Undeadskeptic Posted July 12, 2009 #26 Share Posted July 12, 2009 It makes it extremely unlikely as no spider alive is even 1/4 of a kilo. I'd think it is not likely. Most of it would be destroyed in the stomach and spiders don't produce massive volumes of it in general, hence so few spiders are considered medically important. Keep in mind that the story has probably been garbled and very exageratted. The spider itself, whilst huge to the eye, would likely have come nowhere near half a kilo. Half a kilo was just a convenient way of expressing it's immense size with impact. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MeteoricErod Posted July 12, 2009 #27 Share Posted July 12, 2009 A spider actually can't, spiders produce venom, not poison. It is totally harmless to ingest, it only has an affect if injected. On top of that 99.9999999999999999999999999% of spider venom is harmless to humans, it is not meant to kill us and venom is metabolically expensive to produce, it would be used sparingly and if possible used for prey capture only, not pre-planned poisoning. Ok ok..we get it...You're a venomologist. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ell Posted July 13, 2009 #28 Share Posted July 13, 2009 I wonder what is more likely... A.) A gigantic spider lived inside a drafty abby in Poland for years and eventually drooled spider venom onto food dishes, methodically killing the priests present. B.) The priests ate some tainted food, got sick and died. C.) Someone just out and out poisoned the priests then blamed it on a giant spider. Quite. I was wondering myself if they had a fungus in their building or in their food that might have killed them. Sure people later may have found this huge spider and erroneously thought that the spider was responsible, whereas in fact that is not proven, but merely a supposition. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr.United_Nations Posted July 13, 2009 #29 Share Posted July 13, 2009 But i heard some spiders spit? is that true? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
star_wars Posted July 16, 2009 Author #30 Share Posted July 16, 2009 Keep in mind that the story has probably been garbled and very exageratted. The spider itself, whilst huge to the eye, would likely have come nowhere near half a kilo. Half a kilo was just a convenient way of expressing it's immense size with impact. I fully agree with you. Its nice to hear someone think about legends the same way as i do Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mattshark Posted July 16, 2009 #31 Share Posted July 16, 2009 Keep in mind that the story has probably been garbled and very exageratted. The spider itself, whilst huge to the eye, would likely have come nowhere near half a kilo. Half a kilo was just a convenient way of expressing it's immense size with impact. The problem is though mate, that the environment it is in is not conducive to producing a big spider. Generally, it is too bloody cold. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
marsapien Posted July 16, 2009 #32 Share Posted July 16, 2009 In Australia with have the mouse spider called that because he is big anough to hunt mice. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Samael Posted July 16, 2009 #33 Share Posted July 16, 2009 (edited) Unless I'm very, very much mistaken, spiders can't grow that large in the current atmosphere. A much higher oxygen content is needed for arthropods to grow enormous, like in the Carboniferous period (40% more oxygen than today) - more support for their bodies, I think. That's why large arthropods can still exist underwater. Also, as Mattshark said, it's too cold. Edited July 16, 2009 by Samael Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
marsapien Posted July 16, 2009 #34 Share Posted July 16, 2009 Unless I'm very, very much mistaken, spiders can't grow that large in the current atmosphere. A much higher oxygen content is needed for arthropods to grow enormous, like in the Carboniferous period (40% more oxygen than today) - more support for their bodies, I think. That's why large arthropods can still exist underwater. Also, as Mattshark said, it's too cold. I think your replying to mine...the mouse spider is twice the size of your hand Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mattshark Posted July 16, 2009 #35 Share Posted July 16, 2009 (edited) I think your replying to mine...the mouse spider is twice the size of your hand Really, it isn't. They range from 1-3cm in length. Wiki: Mouse Spiders. Edited July 16, 2009 by Mattshark Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mattshark Posted July 16, 2009 #36 Share Posted July 16, 2009 In Australia with have the mouse spider called that because he is big anough to hunt mice. No it is not, it ain't nowhere near big enough to hunt mice. It is called a mouse spider because people used to think that they burrowed like mice. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fandango Posted July 16, 2009 #37 Share Posted July 16, 2009 No it is not, it ain't nowhere near big enough to hunt mice. It is called a mouse spider because people used to think that they burrowed like mice. Perhaps this one might be though, although technically its not a spider at all. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mattshark Posted July 16, 2009 #38 Share Posted July 16, 2009 Perhaps this one might be though, although technically its not a spider at all. They do with leg span, they max at about 12cm but they are still pretty small things. Most are much smaller. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Undeadskeptic Posted July 17, 2009 #39 Share Posted July 17, 2009 I fully agree with you. Its nice to hear someone think about legends the same way as i do Welcome to the boards. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Undeadskeptic Posted July 17, 2009 #40 Share Posted July 17, 2009 The problem is though mate, that the environment it is in is not conducive to producing a big spider. Generally, it is too bloody cold. That iscertainly very true, however gigantism where not expected has occured before. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
travelnjones Posted July 17, 2009 #41 Share Posted July 17, 2009 the arthropod argument i dont know about, there are some huge land based crabs, coconut crabs yuck Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mattshark Posted July 17, 2009 #42 Share Posted July 17, 2009 the arthropod argument i dont know about, there are some huge land based crabs, coconut crabs yuck Coconut crab have a different breathing method though. The use branchiostegal lung Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hatesthis Posted July 17, 2009 #43 Share Posted July 17, 2009 Sounds more urban legend than fact to me. If you could dig up an old newspaper article it would be a lot more solid. Cool story though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stevemagegod Posted July 17, 2009 #44 Share Posted July 17, 2009 Interesting. It sounds like that monster quest episode with the giant spiders Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ruffjeff Posted July 17, 2009 #45 Share Posted July 17, 2009 Quite. I was wondering myself if they had a fungus in their building or in their food that might have killed them. Sure people later may have found this huge spider and erroneously thought that the spider was responsible, whereas in fact that is not proven, but merely a supposition. lol...now i feel bad for the spider... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mattshark Posted July 18, 2009 #46 Share Posted July 18, 2009 That iscertainly very true, however gigantism where not expected has occured before. Yes but in this case it would be fatal very quickly. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Undeadskeptic Posted July 18, 2009 #47 Share Posted July 18, 2009 Yes but in this case it would be fatal very quickly. Who ever said it wasn't? It is more than possible that the spider was dead when it was found, and was erroneously linked to the priest story over the decades of garbled retellings. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
star_wars Posted July 18, 2009 Author #48 Share Posted July 18, 2009 I would not worry about the cold since its pretty warm in small churches. Also there would be enough bugs to eat. Only thing left is the low O2 but as Undeadskeptic said: "gigantism where not expected has occured before." and well i doubt that there will be an article since pretty much everything got burned in the war Welcome to the boards. Thanks mate Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Undeadskeptic Posted July 20, 2009 #49 Share Posted July 20, 2009 I would not worry about the cold since its pretty warm in small churches. Also there would be enough bugs to eat. Only thing left is the low O2 but as Undeadskeptic said: "gigantism where not expected has occured before." and well i doubt that there will be an article since pretty much everything got burned in the war Thanks mate Nice one about the bugs, I didn't think about that. I certainly like your rational and open-minded attitude towards the unexplained. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
louis_last Posted July 20, 2009 #50 Share Posted July 20, 2009 I don't see any reason why low O2 would stop a spider from growing that large, we have land crabs that size. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now