February 21, 2013 - Raining Spiders
 

I got this one posted to my Facebook page this morning. It is really the video that sells it but since this is Image of the day, here is a still to start you off with.

http://blogs.smithsonianmag.com/scie...piders-1-1.jpg

Still is from http://blogs.smithsonianmag.com/scie...ers-in-brazil/

And the YouTube that made this go viral is here.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UPujnYOX9dc

That's really remarkable.

The video is frustrating though. They guy never zoomed out to show the whole extent, or even walked around. Once you zoom in once or twice, you establish that all those little specks are spiders, so then you should zoom all the way out and pan the camera from one end to the other so we can see the size of the spider invasion. Just how big is it?

omg one of my nightmares! Why oh why did I look? Did the word 'spiders' along with 'RAINING' not clue me in? :lol:

Mrs. Z is freaked out by snakes. My thing is bugs. Raining spiders would be a very bad day for me.

Sigh.

Why does it never rain men?

We're too fat. If it ever did precipitate men, it wouldn't be rain, it would be oobleck.

Or beer!?

I'd rather get pummelled by fat men than softly landed on by creepy crawly leggy jumpy web-spinning nasty things.

Or beer.

Ewww. Ewww.

I don't generally mind spiders, but falling spiders freak me the fuck out. If i see a spider in my house I generally let it be. If it's on the ceiling in my bedroom it has to go.

That's not what I call raining.
But good call, Coign.

yeah, it's not really raining... since they're not actually falling.

What are they doing? Floating around? I am NOT watching the video.

Web surfing.

:lol:

Clever.

They could be running around for all i care they're in the air! *shudders*

Logic, meet Reason:

My almost 10 year old daughter is in a nasty mood and refuses to do homework without her two 13 year old brothers who torment her to no end. She refuses to take a shower because she already took one this week (her routine is to take one every other day). She refuses to do any chores because "I (meaning me) can't do that!" It's Dad's job to oversee.

Trying to inject some fun, I told her that it was raining spiders. The minute I showed her the video she started screaming at me that they were NOT raining, they were just crawling around. Okay, but on what? I asked. On the webs they made from the utility wires. :right:

She can be very perceptive about the spiders with just a glance (I had to watch for a minute to see what was happening), but she can't go along with a routine that is exactly the same every school day! Oh, and, by the way, she hasn't done it hundreds of times because her teacher this year didn't celebrate 100th day.

So I guess it isn't 100 days if the day isn't celebrated, but it is extremely obvious, at just a glance, that the spiders are walking around on webs they've made from the utility wires and are not "falling" or "raining" from the sky. :facepalm:

Yeah the main reason I posted it as "Raining Spiders" is that the YouTube was labeled that and if you wanted to Google for this particular incident, that is the best SEO that would get your directly to it. (Internet geek in me coming out.)

As for my personal view of spiders? I hate bugs therefore love spiders. When I see a spider in my house, he gets preferential treatment and I let him hang out as long as he wants. He keeps ants, centipedes, and other crawly things trying to get into my mouth at night while I sleep out.

That's like putting a plastic cover on your couch to keep it 'nice.' ;)

Besides, spiders are the biggest mouth crawlers of all! It's a known fact that the average person unknowingly eats 10 spiders a year.

(not really)

right. It's more like six.

Rain? That would be me pissing myself.

I'll be the one running around in circles, beating the shit out of himself, pissing everywhere, screaming "EEE EEE EEE!!!!!!" like a little girl.

Actually, it's just one.

But...

...It DOES NOT DIE!!!

No way!

What does it do? Look around and crawl back out? Go through your intestines like it's a water slide?

My preferred protection is my CPAP mask. ;)

As far as raining goes: watching the video was SO creepy!! :3_eyes:

Watching the spiders walking around upside down in the air connected to some invisible web was really weird. :eek: It's one of those times when I'm fascinated and want to watch and figure it out, but I'm also extremely repulsed and want it to go away. KWIM?

So, how ARE they all up there? Did they make some kind of giant web from the power lines?

I know an old lady who....

+1 for inclusion of an Oobleck reference.

-1 for causing me to make the (admittedly obvious) mental association between "men" and "sticky green goop."


...it's a wash!

I hate spider crap all over the place, so I too give them preferential treatment. I help them out the front door onto the Tangerine tree. I'm sure some of the bugs that live on that tree puzzle over how many different and numerous the spiders are.

I'm also sure I throw the same gol darn spider out the door every few days.. I think I can hear him cussing, "no nooOOO not again!"

Most likely, They were blown there by the wind. From the Smithsonian article.

If strong winds come along, the web may detach from its anchors, carrying the spiders and their ruined home to new sites where they appear to “rain down.” Catching rides on the wind–en mass–was likely what happened in Santo Antonio da Platina. While the humans gawked below, the flustered spiders were simply trying to pull themselves together after an unexpected journey from some forest or park.


Read more: http://blogs.smithsonianmag.com/scie...#ixzz2LkXFz32F
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Coign, the guy wrote that under duress, while his family was held hostage wrapped in sticky silk.
The Spider Brotherhood was using him to distract you from their world domination plot. :yesnod: