Pass this by if you don't like spiders.

[qnr]

Taken yesterday in front of the USS Maine/Spanish American War Memorial in Bangor, Maine. I was quite surprised at how large it was. Granted, there is nothing there to give scale, but it was huge.
It's a link if you want to see a larger version.

[crim son]

1. They tend to get awfully meaty here at this time of year

don't they? There's one that has built a web across one of the barn doors out back. I swear it's as big as a toad and just as ugly :)

[qnr]

2. Really. Polite though. I'm almost certain that one asked if I'd like him

(in the generic him sense) to take a photo of Mrs. qnr and I... he was that huge.

[crim son]

4. LOL! He would probably have made off with your camera.

Or eaten it.

[qnr]

6. True, true. n/t

[petronius]

3. Cool! Is it a banana spider?

We'd see those in Louisiana a lot - the big ones were about the size of my palm and they'd spin their webs at face level (I got good at letting my wife go down the trail first }( )...

[qnr]

7. I doubt it, you don't find many bananas growing natively in Maine

:hi:

[petronius]

21. I consider that a point in Maine's favor - bananas are repulsive

However, banana spiders aren't really associated with the fruit - I think the name comes from their body shape. They may also be called golden-silk spiders, since the webs are yellowish. Anyway, whatever it's called, that is a damn big spider you met up with...

:hi:

[wildhorses]

5. is that what we call a writing spider?

cos their webs look like words have been woven into the pattern:shrug:

they get pretty big

[qnr]

9. Heck, it was probably big enough to be a sky-writing spider :) n/t

[HarukaTheTrophyWife]

8. JESUS FUCKING CHRIST!!! Why did I click on this thread?

:scared:

They don't have that kind in NJ, do they?

[qnr]

10. No idea. I was originally thinking it was just a female with eggs, but it

really seems pretty late in the year for that.

[crim son]

11. I was just wondering the same thing myself.

You were warned, after all!

[HarukaTheTrophyWife]

15. Yeah, but I'm one of those people that sees a warning and immediately

ignores it.

This resulted in me screwing up a karaoke machine multiple times and getting yelled at by the staff of Sing Sing Lounge and a whole bunch of pictures taken in Hawaii on the dangerous side of the fence.

[crim son]

16. Yeah, you're that kind.

:yourock:

[HarukaTheTrophyWife]

17. The results were totally worth it though.

[crim son]

18. Beautiful/strange photo. n/t

[HarukaTheTrophyWife]

19. The 2nd photo was an offering to Pele on the edge of a crater.

The background is 500'+ below the boulder with the flowers/coins.

[crim son]

20. That's the only one I see.

The offering... for what purpose does one make an offering?

[HarukaTheTrophyWife]

22. Pele is the Hawaiian fire God.

A lot of the natives still follow the old religion. I'm not sure the exact reasons for their offering, but offerings are a pretty common sight at Volcano National Park.

Weird the first picture doesn't show, because I see it.

[crim son]

24. It is odd. I tried to post a couple of pictures earlier

but I could only see one on my end so I deleted the post. Maybe the cat has chewed through something. Nah.

I have heard of Pele but didn't know what he was about. Didn't the native people once throw virgins into Mt. Pele? Or did I see that some time on Gilligan's Island.

Yawn. I have to go to bed. It sucks because the board always picks up around midnight, right when I should be falling asleep. But first, a hypnosis session. "You are happy, healthy and optimistic! You are happy, healthy and optimistic!" Ya think? Goodnight -L

[mark414]

12. i saw the biggest spider of my life a couple weeks ago

and had been trying to figure out what it was...and this thread inspired me to look again...spiders don't get too big here in wisconsin but i was down in southern indiana when i saw this thing:

a black and yellow garden spider (which is apparently completely harmless to humans)


but i'd never seen anything that big! and i was sitting in a clearing in a grove of trees before i noticed it less than a foot from where i was sitting...scared the hell out of me

[qnr]

13. Whoa. Nice shot. look at how thick those "legs" are! n/t

[tigereye]

33. that's beautiful!

I love the colors. Now, just so it doesn't get anywhere near me, we'll be fine.

[qnr]

14. Gone.. Uploading a pile of pics to flickr, and the uploader doesn't handle

interruptions to the network well... Not a matter of ignoring anyone.

[Lady Effingbroke]

23. Big spiders are ok.

It's the little bite-y ones that scare the hell out of me!

[qnr]

26. Really. I am so glad to be out the the black widow/hobo/brown recluse

range.

[reyd reid reed]

25. *shudder*

I realize that they serve a purpose in the greater...whatever. They're still creepy, though.

[qnr]

27. I get a mental image of this one in a Jenny Craig commercial n/t

[BarenakedLady]

28. Spiders facinate me

I live in harmony with the ones in my house. I don't like it, however, when they are crawling on the ceiling above my bed plotting to jump on my face. Because you know that is what they are doing.

[qnr]

30. I mostly hate it when I'm sitting there engrossed in a book, oblivious

to everything else around me, and one descends from the ceiling to engage in some light exploration of my neck.

[BarenakedLady]

32. See?

I think they are facinated by us as well. Either that or they are trying to kill us and take over the house. Could go either way.

[qnr]

34. Don't know about the house, but they really seem to love my scooter.

If I leave it for six hours, I come back to a whole neighborhood of happy spiders.

[southpaw]

29. This guy gives me nightmares:

[qnr]

31. Aw. He's cute! I just want to train him to pull my sled :) n/t