within the capabilities of a fishing spider.
-
Yeah I’ve looked a bit harder and I see the spider shape a bit better now (from underneath), the slight motion blur in places would suggest not AI but I’m not totally convinced. From a quick search these spiders aren’t that big so that must be a very baby turtle, and I don’t know what’s going on around the mouth but it doesn’t look right, nor does the interference pattern of the ripples.
Agreeing with me would make a lot of people a lot more comfortable 😅
-
-
Unfortunately, no... I've seen one of those things, and they're honestly kind of scary to stumble across in the wild. They're huge, and they can swim.
I do agree that this picture looks weird, but I think it's just a weird picture. The spider is hanging backwards, with his belly facing upwards (that little nubbin at the back of the abdomen usually angles down), but the way that he's lifting his head to bite the turtle makes it look like his body is facing the other way. As for the ripples, it looks like he's lifted the turtle high enough that we're getting a shot of them without the water directly below them. The ripples look like they're probably relatively calm water 5-10ft behind the spider, which is why they don't match up with the action in the photo.
-
-
I would love to upvote something so fascinating as a sudden change or extreme rarity in ecology, but unfortunately I cannot in good conscience because doing so also promotes animal gore fetishists that exist in unfortunate numbers on general forums, youtube, etc.
-
That's...dumb.
It really is
-
The line has to be drawn somewhere, no? There is overlap between legitimate curiosities and malice in this case.
-
-
I know about the types of communities you are talking about, but there is a difference between people who purposefully put animals together to cause them to kill each other for entertainment and taking striking pictures of natural predation.
I just watched a video of an Australian water rat eat the heart of a toad, as an adaptation to prey on invasive species with mostly toxic organs. That is pretty cool, and the shock value helps with the educational aspect.
There’s a difference between that and “let’s put a snake and a spider in the same confined environment to watch them kill each other for fun.” Or god, the monkey torture people.
Animals eat each other, and learning about them will require confronting this fact. I think this photo is educational, not lurid. Most people know very little about spiders, and I hope that my posting this picture got people to think more about the natural world. It is shocking, it does provoke a visceral reaction, but it also prompts questions. I am probably going to use it as a phenomenon to explore the next time I work with a student on biology.
-
Remember a couple weeks ago when you noticed people keep downvoting your comments for no reason, and I suggested it was because they recognize your username?
-
Cool Cool
-
-
85 comments