The tarantula certainly died from the fall. They are actually fragile bags of goo. People who keep tarantulas go to extreme measures to avoid them jumping or falling off of surfaces when feeding or doing maintenance.
I think since there's a number of prominent unhinged women in the Republican party, it's bringing all the other crazy bitches out of the woodwork that think they can make a lucrative career being a hysterical loonie. They may not be wrong.
I think it’s worse: in the past voter would never let them in. Now the voter doesn’t care. It’s like decades of reality TV has desensitized everyone from trashy behavior.
Article is a little light on facts. The author should have looked into whether or not the other tenant was actually a squatter or not. We only know at this point she is an alleged squatter from a tenants statement. Why not check with the landlord to get the facts? Why not check with the other tenant to ask if she is a squatter?
But let's assume she actually is a squatter for sake of argument. I mean it's a weird thing to allege.
I dislike the gop. I dislike squatters. I dislike trespassers.
Person a trespassed into the one side of the house in order to throw a spider.
Person b is a squatter. (Again we don't have info from the landlord (lazy reporting)).
Everyone sucks in this article including the author of the article.
She had a tarantula with her, pre-meditated. Throwing a Tarantula can kill it, animal abuse. In my view she’s automatically the asshole who planned this regardless of transgression or tenant.
Dislike a squatter all you want. You're not part of their due process, and you may not throw a tarantula at them. So, it's irrelevant.
I would also point out that if this happened it probably would not make the news here... Except for that the aggressor is a political candidate. That's what makes it interesting, that this batshit MFer actually thinks the people deserve her. The squatter is not trying to represent you.
Considering the person she accused of being a squatter is an attorney and the person making the accusations is currently sitting in jail, I'm going to assume her story is b/s. The article stated that the attorney's lease was up but that doesn't mean she has to move out. I lived in places for years after my lease expired as a "month to month" tenant.
The reason the one is in jail is because of assault and battery... Or is it assault? Always get that part mixed up. Either way she's in jail because of that. Still doesn't show if the "squatter" part is bs. Both can be true. The one is an asshole for throwing a tarantula and the other could be a squatter. We don't know about the Squatting because of the lack of information.
I'll stick with my original statement, lazy reporting
I'm saying this woman is crazy and has zero credibility so there's no reason to believe anything she says. The woman she attacked is an attorney so I'm assuming she wouldn't be illegally squatting in someone's home and jeopardizing her whole career.
I don't really care that much about tarantulas, but IIRC from some videos on tarantula-handling, tarantulas are big and heavy enough that unlike some smaller spiders which have a terminal velocity that isn't going to hurt then -- they can fall as far as they want -- tarantulas can't really handle being dropped very well. So throwing a tarantula probably is kind of a dick move from the tarantula's standpoint.
Unfortunately, dropping a tarantula poses serious risks to the spider, with potential consequences influenced by factors such as fall height, landing surface, tarantula species, and the spider’s health and age.
The higher the fall, the greater the impact force, making even a small drop potentially fatal.
A solid landing surface, like concrete, increases the likelihood of severe injuries compared to softer surfaces.
Different tarantula species exhibit varying affecting levels and their ability to survive a fall. Young or molting tarantulas with soft exoskeletons are more vulnerable.
If a big tarantula falls, it can go really fast, and its belly might break open, causing internal damage and, in the worst case, death.
That is why heavier spiders usually stay on the ground, while lighter ones prefer living in trees to avoid serious injuries from falls.
Potential consequences of dropping a tarantula include:
Abdominal Rupture: The gravest consequence, often resulting in fatality. The tarantula’s soft abdomen houses its internal organs, and a rupture can lead to organ spillage and death.
Internal Injuries: Even without abdominal rupture, the tarantula may experience internal injuries, such as bleeding or organ damage due to the impact.
Broken Limbs: The fragile legs of a tarantula can easily break upon landing on a hard surface.
And that's aside from what a (large, powerful) human who suddenly gets a large spider thrown at them is likely to do to the spider in instinctual self-defense.
Tarantulas aren't native to Minnesota, so this was probably someone's pet. I don't have a lot of affection for large spiders, but to someone, that was probably kind of like a dog or cat.
Yup, owner of a 11 year old tarantula at this point. Their blood also doesn't clot so your best bet in the case of an injury is super glue and prayers to whatever entity you prefer. It's one of two reasons why I don't like handling her, they're more fragile than you think.
Unless I am mistaken, aren't basically every kind of Tarantula you can keep as a pet non venomous?
I'm the kind of person that'll take basically any kind of spider save a black widow and just put it outside while my gf is screaming at 115db to murder it and will then be angry with me for 3 days that I didn't.
Poor tarantula.
Oh right, this 'politician' is an amazing argument for lowering housing costs such that people can afford studios instead of living with crazy 'main character' people like this.
They are venomous but non-lethal unless you have significant health issues already. What a tarantula attack is good at is triggering an involuntary fight or flight response.
The really awful thing is that tarantulas are quite fragile. My great aunt used to own a pet store and she killed one just trying to blow some sand off its belly and it leaped out of her hand and cracked itself open on the floor.
Well in MN we need to be cautious of spiders generally because our climate between spring and fall is conducive to venomous spiders of all kinds, both native and invasive. Natively we have black widows, northern widows, brown recluses, wolf spiders, jumping spiders, woodlouse spiders, and many more. Climate change is expected to increase the range of black widows in our state, one of the most venomous spiders in the US. We're going to experience severe dry and wet seasons, so I expect imports and exports through the great lakes see a massive increase in dnr presence. I hope Walz follows through after our elections.
I'm from the wet side of the PNW and we have all of those as well, excepting possibly northern widows, I've not heard of those.
I've spent weeks in cabins and lived in houses and apartments all over WA.
Every single time I have ever seen a spider in a house or apartment, its been something that is totally harmless to humans.
Out in the boonies? Sure, thats where you'll actually run into some dangerous things.
That being said, I've never lived in MN, perhaps dangerous spiders are a more serious threat in urban/suburban areas, and yeah, climate change fucks up everything.
Something absolutely absurd started happening a few years ago, right in the middle of Seattle, like 2 blocks from a main road:
Coyotes.
I've seen coyotes out in the foothills occasionally, on trails far from cities, in the brush on the east side of the state.
But... basically that heat wave a few years back, and wildfires and droughts managed to drive a population of coyotes into residential areas of Seattle, likely hunting the rabbits.
I saw them in L.A. occasionally coming down from the hills. I'm far less concerned about urban coyotes than I am about feral dog packs. The latter is much more likely to attack you.
Just FYI, wolf spider and brown recluse bites are not dangerous, they'll basically cause itching and maybe give you a rash, and black widow venom is nowhere near as bad as stories would have you believe. The symptoms are by no means pleasant, and they are easily treatable within 72 hours. You'll know you need treatment well before then.
Jumping spiders and woodlouse spiders don't tend to be a danger either.
These are also all spiders who want to get away from humans as quickly as possible, so they don't want to bite you, they only do it if they have no alternative. Really, the main reason to worry is if you have allergy issues. But that's also true with bees and wasps for some people.
They also have sharp hairs they can stick in you if they don't like you like one of those awful cacti that have the little tiny needles you can barely see. I had a friend with one as a pet.
I like spiders, but I don't think I'd keep one as a pet.
Way back when Windows XP came out, back when you had to buy the new OS, there was a special bundle offer I saw with one of those newfangled digital cameras which had been way too expensive before, so I got it. I then spent weeks working on what would be an Instagram page or something these days, documenting the jumping spider who lived in my office. I called him Mr. Jibbles because he kept his home in the hole at the bottom of my JBL 4311 monitors (speakers in non-pro audio talk), until he sadly died one day. I have no idea what the hole was for, but they have this big hole at the bottom. Anyway, I had a lot of fun taking your picture, Mr. Jibbles. Sorry if I misgendered you. You may live on somewhere on the Internet Archive, but I don't remember the URL.
Iirc, the hole does 2 things. The first is it acts like a sound hole in a guitar or violin and alters the tonal qualities of the speaker (the enclosure acts like a resonate chamber.)
Also, iirc, drivers have to work harder to move the membrane of the enclosure is totally sealed, since it’d have to compress the air inside/behind the membrane.
Of course, cheap speakers probably did it because they saw JBL and others do it on the expensive studio monitors.
As for spiders…. I think they’re cool, but only if they stay over …. There…. Jumping spiders can even be cute. But at a distance.
Same goes for the centipede with the creepy legs. I respect that they eat things I’m happy not deal with… just don’t come over here.
This would be the latter. Interesting explanation, thanks.
Modern studio monitors don't usually have those in my experience, but I got those years ago in a trade and they really capture a flat monitor sound in a way that modern monitors don't. I'm sure in part because they're massive. Anyway, they were perfect for my audio work at the time.
They also have sharp hairs they can stick in you if they don’t like you like one of those awful cacti that have the little tiny needles you can barely see.
I think that that's only some tarantulas. Urticating hairs, or something like that.
kagis
Yeah, I had it right. Firefox's spelling checker apparently doesn't know about "urticating" by default.
Urticating hairs or urticating bristles are one of the primary defense mechanisms used by numerous plants, almost all New World tarantulas, and various lepidopteran caterpillars. Urtica is Latin for "nettle" (stinging nettles are in the genus Urtica), and bristles that urticate are characteristic of this type of plant, and many other plants in several families. This term also refers to certain types of barbed bristles that cover the dorsal and posterior surface of a tarantula's or caterpillar's abdomen. Many tarantula species eject bristles from their abdomens, directing them toward potential attackers. These bristles can embed themselves in the other animal's skin or eyes, causing physical irritation, usually to great discomfort. The term "hairs" is technically a misnomer, as only mammals possess true hairs.[1]
In tarantulas
Urticating hairs (setae) are found in about 90% of the species of tarantula (spiders of the family Theraphosidae) found in the New World. They are not found in tarantulas from other parts of the world.[11]
New World tarantulas will, at the moment of danger, turn toward the attacker and briskly rub their hind legs against the opisthosoma throwing the urticating hairs in the direction of the enemy. The cloud of small bristles can get into the mucous membrane of small mammals and cause edema, which can be fatal. The bristles cause both mechanical and chemical harm to the skin and membranes.
Reaction and the degree of irritation to a defensive urticating hair barrage can vary tremendously, based on the species in question. Some, such as those of the Chilean rose tarantula (Grammastola rosea) and the pinktoe tarantula (Avicularia avicularia), are fairly mild and innocuous to humans. Others, such as those of the Brazilian giant white knee tarantula (Acanthoscurria geniculata), are moderately irritating. Still others, such as the Goliath birdeater (Theraphosa blondi), are far more severe. These bristles can result in painful rashes, and have been likened to sharp shards of fiberglass.
After kicking urticating hairs, the tarantula will have a bald spot on its abdominal region.
