Still Waters Posted January 22, 2015 #1 Share Posted January 22, 2015 Bad news for anyone who's uneasy around spiders - the eight-legged carnivores seem to be a lot cleverer than we have given them credit for. Specifically, spiders seem to be able to count, just like human beings. https://uk.news.yaho...43.html#D4FnU95 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Keel M. Posted January 22, 2015 #2 Share Posted January 22, 2015 Can they calculate weight too? So they know how much weight is behind my foot as I step on them... 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Careful_perspective Posted January 22, 2015 #3 Share Posted January 22, 2015 "Okay, four people living in this house, lets kill human 1 tonight, and we will get the rest this weekend." 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dark_Grey Posted January 29, 2015 #4 Share Posted January 29, 2015 I wonder if a hundred years from now, it will be common knowledge that most animals on this planet have some child-like intelligence. It seems like all the time we're discovering that different species are capable of surprising mental gymnastics.. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shego Posted January 29, 2015 #5 Share Posted January 29, 2015 I'm sorry, but what was that video of that guy putting a live spider in his mouth and then allowing a poisonous one to crawl on his face? 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
paperdyer Posted January 29, 2015 #6 Share Posted January 29, 2015 Not that I condone giving pork chop bones to dogs, but my parents had a friend whose dog knew how many pork chops there were around the table and would sit there and stare at you until it had all the bones. The dog would make a pile as he collected them and them would eat them after he had all on the available bones. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SHaYap Posted January 29, 2015 #7 Share Posted January 29, 2015 I believe most if not all animals knows how to count ~ they just don't have any reason to, most of the time ~ ~ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MyOtherAccount Posted January 29, 2015 #8 Share Posted January 29, 2015 I know they can count on me getting as far away from them as fast as I possibly can! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Taun Posted January 29, 2015 #9 Share Posted January 29, 2015 I wonder if it's really "counting", or they just know what their lair is supposed to look like - and suddenly it doesn't anymore... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bubblykiss Posted January 29, 2015 #10 Share Posted January 29, 2015 My arachnid accountant does a pretty decent job. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IceBorne Posted January 29, 2015 #11 Share Posted January 29, 2015 My beloved spiders surprise me even more. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cruel_Cahal Posted January 29, 2015 #12 Share Posted January 29, 2015 "Okay, four people living in this house, lets kill human 1 tonight, and we will get the rest this weekend." You know... for someone like me, who has had arachnophobia for years, I think they actually do plot such things. Maybe I'm paranoid when it comes to spiders, but when one of them rappels down from the ceiling in the dead of night, while I'm on my computer with only the monitor light illuminating the room, and I see that silhouette two inches from my face just hanging there, I truly do think they are out to get me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheDarkerSide Posted January 30, 2015 #13 Share Posted January 30, 2015 They always seem much much bigger when you first spot one, once you have run out the room in panic, and you return to the room hiding behind your other half, they seem to have shrunk somewhat. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Big Jim Posted January 30, 2015 #14 Share Posted January 30, 2015 It shouldn't be surprising that anything with a brain can think. Even casual observance of animals, either in nature, on the farm or as pets, provides us with many instances of animals that think. I've known for years that dogs count the members of their pack. If the whole family is home and there's a sound at the door, the alarm is frightened and aggressive but if one of the family is out then a noise is reacted to with less panic and more anticipation, as if it might be the missing member returning. What puzzles me is how do animals know that other animals can see them? Merely perceiving the world, without the ability to reason, doesn't automatically impart the knowledge that others can perceive the world in the same way. If we believe in evolution then it follows that the organ we use to think with is used for that purpose wherever it exists. The power of thought had to begin somewhere and no doubt evolved along with the organ that provides that function. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Atuke Posted January 30, 2015 #15 Share Posted January 30, 2015 This article is great! Orb weavers are amazing, and in the late summer nights they make a new central web every night without disturbing their cache. About twenty years ago I found a gorgeous female Black and Yellow Argiope(an Orb Weaver)near my back porch. It was early fall and she was huge, especially with her abdomen full of summer insects and her enormous backup food storage. Long story short, I kept her alive until almost mid December. The frost should've killed her but every night after early October I would surround her huge web area with a sheet(to keep her warm and free from frost) and she would construct a new web and continue with her life, gathering insects during the shorter days. I know I interfered with Mother Nature, but twenty years later I still think about her and enjoy her kin decades later that I still see around my property. Spiders are amazing! Especially Orb Weavers Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Antilles Posted January 30, 2015 #16 Share Posted January 30, 2015 Can they calculate weight too? So they know how much weight is behind my foot as I step on them... HA! My thoughts exactly. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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