Spider intelligence

[Mary]

I have a massive web in my 'spider shed' where I keep spare tanks etc.
Under the window a Tegenaria has made this web, it has gotta be 1.1/2' x getting on for 3', a big sheet thing *shudders*. I always put my dead left over crix out in the garden for the birds, there must have been a live one, I saw it when we cut the lawn. So, anyway, Trev put it into the tegenaria's web, the cricket was bigger than the spider, but she bravely took it on. The crick started to make a hole in the web, she was having none of that! She came to the edge of the web, climbed under and proceeded to web the hole so the crick couldn't escape, then came back up, delivered the coup de gras, and proceeded to take a back leg off it, we left her sucking the leg :laugh::laugh:

Who says they are not intelligent now????

[andy miller]

Very nice mary, but that story has sent shivers down my spine, i am not going anywhere near your shed tomorow, although i did watch a programme about a spider and that used a bit of choice and showed some thought about what it was doing, i cant remember the species now but i have seen a couple of programmes where they show this sort of behaviour.

[Sonny]

portia is inteligent. thats a very clever spiddy in my opinion.:biggrin_hat:

[Mary]

portia is inteligent. thats a very clever spiddy in my opinion.:biggrin_hat:

Made me shiver too Andy, and so did your male formosa up my leg indeed, twice, I was bricking it mate.


Sonny, Portia is one of the loveliest spiders in my opinion, I would love one.

[Techuser]

Take a look in these links about the portia :)

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/1640513/posts
http://www.dichotomistic.com/mind_readings_spider%20minds.html

[mambo]

Tegenaria is well good and make great pets. I had a male T. saeva with a leg span of 100mm called Mike! I let him onto a drystone wall after a bit to find a mate! When I was 13 I had a female T. gigantea for ages called Sophie, I was heartbroken when she died of old age.:sad:

[Mary]

Update on the 'shed spider', we have her in captivity in a plastic sweet jar, but she is no longer alone, oh no, she has laid 3 egg sacs and now the slings are all over the place, there n must have been a male in my shed too *shudders*.

[Tegenaria]

A huge Tegenaria came into the house the other day,big bugger he was. Unfortunately Lady was about and she ate it! She's also eaten the odd escaped cricket-for some reason we had loads of escapees with the last lot I bought-they're in the shed now!

[sammyp]

Update on the 'shed spider', we have her in captivity in a plastic sweet jar, but she is no longer alone, oh no, she has laid 3 egg sacs and now the slings are all over the place, there n must have been a male in my shed too *shudders*.

Yay! :D Now once they're bigger, you can go and re-release them into their 'natural habitat' and then you'll have a whole lot of spiddy's in your shed... :D

Have fun Aunty M :jimlad:

[Mary]

Yay! :D Now once they're bigger, you can go and re-release them into their 'natural habitat' and then you'll have a whole lot of spiddy's in your shed... :D

Have fun Aunty M :jimlad:

No Sammy, they populate the spider room, mopping up stray crix lol. They ain't going into the shed, I hate spiders yuk

[sammyp]

Waste not, want not, huh? :laugh:

[Mary]

Yup, feed the wild ones too lol, hey they get really big though haha

[corpselight]

just from observing my animals, it seems to me there's a bit more to them then hard-wired instinct. they aren't rocket scientists, but they have enough thinking power to get by.
i reckon our understanding of how brains work is rather limited. it doesn't surprise me at all that an invertebrate could possess more intelligence then we'd ever naturally assume.
generalising a bit, but i wish scientists would keep in mind that every 20 years or so, everything they think of as proven and true will end up being revised or replaced by a new set of data that may contradict all. it ought to keep them a bit more humble and open-minded.