Pompano
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From Taranto, Italy...to Coyote Bay, Baja Sur..BIG SPIDER!
I just arrived home from a long road trip...rather late, and wanted to take a quick shower..
..but NOT with this guy, who must think he's a Labrador. Never saw this water-loving behavior before in tarantulas..kind of eerie.
Hey, Maybe it's the Halloween Mood?
This one shows signs of becoming a water-retriever type?
Like a lab puppy, it loves my shoes, too!
I tried a little experiment..and sure enough, this guy could do the dog-paddle in a bucket.
Okay..enough fun and games..time to dry off and hit the road, fella. I took him outside and set him down gently. Too bad..I'm damn
sure he would've had fun retrieving martini olives.
I Skype-videophoned Co-Pilot in Rome about my spider event. I eagerly described ..ahem...my near brush with Death
by Tarantula..(you see, I embellished my ordeal just a leetle...
She listened patiently without saying a word throughout my narration. I was done..and waited for her congratulations on my surviving the shower.
..and waited...and waited. She stared stonily into the webcam.
Then, like I had read a weather report to her..or something as exciting... She informed me that tarantulas got their name from Taranto,
Italy. They make great pets.
Hmm....jeez?...well, okay...if you say so.
[Edited on 11-1-2010 by Pompano]
I do what the voices in my tackle box tell me.
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bajafam
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beautiful spider, pompano! I'm glad you didn't hit it with your shoe  those
fellas...or ladies as the case may be, are very good to have around...they eat lots of bugs and sometimes rodents!
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BooJumMan
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Cool spider! I am fascinated by large spiders like this. We used to "fish" for tarantulas by sliding a long piece of grass into their burrows and pull
them out, just to see them and take pictures.
Glad to hear you left him go without squishing him 
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BajaBlanca
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i had no idea that tarantula came from taranto !!! learned something new today. grazie mille Pompano and co=pilot.
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monoloco
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Once I found a tarantula being dragged by a tarantula hawk into it's burrow, I rescued the tarantula, which had been stung by the toro and was
completely immobilized. We kept that spider in a box and periodically exercised it's legs over a period of 2-3 months and eventually it regained it's
mobility and we released it. That's some pretty effective anesthesia that those toros produce.
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Pompano
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monoloco..that's all fine and dandy for the tarantula.... but who speaks for the now-hungry toro? You robbed him! 
I do what the voices in my tackle box tell me.
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durrelllrobert
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my high school biology class in San Diego required everyone, girls included, to let a trantula crawl up their arm in order to pass. of coure this was
in 1953 and I don't thinkthey could get away with that today
Bob Durrell
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Skipjack Joe
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Tarantella
As a kid I went to quite a few Italian weddings where they played the "Tarantella". In fact, you can hear it in some of the scenes from "Godfather".
From Wikipedia:
During ancient times in the area around the Greek colony of Taranto in southern Italy, a type of poisonous spider was so prevalent that it took the
name Lycosa tarantula. Its venom caused a hysterical condition known as Tarantism, the symptoms of which were an irresistible need for a wild and
rapid whirling motion bringing the victim to the point of exhaustion, also known as Tarantulism. For long time, the local population believed that the
only way to suppress the symptoms and to cure the bite was by using a very rhythmic and fast music. The music played for the cure became known as
Tarantella. The older documents mentioning the relationship between musical exorcism for the Tarantella are dated around 1100. The tradition is still
very present in the area, and is known as "Neo-Tarantism.” Many young artists, groups and famous musicians are continuing keeping the tradition alive.
The music is very different, but has similar hypnotic effects, especially when people are exposed to the rhythm for a long period of time. The music
is used in the therapy of patients with certain forms of depression and hysteria, and its effects on the endocrine system recently became an object of
research
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wessongroup
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Skipjack Joe.. thanks .. that is really interesting... going to do some more reading on the subject... really cool..
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Bob H
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Interesting story Pomp! Here are some images of Taranto, Italy. Beautiful placed located it the heel of the boot!
http://www.google.com/images?q=taranto+italy&rls=com.mic...
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Pompano
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| Quote: | Originally posted by Skipjack Joe
As a kid I went to quite a few Italian weddings where they played the "Tarantella". In fact, you can hear it in some of the scenes from "Godfather".
From Wikipedia:
During ancient times in the area around the Greek colony of Taranto in southern Italy, a type of poisonous spider was so prevalent that it took the
name Lycosa tarantula. Its venom caused a hysterical condition known as Tarantism, the symptoms of which were an irresistible need for a wild and
rapid whirling motion bringing the victim to the point of exhaustion, also known as Tarantulism. For long time, the local population believed that the
only way to suppress the symptoms and to cure the bite was by using a very rhythmic and fast music. The music played for the cure became known
as Tarantella. The tradition is still very present in the area, and is known as "Neo-Tarantism.” Many young artists, groups and famous
musicians are continuing keeping the tradition alive. The music is very different, but has similar hypnotic effects, especially when people are
exposed to the rhythm for a long period of time. |
YAHOOOOOOO!!!
I do what the voices in my tackle box tell me.
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BajaBlanca
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we have seen only a few here in La Bocana, BCS... but they are definitely here.
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Bajahowodd
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| Quote: | Originally posted by Skipjack Joe
As a kid I went to quite a few Italian weddings where they played the "Tarantella". In fact, you can hear it in some of the scenes from "Godfather".
From Wikipedia:
During ancient times in the area around the Greek colony of Taranto in southern Italy, a type of poisonous spider was so prevalent that it took the
name Lycosa tarantula. Its venom caused a hysterical condition known as Tarantism, the symptoms of which were an irresistible need for a wild and
rapid whirling motion bringing the victim to the point of exhaustion, also known as Tarantulism. For long time, the local population believed that the
only way to suppress the symptoms and to cure the bite was by using a very rhythmic and fast music. The music played for the cure became known as
Tarantella. The older documents mentioning the relationship between musical exorcism for the Tarantella are dated around 1100. The tradition is still
very present in the area, and is known as "Neo-Tarantism.” Many young artists, groups and famous musicians are continuing keeping the tradition alive.
The music is very different, but has similar hypnotic effects, especially when people are exposed to the rhythm for a long period of time. The music
is used in the therapy of patients with certain forms of depression and hysteria, and its effects on the endocrine system recently became an object of
research |
OK. So it's not about the spider. Your post did remind me of something many folks don't realize. Note the Greek colony in Italy. Owing to the many
empires that have controlled the Mediterranean, Greeks are found all over, including North Africa. A friend of mine is Egyptian, born and raised in
Alexandria. He told me that he was surrounded by Greeks in Alexandria.
And to get this back to Mexico, did you know that mole has its origins in Muslim recipes of Southern Spain?
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monoloco
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| Quote: | Originally posted by Pompano
monoloco..that's all fine and dandy for the tarantula.... but who speaks for the now-hungry toro? You robbed him!
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I admit to being biased in favor of the arachnid, call me a bigot if you want, but I just can't stand those
toros and they smell bad. Seriously though, from what I have read, the toro stings the tarantula and drags it into it's burrow where it lays it's eggs
in the spider, when the eggs hatch the little toroitos consume the tarantula. I know, everyone needs to eat, but I'll keep standing up for the
spider.
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durrelllrobert
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| Quote: | Originally posted by Bajahowodd
And to get this back to Mexico, did you know that mole has its origins in Muslim recipes of Southern Spain? |
Are we talking about the rodent here? I know that Muslims at some strange things but....
[Edited on 11-3-2010 by durrelllrobert]
Bob Durrell
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Pompano
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So many beliefs...
In Mexico it was believed that the creation of the world was assisted by Tocotl, a Spider God, who spins a huge hammock to hold
the world up.
The Mayans believed that after death of the body the soul was destined to wander through the many dark passages of the underworld until they met a
great river which they could not cross on their own. Each soul can only can only get to the other side of this river with the help of a spider person.
The spider people spin a web raft and then one spider person and one soul journey across the underground river linked in a sort of spiritual bond so
that each is totally dependant on the other until they reach safety on the other side.
Hmm...sounds reasonable to me. Anyone want to raft up?
I do what the voices in my tackle box tell me.
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