Double post on the Baboon Spider and Skaap Steker

Ohh! ohh! Ohhhhhh!!!! *Crawls out of a burrow*

GUYS!! I have something AWESOME for you!! My dad and I, as well as some friends went on our occasional Snake-hunt. We go on them as often as possible, my dad and I used to do it a lot, where we'd hunt for Snakes, deadly or harmless. And often we'd come across lots of things, like Snakes and Baboon Spiders, as well as scorpions!


Well, My dad sent me the photos of one of our expeditions, aaand I thought "This HAS to go on a blog post" Sooo here ya have it!! A double entry on the Skaap Steker (It's a snake, I know it's not a bug, but I couldn't miss out on such an opportunity) And the Common Baboon Spider. Oh wow, I'm vibrating with excitement right now!!


The Common Baboon Spider (Harpactira Gigas)


Behold!! My most favourite kind of Spider EVER! The Baboon Spider (Called the Tarantula elsewhere) This Spider is part of the order Mygalomorphs which contain some of the biggest spiders in the world! This Spider, was named after he European Wolf Spider (Lycosa Tarantula), which was large and hairy and it lived in burrows. Soon when people moved to other territories, any spider that was large and hairy was called a tarantula. Here In south Africa though, we call em Baboon Spiders, I mean what better name? "Hey Dad look! a BA-BOOON Spider!!" No name describes this Spider better! It's large, hairy and has padding on it's legs with a similar texture to the pads of a baboon's hands. (BA-BOOON Spider is what I shall call it from now on xD)


Like I said, these spiders are massive (Some going up to about 15cm if you count the legs!!) They hide often under burrows, and roam around the ground in the grass in search for food. They eat anything they can get their huge pedi-palps on (pedi-palps are a set of feelers at the front of the Spider, they are usually very small, but on this spider they are large and look like an extra set of legs. Just when you thought 8 creepy legs was enough.) These Spiders, like all spiders have a set of Chelicerae (pronounced: Chilaseray) and with those Chelicerae come a set of huge fangs to go with the huge spider. These fangs are quite scary they can go up to about 1cm. Luckily though, while the bite of this spider is painful, there are not many that are venomous. Most BA-BOOON Spiders are harmless, save one species, but it is not found where I am.


BA-BOOON Spiders have a trick up their sleeves...hairs.....legs? If ever they are disturbed, they use their hair as a defence mechanism. When disturbed they rub their hairs off of them, and they get lodged into your skin, causing irritation, and a slight allergic reactions (Due to the small amounts of Venom on their hairs.)


*takes a deeeeeeeeeeeeeep breath*


Ok! Next insect Waint...not an insect, it's another critter I found while with my dad! A Skaap Steker (Sheep Stabber in English, but don't be mislead, it can't actually kill sheep) It's a kind of Snake found here! Specifically the:


Spotted Skaap Steker (Psammophylax rhombeatus)


To kick this one off I'm going to quote Twilight Sparkle "I wonder which Cute furry little creatures I've awoken! GAH!! SNAKES!! SNAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAKES!!!"


Anyway, back on track! This Snake is of the Venomous Variety, NOT the Constrictor kind. While Constrictors (Like House snakes, Pythons, Boa's and Anaconda's) Suffocate their prey, these snakes bite them, inject venom into their bloodstream and wait for their prey to go to sleep...forever.


This particular snake has no real dangerous venom, if you are bitten by it, you'll feel a pin prick and possibly get a headache later on. Nothing too bad. Sorta like getting a flu injection. It's super agile, and once it sees you, it's very hard to catch. They are well camouflaged as well. These Snakes are Oviparous (egg laying) and lay from 8 to 30 eggs at a time. (Unlike the Burmese python, which is Viviparous meaning it gives birth to live young)


This snake feeds on mainly mice, rats and lizards and they average in size at about 45 cm, the biggest seen is 1.4 meters though. They live in burrows and often do not venture too far from them. (Now you see me, now you don't)


Time for PICTURES!!

Spoiler: Pictures

Here's one of the BA-BOOON Spider. At least now you know why I call it that. I mean LOOK AT THAT THING!!





Here's a lekker front view of him, you can see the pedi-palps and Chelicerae nicely here......dat hair.....And I don't mean the hair on my dad's arm either...





We actually found two of them, they were both about 70cm





You can see the spots on the side of him.





-sigh- What can I say? Like father Like son :Trollestia:

Anyway, I hope you enjoyed today's blogpost!! I sure did! ImeandoyouknowhowlongIcangoonaboutsnakeslikethatti meihadaneggeateranditateawholefreakingeggandit'she adstretchedsomehowand*collapses*


If ya have questions or requests, be sure to leave em in the comments! As for me, Simon Out!!