Jumping spiders are amazingly fun creatures! Even the smallest ones have personalities and most are curious. Very good eyes that see everything. They catch flies with blazing speed.
Spiders are much smarter than you think
61–70 of 220 posts
Re: Spiders are much smarter than you think
#62Talking about Portias, I recommend reading "Children of Time" by Adrian Tchaikovsky, it's about the process of uplifting spiders and how humans re-establish contacts with them. Another great book about smart "spiders" is "A Deepness in the Sky" by Vernor Vinge, my favorite in the "Zones of Thought" series.
One of my favorite books and highly recommend.
Re: Spiders are much smarter than you think
#63Earlier quoted context omitted.
You are assuming very human or even mammalian qualities and constructs like "parents/family/emotion" to invertebrates that have no problem cannibalizing their offspring and mates. If they were big enough they would kill you and your family without any hesitation or emotion.
Many humans do that to other humans, so I do not see how different we are from them.
Oh come on.
Re: Spiders are much smarter than you think
#64Earlier quoted context omitted.
We have an influx of Joro spiders in our area (N/Central GA), and they are absolute nightmare fuel. I can't have them in my porch or where people are going to be; their webs are big and sticky, but I'm having a hard time bringing myself to killing them.
It’s amazing how they are all over now with the first spotting being around 2015.. They look crazy but as far as I know they aren’t harmful to humans.
Everything I've read says they are not harmful; they can bite, and will if they need to, but will get away if they can.
I've killed a few, but I think I won't any more. Not necessarily because of this article, I just hate killing things.
I never knew of them before this fall until a friend of mine went on "removal" spree at his place, and now I've seen a lot more of them in my own yard.
One issue is we also have migrating hummingbirds, and the webs are big enough to foul them up. The spiders won't eat them of course, but I also can't have our hummingbirds dying over getting caught so I'll be knocking down webs in their area if I have to.
Re: Spiders are much smarter than you think
#65It is probably just as well that spiders don't work in groups. A colony of thousands of venomous spiders working together is a terrifying thought (cf the novel "Children of time").
Some spiders do.[1] They protect their own and viciously attack outsiders. People are terrified when they see a single massive huntsman spider--imagine 300 angry ones coming at you because you offended one of their friends. And related to the main topic, I've sat bored at work and watched a jumping spider prowl around the office. It was initial terrified of me, and would face directly towards my face and follow my he…
Thumbnail sized cat indeed. They also chase laser pointers
Re: Spiders are much smarter than you think
#66I get tired of reading from webpages like this. - Spiders are much smarter than you think - SUBSCRIBE TO OUR NEWSLETTER - some text - YOU MAY ALSO LIKE - some text - Shutterstock image with a big description - ... Context switching is hard for the brain. Even in readabilty mode I get substracted by the image descriptions. It's a pitty because it's a nice article.
SEO has really ruined the internet
This is not about SEO, this newsletter and you may also like serve no purpose for this. It's user acquisition.
Re: Spiders are much smarter than you think
#67Not spiders but crows in our area have cars open nuts for them by dropping them onto the busier roads and coming back every few hours to collect the goods.
Re: Spiders are much smarter than you think
#68Earlier quoted context omitted.
Don't get me wrong, I still find families of baby spiders to be absolutely terrifying in every way, and it takes every bit of my willpower to fight the urge to remove them from existence. But at the end of the day, the key word is family. It's a group of living things, with parents that apparently have the emotional capacity to care about them. Hopefully when you say "get rid of it," that means gently coaxing them in…
You are assuming very human or even mammalian qualities and constructs like "parents/family/emotion" to invertebrates that have no problem cannibalizing their offspring and mates. If they were big enough they would kill you and your family without any hesitation or emotion.
[deleted]
Re: Spiders are much smarter than you think
#69Spiders can also get high on marijuana. It's true!
They have the same thc-receptors in their brain as we do.
It follows that they can get baked, enjoy an expanded consciousness and benefit from hallucinogenic insights just as we humans do.
So get a spider high today.
Re: Spiders are much smarter than you think
#70Earlier quoted context omitted.
I used to let spiders live freely in my house, until one time I wanted to go to bed at night and noticed dozens of black spots on the bed cover. I looked up and saw hundreds of tiny spider babies on the ceiling. From then on, whenever I see a spider in the house I get rid of it. Sorry...
I get rid of them, too. By gently escorting them out a window. And, like you, I apologize to them and wish them well.
House spiders usually cannot live outside. So you're also most likely killing them by escorting them outside (I do this too btw, because I don't want to crush them, but I know that outside is likely not better for them).